Hello from Charlie
Hi! I’m Charlie, the new trainee volunteering development policy officer at NCVO. I will be supporting NCVO’s policy work on volunteering development, producing this monthly round-up blog and helping with the organisation of Volunteers’ Week and the National Volunteering Forums.
I have been volunteering since childhood in various roles, including at a community development charity working with the eastern European Roma community in Glasgow, as an adviser at a Citizens Advice bureau and as a Scout leader. I am excited for what the future brings at NCVO.
Research Conference 2018
On 6 and 7 September, NCVO hosted the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research (VSVR) Conference, organised by the Voluntary Sector Studies Network and NCVO. This year the conference focused on the theme of ‘trust, transparency and accountability of charities and voluntary organisations’.
It was a fantastic event in which academics, policy makers and practitioners came together to present and discuss research relating directly to the theme, and also to the broader challenges and issues currently facing the voluntary sector and volunteering.
Follow the hashtag #vsvr2018 to find out more about what was discussed.
Campaigning Conference 2018
NCVO’s campaigning conference took place on 10 September. Speakers included Marsha de Cordova MP, shadow minister for disabled people, Rob Wilson, former minister for civil society, and Ruth Ibegbuna, founder of RECLAIM and director of the Roots Programme.
Delegates also attended a range of workshops on subjects including ensuring volunteer-supported campaigns present an authentic voice, how to use polling effectively and how to frame your messages.
Visit the conference page to view slides from the day’s sessions.
National Volunteering Forum: Incentivising volunteering and rewarding volunteers
We all know that effective volunteer management means rewarding and recognising volunteers for the great stuff they do. But is more reward better? Do the existing ways of recognising volunteers still work? Is now the time to throw out the old rule book on providing incentives? Join us at our National Volunteering Forum as we discuss these questions and more in Birmingham on 2 October.
Please note, this event is now sold out, but you can still join the waiting list.
Volunteer experience research – update
As mentioned in previous monthly round-up blogs, NCVO has been carrying out research into people’s experience of volunteering. Amy McGarvey, Senior Research Officer at NCVO gives us the latest update:
We have been continuing with our work on our volunteer experience research and conducting workshops this month with stakeholders from different sectors and sizes in London and Leicester to discuss implications of the emerging findings. The official launch of the final report will now be early next year, with some targeted outputs to follow focusing on specific themes throughout 2019.
Enabling Social Action programme
Expressions of interest are now open for the Enabling Social Action programme. The programme will provide support to local authority commissioners in four local authorities to embed social action in their routine working and to co-design, co-produce and co-deliver services with services, local people and civil society organisations. The two-year programme is a partnership between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the universities of Sheffield and Hull.
If you think that your local authority may benefit from this programme, then you can find out more and apply online. The deadline for applications is 12 October 2018.
IiV congratulatory corner
Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK quality standard for good practice in volunteer management. Congratulations are due this month to Experience Durham Student Volunteering at Durham University after they achieved Investing in Volunteers for a third time! Read more about their journey.
Civil society strategy
Following on from Shaun’s blog last month, it is also worth checking out Rob Jackson’s analysis of the implications of the civil society strategy for volunteering; he suggested that there was essentially ‘nothing of any real substance’ in the document in terms of volunteering strategy, and saw it as a ‘major missed opportunity’.
Want to know about the rest of the strategy? Then our civil society strategy blog series is for you.
Data protection
The Information Commissioner’s Office has recently published a report summarising the findings from information risk reviews at eight charities. The report highlighted several examples of good practice at the charities but also brought attention to how practices could be improved in eight key areas.
Training and events
Keep up to date with latest volunteering policy, research and practice at our sector-leading events:
NCVO/BWB Trustee Conference 2018: Good governance, great organisations – 5 November 2018 – The Brewery, London
Join us as we explore the key principles of good governance and how to embed them across your organisation.
We also have all the training you need to be an even better volunteer manager:
Setting up and managing a mentoring or befriending programme – 27 and 28 September 2018 – NCVO Conference Suite, London
Based on our Approved Provider Standard (APS), NCVO’s specialist quality standard for mentoring or befriending projects, this two-day course will give you practical guidance on how to set up and manage an effective mentoring or befriending programme.
Good practice in volunteer management – 5 October 2018 – NCVO Conference Suite, London
This course serves as an introduction to the key principles of good practice in volunteer management and how to apply them to your organisation.
This course will also run on:
Safeguarding for volunteer managers – 15 October 2018 – NCVO Conference Suite, London
This course introduces the basics of safeguarding within a volunteer managers role and highlights effective safeguarding practice.
Assessing the impact of your volunteers – 9 November 2018 – NCVO Conference Suite, London
This workshop will give you step-by-step guidance on how to assess the impact your volunteers are having your organisation, your beneficiaries, and themselves, as well as on the wider community and other stakeholders.
Volunteering and the law – 30 November 2018 – NCVO Conference Suite, London
This course will enable you to understand volunteering and the law in relation to issues such as safeguarding, data protection, health and safety, equality and diversity, insurance, and benefits.
Charlie is a trainee volunteering development policy officer at NCVO, supporting NCVO's volunteering policy work. He has been volunteering since childhood in various roles, including at a community development charity working with the eastern European Roma community in Glasgow, as an adviser at a Citizens Advice bureau, and as a Scout leader. 
