The Volunteering Matters update – news, views, and stories to inspire social action!

Volunteer Fairs – ‘New Year, New You’

Our ever-popular Volunteer Fairs are back in January 2024! Free to attend, these provide a perfect opportunity to raise awareness of your work, promote your volunteering opportunities and network with other organisations. Join us at:

• The Gather Space, Dolphin Centre, Poole, BH15 1SZ – Wednesday 10th January 2024 – 9.30am to 1.30pm or 1.30pm to 5.15pm
• Bournemouth Library, 22 The Triangle, Bournemouth BH2 5RQ – Friday 12th January 2024 – 9.30am to 1.30pm

Book here by Friday 8th December. Spaces will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis so don’t delay in booking!

Teams Channel for Volunteer Coordinators

We’re establishing a Teams channel to enable and develop communication among Volunteer Coordinators. This platform will serve as a space where you can seek peer support for those sticky questions, inquire about policies and processes, share information about available funding, discover training providers, and engage in various other discussions. To be added please email amy.collins@can100.org

Volunteer Coordinators Meeting

• When: 10am to 12pm on Monday 4th December 2023
• Where: Beech House, 28 – 30 Wimborne Road, Poole, BH15 2BU

What have you always wanted to know about being a Volunteer Coordinator but were afraid to ask? Risk assessments, role descriptions, rota management, managing volunteers’ wellbeing, and new CRM’s – these are all part of the life of a Volunteer Coordinator. Join us for this interactive session as we explore a variety of topics to hopefully make your day-to-day work a little easier. To book visit https://can100.org/training-and-events/can-events/

CAN Webinar – Having difficult conversations with volunteers

When: 9.30 am to 10.30 am on Tuesday 13th February 2024

Having difficult conversations with volunteers is a delicate yet important aspect of managing a volunteer team. These conversations might involve addressing performance issues, providing constructive feedback, or discussing challenging situations. In this session, we will cover how to:

• Identify and address issues and poor performance
• Approach a difficult conversation – techniques, preparation, hints and tips
• Provide feedback and implement solutions
• Dismiss or turn down a volunteer
• Record keeping

A Q&A session will follow the presentation. To book visit https://can100.org/event/having-difficult-conversations-with-volunteers/ 

Cost of Living Crisis Insights

Time for Impact has published an interesting article addressing the cost-of-living crisis and outlining strategies to support our volunteers during this challenging period. We’re interested in gathering insights from organisations like yours. Have you observed any notable impacts on your volunteers, such as a decline in volunteer numbers or an increase in volunteers claiming expenses? If you’ve implemented any changes in how you support your volunteers, please share these with Amy at amy.collins@can100.org. This way, we can facilitate the sharing and promotion of good practice.

Brighter Futures Course – Free Volunteering skills Course

Do you support someone who would be interested in volunteering, but they don’t know where to start? The 5-week Brighter Futures course produced by CAN and BCHA, is open to anyone aged 19-plus in Dorset and aims to help them build all the skills they need to be successful in any volunteering role. BCHA’s friendly tutor Mark covers a range of topics including the benefits of volunteering, effective decision-making, health and safety awareness, the rights & responsibilities of volunteers and equality & diversity. Participants are then helped by CAN to explore and apply for volunteer roles.

The 5-week course begins on Wednesday 10th January 2024, and takes place every Wednesday until 14th February at BCHA Learn in Boscombe. Upon completion, participants gain a City & Guilds Level 1 Award in Employability Skills – Volunteering. Joining info can be found here or call BCHA Learn on 01202 410595.

Vision for Volunteering

The Vision for Volunteering is a ten-year collaborative project designed to create a better future for volunteering. Throughout January and February 2024, the Vision for Volunteering team are hosting online conference on each of the 5 Vision themes which are:

• Awareness and appreciation
• Power
• Equity and inclusion
• Collaboration
• Experimentation

These are free events in which you will learn and discuss: examples and case studies of best practice, how the themes affect you in your sector or community, what the barriers are to improving volunteering and how we can overcome those barriers. Book here.