Safeguarding and volunteers
Concerns over safeguarding in charities continues to dominate headlines- long since the first allegations were aired. As well as representing members across national and local media, Karl has blogged throughout the unfolding scandal, while Richard has also produced a useful summary to help charities update their safeguarding practices.
NCVO also attended a summit on safeguarding hosted jointly by Charity Commission and Office for Civil Society. The summit brought together charities, regulators and other agencies to establish a shared understanding of safeguarding challenges and to identify key areas of action.
For any volunteer manager reviewing their safeguarding approach, we have lots of support in place:
- We’re hosting new safeguarding training for volunteer managers on 20 April.
- We’ve made the safeguarding section of our new volunteers and the law resource available to non-members.
- Shaun has blogged on the use and limits of criminal records checks as a safeguarding tool.
- Please also see our safeguarding advice on Knowhow NonProfit.
NVF: Volunteers and wellbeing
On 9 February we brought together over 50 organisations to talk about volunteering and wellbeing at our National Volunteering Forum (NVF). Read a summary of the day here.
We looked at the evidence of when and how volunteering improves wellbeing, heard from organisations running fascinating programmes and explored how we might measure the impact of volunteering programmes. Thanks to What Works Centre for Wellbeing, the Centre for Ageing Better, the Wildlife Trusts, Pro Bono Economics and Elevate for contributing so brilliantly.
Our next NVF will take place on 15 May in London and will focus on GDPR and the Volunteer Journey and our third NVF of the year will be held in Birmingham in September. Further details to be announced soon.
Check out Twitter Moments from NVF
Volunteers’ Week 2018
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed a change to the website for Volunteers’ Week 2018! Our full new site will be launched at the beginning of April and will be full of resources to help you make the most of Volunteers’ Week, 1-7 June. See our temporary holding page and sign up for updates here.
The website and future content are designed following feedback received from last year’s participants. We continue to work closely with UK partners and the Volunteers’ Week 2018 working group to build the campaign.
Bond Volunteer Award 2018
Bond held an International Development awards ceremony on 26 February, as part of their annual conference. Tim Eden of World Child Cancer, was the winner of a brand-new Volunteer Award for his extraordinary effort in improving and saving lives of thousands of children with cancer in the developing world.
Jarina was on the judging panel for the category which was sponsored by Human Appeal. Read about Tim, the finalists and the other outstanding volunteers who were nominated.
Civil society strategy
Tracey Crouch, the minister for civil society, has launched a 12-week consultation with a public call for evidence to inform the new civil society strategy.
The strategy is aimed at improving how government and public bodies interact with the charity sector. We will be listening to you all to get your views on the the strategy, so please do get in touch if you want to be involved.
#NHS70 and volunteering
Did you know that the NHS turns 70 this year? Volunteering is going to be a key part of the birthday celebrations. To find out more, sign up for NHS England’s upcoming interactive webinars here. The next one on recruiting young volunteers in the NHS includes our very own Shaun Delaney.
Thinking about community transport
Before Christmas, we were approached by an organisation concerned about proposed changes to rules for community transport organisations. These proposed changes, outlined in a government consultation, would force some charities to apply for expensive new licenses.
This is likely to directly affect a relatively small number of organisations, though the wider impact could be significant. We are working with the Community Transport Association and others on this issue but if this is something you’re interested in, please get in touch: will.downs@ncvo.org.uk.
What we’re reading (and listening) to
- Karl Wilding in Public Sector Executive on how local authorities can work with charities to increase diversity in participation.
- An investigation by Radio 5 into the abuse taking place in charity shops.
- Healthwatch Kent on the benefits of gaining Investing in Volunteers accreditation.
- Volunteer Charlotte Hughes on her experiences supporting those falling foul of the continued rollout of Universal Credit.
- Aditya Chakrabortty’s talking to Hazel Tilley on how she galvanised fellow citizens to rebuild the streets in their community in Toxteth.
- Rob Jackson’s critique of the Steve Holliday report.
Upcoming NCVO training
We’ve got all the training you need to become an even better volunteer manager:
- Volunteering and the law – 16 March 2018
This course will enable you to understand volunteering in relation to issues such as safeguarding, data protection and health and safety. - Safeguarding for volunteer managers – 20 April 2018
This course introduces the basics of safeguarding within a volunteer managers role and highlights effective safeguarding practice - Good practice in volunteer management – 20 April 2018
This course provides an introduction to the key principles of good practice in volunteer management and how to apply them to your organisation - Assessing the impact of your volunteers – 18 May 2018
This course will give you step-by-step guidance on how to use the VIAT to assess the impact your volunteers are having your organisation, your beneficiaries, and themselves
Up until July 2018, Will supported NCVO’s policy work on volunteering development. His interests include the role of volunteering in public services and removing barriers to youth volunteering. He produced the monthly volunteering round-up blog and supported Volunteers’ Week. 
