Volunteering England and the TUC have agreed a Charter that aims to strengthen relationships between paid staff and volunteers. Evesham Volunteer Centre is a partner in the Worcestershire Volunteering Hub which promotes this positive relationship in Worcestershire. Introduce a recognised code of practice to your organisation.
Charter principles
- All volunteering is undertaken by choice, and all individuals should have the right to volunteer, or indeed not to volunteer.
- While volunteers should not normally receive or expect financial rewards for their activities, they should receive reasonable out of pocket expenses.
- The involvement of volunteers should complement and supplement the work of paid staff, and should not be used to displace paid staff or undercut their pay and conditions of service.
- The added value of volunteers should be highlighted as part of commissioning or grant-making processes but their involvement should not be used to reduce contract costs.
- Effective structures should be put in place to support and develop volunteers and the activities they undertake, and these should be fully considered and costed when services are planned and developed.
- Volunteers and paid staff should be provided with opportunities to contribute to the development of volunteering policies and procedures.
- Volunteers, like paid staff, should be able to carry out their duties in safe, secure and healthy environments that are free from harassment, intimidation, bullying, violence and discrimination.
- All paid workers and volunteers should have access to appropriate training and development.
- There should be recognised procedures for the resolution of any problems between organisations and volunteers or between paid staff and volunteers.
Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is a national quality standard for organisations that involve volunteers in their work. Our IiV Advisor in South Worcestershire can support you through the initial stages before the assessment day. The advisor is trained by NCVO and appointed by them. If you say that you heard about IiV from our partner organisation, “Worcester Volunteer Centre”, when you register, the advisor will be appointed to support you.
Volunteering England has a bank of information sheets to help volunteer managers. See the list of information sheets from their Good Practice Bank.
Training
We can provide a bespoke training package to ensure your organisation meets a high standard of good practice, or you can book to attend our volunteer management training sessions, organised with SWISH partners. We advertise these on the Worcestershire Voices website and on the South Worcestershire Information and Support Hub website and LinkedIn page. Subjects include Volunteers and the Law, Supervising and Supporting Volunteers, Managing Difficult Behaviour, Retaining and Motivating Volunteers.
Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM)
This is a national independent body that aims to support, represent and champion people who manage volunteers in England regardless of field, discipline or sector. It has been set up by and for people who manage volunteers.
The AVM aims to:
- facilitate and support effective peer-to-peer networking of those involved in volunteer management locally, regionally and nationally
- campaign and speak out on issues that are key to people who manage volunteers
- develop information and good practice resources on volunteer management