Are you ready for the Big Celebration?
With more time to celebrate during this year’s Volunteers’ Week, 1-12 June, we are getting ready for the big celebration – and we want you to get involved:
- Sign up to the Volunteers’ Week website for your resource pack, which includes bunting, how-to guides, templates, and specific guidance for young people produced with the #iwill campaign
- Download the Volunteers’ Week logos
- Add your event details to our online map
- Follow Volunteers’ Week 2016 on Pinterest and join the #VolunteersWeek conversation on Twitter
Youth volunteering has increased 52% over four years
The youth of today? Committed and active in their communities, it turns out. This year’s NCVO Almanac uncovers a big increase in young people’s volunteering.
Youth volunteering has increased by more than half over the last four years. On the blog, Nick looks at what’s behind this positive development. BBC Newsbeat also covered this ‘dramatic’ rise in the number of 16 to 25s volunteering.
The increase in young people is a good news story, but as Kristen asks in her blog post, what about everyone else and what does this mean for volunteer managers?
To see all the latest volunteering data – who gives their time, how much, what for and why – take a look at the Almanac website.
Why don’t more care homes involve volunteers?
As we come to the end of a three year pilot project, we share what we’ve learnt about volunteering in care homes:
- Download the Volunteering in Care Homes Toolkit
- Watch the video, ‘Making connections, improving lives’
- Read the final evaluation report
Read more about the Volunteering in Care Home project and find further resources online.
Do something great with the BBC
The BBC is getting behind volunteering with their Do Something Great season. With inspiring programmes on TV and the radio, the BBC hopes to encourage their audience to discover their ‘inner volunteer’. Find out more online and follow #DoSomethingGreat on Twitter.
In celebration of MicroDay on 15 April, the BBC published guidance on micro-volunteering and citizen science. Plus, you can find our micro-volunteering quick tips, practical guide and research online.
Employer supported volunteering: What & why?
- Jarina looks at how businesses can begin a conversation with their employees about volunteering
- Trish has five pointers for employers when it comes to recognising employee volunteers
- I explore how skills exchange with businesses can benefit the voluntary sector
Volunteering makes a difference!
Prove it
At the next National Volunteering Forum on 4 May, we’ll be discussing why and how we demonstrate and measure the impact of volunteering. The event is now fully booked, but you can sign up to the waitlist online.
Book now for our training step-by-step guidance on how to assess the impact that your volunteers are having on your organisation, your beneficiaries, and themselves, as well as on the wider community and other stakeholders.
Make the case
If you feel like a lone voice in your organisation when it comes to valuing volunteers, then it is time to skill-up in the art of influencing.
- Three things you can do to influence more effectively in your organisation
- Sign up to our training to learn influencing strategies and develop a prioritised action plan
Reducing risks
Safe and sound
If you involve volunteers, make sure you have a robust approach to safeguarding – extending beyond DBS checks. Join us on 29 June for our training on effective safeguarding for volunteer managers.
Status anxiety
Do you know the difference between employees, interns and volunteers? Book now for the NCVO/BWB Conference on 5 May to get up to date on employment law and practical HR issues for charities, including a workshop on status anxiety.
Plus, NCVO members can download our volunteering information sheet on how to avoid creating employment contracts.
Emily was NCVO’s trainee volunteering development policy officer. She is interested in policy around volunteering, particularly diversity in volunteering, employability, volunteering in public services, and employer supported volunteering. 
