Volunteering round-up: October 2021

In October’s volunteering round-up, we’re sharing the progress made so far on the Vision for Volunteering. First though, a word on everyone’s least favourite subject…

Covid-19 guidance

Thank you to those of you who completed our short survey in the summer as lockdown restrictions eased. We used what you told us to improve our website and practical support guidance.

Covid-19 is still very much a concern for many organisations and we’ll continue to update our Involving Volunteers guidance to help you through the coming months. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has also updated their guidance on safe volunteering.

Get ready for the Vision for Volunteering

The Vision for Volunteering is a collaboration between NAVCA, Volunteering Matters, the Association of Volunteer Managers, Sport England and NCVO. We’re inviting you to create a long-term plan for volunteering in England. We’ve released the first round of consultation workshop dates.

More workshop dates will be announced in the next few weeks. You can sign up on the Vision for Volunteering website to be notified of future developments. If you can’t attend a workshop, you can complete the call for submissions. We’ve prepared a frequently asked questions guide for your reference. We’ve also listed the priority areas, who’s on the steering group and an outline of our accountabilities.

Voluntary action during the pandemic

Thank you to everyone who attended the National Volunteering Forum on 27 October, including speakers and contributors who’ve helped with this research. For the past year we’ve been working with the University of Northumbria, University of East Anglia and University of Essex. We reviewed, analysed and evaluated voluntary action responses to the covid-19 pandemic through the Mobilising UK Voluntary Action project.

Across the four nations, this research has sought to understand:

• the impact of the pandemic
• what’s needed from the sector and government to support national recovery
• how we can prepare for future crises.

Community Organisers, Selby Trust, Fareshare UK and Gateshead council shared their reflections on the emerging findings, as did many other local and national organisations. The final report for England will be produced towards the end of November and will offer a foundation on which to build volunteering policy asks in 2022.

Covid-19 voluntary sector impact barometer

The Respond, Recover, Reset project with Nottingham Trent University has released its eleventh report (PDF). October’s theme was the voluntary sector in a post-pandemic future.

The report explores how charities have experienced the easing of restrictions coming out of lockdown and going forward. It considers:

• the ability to fill job vacancies
• changes to volunteer recruitment
• how charity services now operate after the easing of restrictions
• new ways of working and volunteering
• the use of safe working practices.

Wave 12 of the barometer survey launched on 11 October and closed on 25 October. It’s received more than 300 responses. Reports are produced monthly and you can view the project’s previous and upcoming reports.

Check out the UK Civil Society Almanac

Last month we launched the 2021 edition of the UK Civil Society Almanac, our ground-breaking data resource on the voluntary sector. If you haven’t seen it yet, be prepared to lose yourself in volunteering data relating to the pandemic. It shows what’s changed and what’s stayed the same, in relation to income, expenditure, types of organisations, workforce, activities relating to the pandemic.

NCVO training

Strategic Planning: Processes and tools for direction and decision making

Has the pandemic prompted you to rethink your strategy? We’re offering a one-day online course to help on 16 November, 10.00–15.30.

Safeguarding essentials in charities

The next date for safeguarding essentials in charities course is 15 December, 10.00–15.00.

Good practice in volunteer management

Our popular good practice in volunteer management course takes place over two half days from 10.00–13.00. You need to attend both days as they’re two parts of one course.

January course

• Session 1: Monday 24 January
• Session 2: Wednesday 26 January

February course

• Session 1: Monday 21 February
• Session 2: Wednesday 23 February

March course

• Session 1: Monday 21 March
• Session 2: Wednesday 23 March