Thank you to everyone who came to our Volunteer Coordinators' Networking Event & Forum Reboot in December!
It was great to see all the Volunteer Managers, Leaders and Coordinators, we hope you enjoyed the event and delicious cake - the Volunteer Centre was certainly buzzing with chat!
The Volunteer Coordinators' Forum (VCF) is an opportunity for volunteer leaders to support each other, discuss volunteering issues and ideas and network.
At this session we asked you what you would like from the Forum going forward. Here are your most popular responses:
- Support with volunteer recruitment e.g. holding events to promote volunteering roles
-
Advice on volunteer engagement and retention, perhaps from guest speakers
-
Resources e.g. induction packs, application forms
-
Guidance on best practice e.g. policies and procedures
-
Training e.g. conflict management/resolution, leadership skills
-
Awareness-raising sessions delivered by people with lived experience - e.g. LGBTQ+, refugees
-
Networking and partnership working opportunities
-
Help to find funding
-
Up-skilling/training opportunities for volunteers
- Opportunities to celebrate volunteers e.g. volunteer awards.
We hear you and will take all of this into account as we work on the programme of events we've got planned for this year!
To get started, the following information may help with some of the above requests:
- Celebrating volunteers - We hold our annual Volunteer Awards during Volunteers' Week (1-7 June) and this year will be no different. We will keep you posted when nominations are due to open. You can read about previous years on our Derby Volunteer Awards page.
- Resources & best practice guidance - There is a range of resources, including some template policies, on our Working With Volunteers page. For 2024, we are also working on producing a range of helpful toolkits, so watch this space.
- Support with finding funding - We send out a monthly Funding Bulletin that you can subscribe to here. We also post additional funding opportunities on our Funding and Tender Alerts page and often hold Meet the Funder events, which you can find on our Events page.
For more information about the VCF please contact our Volunteer Centre Organiser, Kesha Chawda, by emailing kesha.chawda@communityactionderby.org.uk or calling 01332 342272.
Here's to an exciting 2024!