Monday, October 1st, 2007
Although Volunteering does not appear currently as an identified priority, it will be seriously considered by the Big Lottery for inclusion if a large number of responses identify it as a priority.
You can respond online until November through the BASIS Round Two Consultation page on the BLF website.
The online consultation asks for suggested priorities that will bring the most benefit to frontline VCS organisations. If sufficient of us register Volunteering as a priority, it could become one of the criteria for BASIS round 2.
Only a small number of Volunteer Centres were represented at the two recent SE events, the number of attendees and responses overall was been very low.
Volunteering infrastructure support was suggested at the Marlow event and all present ranked it higher than some other priorities.
Once the criteria are determined, applications Spring 2008, grants from Spring 2009 …a long way off but a real funding opportunity if we can get it!
Please participate in this consultation and lobby for Volunteering to be included!
Heather @ Horsham Volunteer Bureau
Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
Tomorrow is our next meeting so this update is coming a bit late for discussion then - so apologies to members. A few days ago the team at Roehampton University wrapped up their thoughts around their work on the Developing the Tools for ‘Building on Success’ project commissioned by VE. Members might recall the workshop that was held before the last SENVC meeting and was part of the consultation process that informed this report.
Below is the message from Jurgen Grotz that came with the Report on Phase 1.
Dear colleagues,
As promised here is the report of Phase One of the project Developing the tools for ‘Building on Success’ to which you have so generously contributed.
We are really interested in what you think about it. We are wondering:
- How far do the findings of our report reflect your own experience and perspectives - a great deal/to some extent/ very little?
- Are there, in your opinion, other concerns and experiences not mentioned in the report that should be in? If so, what are they?
- Are there any points made in the report which you think are inaccurate, misleading or plain wrong? If so, what are they?
- Is there anything else you would like to tell us?
We are currently preparing work in Phase Two and any comments you have on this report will further inform our study. We might also contact you again in Phase Two. In any case we will also let you know the outcome of Phase Two once it is completed.
I really enjoyed meeting you and would like to thank you again for your contributions which I sincerely hope you find reflected in the report.
Best wishes
Jurgen Grotz
The Centre for the Study of Voluntary and Community Activity
at Roehampton University
Thursday, August 30th, 2007
There has been a small change in the entertainment scheduled for the next meeting. Unfortunately, James Collins will not be able to keep the appointment with us but the folks over at the VCQA team in VE have offered us a 2-for-1 deal and have agreed to let Patrick Scott and Miles Atkinson come out to play for the afternoon. Below is a brief introduction from Patrick & Miles and an invitation to post any questions you may have before the meeting.
Hello and welcome to you all. 
We are Patrick Scott (Training and development Coordinator) and Miles Atkinson (Business and Development Assistant). Together we aim to support VCs going through the accreditation process and continually improve the quality standard. We’d really welcome the opportunity to introduce ourselves in the flesh and tell you a bit more about the key support services we’re offering. In addition, we would relish the opportunity to engage in a frank and creative discussion about the long term future of VCQA. We would like to explore questions such as:
- If VCs and VE were better resourced what type of QA would we put in place? How would it be different to what’s currently in place?
- How would a QA system look like with different levels?
- How would the VC network respond to fake volunteers contacting VCs randomly as part of the QA process to test what sort of service is provided?
You may of course have a few of your own question for us! Here’s to an engaging discussion on the 20th September.
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
A few updates for the members to keep the momentum building.
James Collins @VE
As members know James has agreed submit a brief post highlighting the issues around VCQA & ASDAN that he wished to discuss at the next meeting. This had been scheduled to go up last week - unfortunately I’ve just been informed that James is off ill and is not likely to be back in the office until the end of the month.
He has promised to make contact once he’s back on the job and members can look for a post in early September. This should leave plenty of time to digest his comments and possibly propose a few questions before the meeting.
Other Places
Just in case any members were looking for a bit of online reading - Mark Restall from Volunteering England seems to be posting his own thoughts on volunteer-related topics.
Early Day Comments
Overall response to the new site so far has been lukewarm but it’s early days yet. Remember that this is about building a sense of community amongst a group of organisations that have common interests - members will only get back what they put in.
With that thought in mind the comments function is now open to the public. It seems that the requirement to register/log-in before being allowed to leave comments only served to confuse people. The downside of this is that the site is more susceptible to spam - but we will keep an eye on this. The upside is that it will be easier to engage when you have an urge to share. When leaving comments please try to follow two simple rules:
- When giving your name (this is required) please make reference to the CENTRE/BUREAU/AGENCY you work at - not everyone knows everyone else by name.
- Please be consistent in how you fulfill rule #1 above - if you are ‘Michael @VC Slough’ then always try to be ‘Michael @VC Slough’ ….not several variations on the theme. Again, this will help everyone understand who you are.
Friday, August 3rd, 2007
The next meeting of the Network is scheduled for 20 September and will be held from 11am to 3pm at the MIC Conference Centre. The venue is near Euston Station (see map) and should be easy to reach for those coming in on public transport.
Members should watch for an email invitation (which will be sent out through the the free web application called MyPunchbowl.com) and be sure to use the link in the email to let us know if you plan to attend.
James Collins from VE will be attending the meeting to discuss the new ASDAN Certificate and the next cycle of the VCQA process. We will post a short entry from James early next week outlining the topics he plans to cover - so check back and post any comments you have in response. We’ll check these before he meeting to ensure that James is well prepared.
Friday, July 20th, 2007
The summary of the Building on Success workshop (20 June) led by the Research Team at Roehampton University is linked below. The aim of the workshop was to consult with network members on how best to develop a robust and adequately resourced volunteering infrastructure at the local level.
A fairly robust conversation was held and feedback on the workshop or overall project should be directed to Jurgen Grotz of the Research Team.
Summary Document (MSWord): building-on-success-summary.doc
Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
This entry is not a complete reprisal of the 2012 Culture & Community SubGroup that met in Brighton on 3 July. Instead it will flag the main issue that need concern the network - the development of the 2012 Volunteering Strategy - and ask network members how they wish to respond?
The brief version of the story is that LOCOG commissioned a group (including VE, the Home Office and the Commission on the Future of Volunteering) to draft a Volunteering Strategy for 2012. This was due to be launched around about now but due to reasons not yet made public it looks as if the overall strategy document will not be adopted. There has not been, to date, a public announcement as to whether this is true or not or, if it has been dropped, why the strategy was not retained. There are are whispers of issues about diversity & equality and/or an unclear remit re: who was obliged to agree take up the strategy.
Whatever the reasons it now seems that the official approach to developing volunteers will be led by an internal group within LOCOG with responsibilities for workforce development and that instead of a fully stated strategy this group will produce a set of action points.
Three main issues were raised with the Regional representative from LOCOG on this front:
- that grass roots volunteer agencies were being left in the dark as to how the original strategy was being developed and the fact that it was currently under threat;
- that many local VCs were unclear as to whether they would be asked to play an active role in the recruitment and development of 2012 volunteers or whether they woud find themselves in competition with a regional body who bypassed them to recruit directly in their area;
- that LOCOG should take a careful look at thier tendancy to say that they ‘have 70,000+ volunteers signed up’ as there is a notable difference between entering your email on a website five years before the event and actually showing up to volunteer!
No doubt the circumstances around the development and implementation of the 2012 approach to volunteering will change quickly over the next few weeks and we should take note of these developments. But members may wish to spend some time thinking about what we, as a group, need in order to properly assist with and benefit from what promises to be a once in a lifetime opportunity in our region.
Monday, July 16th, 2007
The VE webpage for the England Volunteering Development Council (EVDC) website describes its role as:
a high-level representative and advocacy mechanism for volunteering. It engages both with government and opposition parties in order to capture the collective intelligence of volunteer-involving organisations, volunteering infrastructure providers and of volunteers to provide a powerful, coordinated lobby to steer government policy and community action.
The South East EVDC is one of 9 regional bodies informing the work of the national council. It seems obvious that that much of the content discussed at the meeting will be of interest to our network members.
At our last meeting discussions with Simon Richards of VE the idea of sharing dates/venues with the EVDC was raised as possible means of conserving resources and to encourage the two groups towards a productive and mutual exchange of information. From the point of view of the SENVC it would be useful if a group of VCs (8 or 10-ish?) attended the EVDC in a morning session then those VCs could be joined by the other network members in the afternoon.
Having attended their last meeting I can report that this not likely to be practical. The EVDC were happy to work together and do want VCs to be represented but are not keen to invite the enough VCs to attend at any one time as to create any real benefit. And if you factor in the fact the afternoon session would then be moved to a less travel-friendly timetable (ie not 11-3 but perhaps 2-5?) for those attending the afternoon session only.
Like SENVC the EVDC are currently reviewing their role & aspirations as a group and planning a way forward. They now have an appointed Chair and the secretariat will firmly placed with VE. The most productive activity the network can pursue now is to build consistent and open communication links with them and watch this space.
A separate entry will be made regarding the general content of the EVDC meeting.
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
Hello all
Please find below the latest update from the VCAG. Much of the meeting was spend reviewing terms of reference and the work of the VCAG – as a result I have been asked to include some questions for you. If you would like to respond to the questions below please do so by replying to this email. Try to keep it to the point and brief! I will then bring the responses to our next VCAG meeting in August for VE to review.
Regarding 2012, I understand the volunteering strategy is written and will be available on the 2012 website shortly so keep an eye out for it if you are interested. VE seem keen for Volunteer Centres to be at the heart of it and appreciate we may need some support to get there. They have therefore included some further questions - again if you would like to respond I will forward the responses on to VE. If anyone would like a full copy of the minutes please get in touch and I will forward them to you.
Best wishes
Charlotte
VCAG Representative South East
More…
Friday, March 16th, 2007
Hello all
Please find below the official summary of the last meeting. Also attached some info regarding V Base. We discussed the relationship between Volunteer Centres and CVSs – I think VE are aware that each organisation is different; some work really well, others less so! I forwarded the paper to you last week, but can I repeat that if your organisation or one that you know has an example of good practice please get in touch with me and I will feed in. A possible way forward discussed was to invite NAVCA to the next VCAG meeting so that we might discuss issues.
We also discussed the possibility of a discussion or bulletin board for VC managers, perhaps like UKVPMs. Rob Jackson is taking our thoughts back (that it should be simple, well promoted and easy to use by non IT specialists!) and may have something to present in a later meeting.
Regarding VC branding, we agreed a cut off date for free resources (headed paper etc) for newly branded VCs of 1st June, as the funding for this has now finished. More info available by emailing branding@volunteeringengland.org.uk. If any one would like the full minutes of the meeting I can email them to you.
Please note the new process is that instead of sending out the agenda before the meetings to you all, can you instead feed any thoughts to me about the issues up for discussion in the next meeting? (see below).
Best wishes
Charlotte
VCAG Representative South East
070315 Information on V-Base 3 for VCAG