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Welcome to July's edition of the Volunteer Co-ordinator's Newsletter. If you have any comment, queries or suggestions for future issues please contact me on angela@herefordshireva.org or 01432 343 932. |
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REIMBURSEMENT OF VOLUNTEER TRAVEL EXPENSES - IS IT AN ISSUE FOR YOU? |
A number of Volunteer Centres across the West Midlands are campaigning on behalf of volunteers who use their vehicles either in their role as community transport drivers or for getting to and from their place of volunteering. They are finding that many organisations are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain volunteers as individuals are claiming that the current HMRC approved mileage allowance set at 40 pence per mile is insufficient. The allowance has not been reviewed since 2002, in spite of the ever-increasing costs of fuel and vehicle running costs: all of this against a background of economic uncertainty. There is also a 10,000 miles per year ceiling on the 40p allowance with any additional mileage only reimburseable at 25p per mile.
As transport plays a significant role in our rural county, Herefordshire Volunteer Centre would like to find out from volunteer-involving organisations whether you are experiencing similar issues:
a) do you reimburse volunteers' travel and, if so, what mileage rate do you offer?
b) are you losing or failing to recruit volunteers because individuals say that the mileage allowance is insufficient?
c) Do you have any volunteers who exceed 10,000 miles per year
There are many organisations (maybe yours is one) whose client-base relies heavily upon the services of volunteers who need to be mobile and any barrier to their commitment or access could have harmful consequences for service users and to the community as a whole.
I hope that you will give some consideration to this matter and, if your responses demonstrate that travel expenses is an issue for you Herefordshire Volunteer Centre will be lobbying those in power to urgently review all those issues mentioned above and and add your voice and those of your volunteers to the West Midlands campaign. If you would like to know more, please contact Angela Legg on 01432 343932 or email angela@herefordshireva.org |
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VOLUNTEER CENTRE FEEDBACK SURVEY | |
The Volunteer Centre recently conducted a survey to find out how organisations rated our services over the past twelve months.
A summary of the findings are available on our website along with some actions we would like to take to try and improve our service. The report also shows which methods of recruitment work best for organizations. |
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VALUE OF VOLUNTEERING TO HEREFORDSHIRE 2010? | | We have recently published the Value of Volunteering to Herefordshire 2010. We were commissioned by Herefordshire Infrastructure Consortium through Capacity Builders funding to update the research we undertook in 2006 when volunteering was valued at £44m.
The latest findings, which draw on data collected by Herefordshire Council, shows that 37% of adults have formally volunteered at least once in the last 12 months. Of these, 10% volunteer 2-4 hours per week, whilst 5% volunteer 5 hours or more.
This means that nearly 6 million hours of volunteering took place which would be the equivalent of 3054 full time workers. Paid at the median average hourly rate for Herefordshire, the salary bill would be at least £60million.
If you would like a copy of the report, please contact the Volunteer Centre or download a copy from our website
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INDEPENDENT VETTING AND BARRING |
The voluntary registration with the Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) for new employees and those volunteering with children and vulnerable adults was due to start on 26th July. However this has been halted in order to give the new government time to 'remodel' the scheme, so expect further announcements in the next few months. The mandatory registration of new employees and job-changes is still (currently) due to come in from end of October.
Some elements of the new VBS will go ahead. These include making independent barring decisions and maintaining the two constantly updated lists of employees and volunteers barred from working with children or from working with vulnerable adults. Employers and organizations involving volunteers are still legally obliged to refer information to the ISA if they have moved or removed an individual because they have harmed or there is a risk of harm to a member of a vulnerable group.
Existing requirements concerning Criminal Records Bureau will remain in place, and those entitled to such checks can continue to apply for them. |
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PROMOTING AND HELPING VOLUNTEER MANAGERS |
Volunteering England has a new "signposting tool for people managing volunteers". The aim of the Volunteer Management Portal is to increase access and act as a gateway to the world of Volunteer Management, providing a central source of information on support, training and development opportunities for people managing volunteers.
The portal is a sign-posting tool and provides links to hundreds of resources; from training providers, consultants, publications and networks to links to organisations who provide information on Volunteer Management.
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VALUE VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT CAMPAIGN |
Volunteering England recently launched the Value Volunteer Management Campaign to increase awareness of the value and importance of investing in volunteer management. Many key organisations have already shown support, including the BBC, Microsoft, Barnardo's, RSPB, National Trust and PDSA. These organisations know that investing in professional and strategic volunteer management really boosts the value they gain from volunteering, leading to increased budgets, raised organisational profile, strengthened service provision, improved community relations and much more.
Visit the campaign site at http://www.volunteering.org.uk/valuevolunteermanagement and find out what your organisation stands to gain and also where you can sign the Volunteer Management Endorsement!
Both these initiatives are funded by the Office for Civil Society as part of Capacitybuilders' Volunteer Management Programme.
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