Celebrating youth social action with #iwill
We hope you enjoyed celebrating #iwillWeek 2016 which ran from 21-25 November. The UK-wide celebration of the impact young people are making aims to enable others (young and old) to get involved.
New research into social action undertaken by 10-20 year olds published this week, showed that 4 in 10 young people were involved in meaningful social action in the last 12 months, but that there is still work to be done to ensure young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are involved, as Nick Ockenden’s blog post discusses.
Want to know more about how to involve young people in youth social action? Read our practical guide to involving young people in social action.
National Citizen Service bill – update
Second reading of the NCS bill took place in the House of Lords on 26 October. NCVO has been working with a number charities to issue briefings and statements for peers to inform the debate and ensure the views of the sector are put forward.
Committee stage started on 16 November, where peers discuss and debate amendments that have been proposed.
NCVO is continuing to work with members of the sector to inform the debate – if you have views or experience to share with us we would be happy to hear from you. Get in touch at volunteering@ncvo.org.uk.
Celebrating and supporting your trustees
This year’s Trustees’ Week ran from 7-13 November and focused on ‘stronger charities through good leadership’.
Charity Governance Code
The NCVO Trustee Conference launched the consultation on the new Charity Governance Code. The code’s steering group are inviting responses to the consultation which will run until 3 February 2017 – so please get involved and tell us what you think.
If you couldn’t make the conference, catch up here.
Resources and guidance
As part of Trustees’ Week NCVO made a selection of online governance content free to access for the week, as well as offering discounts on face-to-face governance training and governance publications.
You can still access all of this governance content, much of which is offered free or at a discounted rate for NCVO members.
NCVO governance resources
- New online course on a trustee’s role and responsibilities
- Other online governance courses
- ‘Board Basics’ tool – templates and guidance
- Governance publications
- Face-to-face governance training courses
- Practical step-by-step how-to guides written by people in the voluntary sector
Test our new online resource for the chance to win a Volunteer Impact Assessment Toolkit
We are developing an online resource on volunteering and the law for NCVO members. We invite you to take part in a 10 minute website study to help us structure the information in the new resource so that it’s as easy as possible for you to use.
If you take part in the short website study and give us your email address, we’ll thank you by entering you in the draw to win a Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit worth £60!
Take part in the website study
Skills exchange
We have been communications champions for Skills Exchange throughout November. We’ve been showcasing the benefits of skilled and employer supported volunteering.
Catch up here:
- Guest blog post from the Skills Exchange Alliance
- Blog post on the benefits of skilled volunteering for the voluntary sector
- Case study on developing a skills-based approach to employer supported volunteering – from National Grid
- Case study on setting up a company volunteers programme – fom Providence Row
Volunteering in health and care
Benefits of involving volunteers in care homes – NCVO’S volunteering development manager, Kristen Stephenson, wrote a guest blog post for Age UK.
What can LEGO® tell us about volunteer management? – Senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, Liz Dixon, used LEGO® Serious Play® in her research to find out more about volunteering and volunteer management in hospices.
APPG on charities and volunteering
The All Party Parliamentary Group on charities and volunteering (formerly the APPG on civil society and volunteering) provides a forum for discussing the issues affecting the voluntary and community sector.
If you are interested in receiving invitations to future meetings and updates from the APPG, please sign up. The next meeting is on Tuesday 13 December.
Essential training for volunteer managers
Get support with volunteer management with our excellent training courses from as little as £195. NCVO members get a 30% discount.
- Good practice in volunteer management, 2 December
- Volunteering and the law, 1 February
- View our online video course on good practice in volunteer management, free for NCVO members.
Confused by data protection?
Get up to date on the latest developments in data protection legislation at one of our seminars.
- NCVO data protection seminar – 1 Dec, London
- NCVO data protection seminar – 26 January, Manchester
Dates for your diary
Value of volunteering: How to calculate it and how to communicate it
We invite chief executives, directors, trustees and heads of volunteering to join us for this breakfast seminar in London, chaired by Karl Wilding on 3 February.
Leading with purpose
NCVO Annual Conference 2017: Leading with purpose.
Join us on 20 April to share knowledge and ideas with other charity leaders and explore all the key elements you need to consider when running your organisation.
Find out more and book your place today
Celebrating success
Congratulations to those who achieved the VCQA quality standard in October.
- Volunteer Centre Bexley
- Volunteer Centre West Berkshire
- Newark and Sherwood Volunteer Centre
- Rushcliffe Volunteer Centre
Liz Woodman is volunteering development assistant at NCVO, she supports all the work of the volunteering development team. Liz previously worked as volunteering officer for Alzheimer’s Society’s Central London office and co-ordinated the work of a busy volunteer centre in Bristol. She is passionate about volunteering and volunteers with a number of different organisations herself. 
