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Volunteering round-up: April 2022

Welcome to the April volunteering round-up, with the latest sector updates and training opportunities.

Vision for Volunteering launch events

We’re thrilled the official launch for Vision for Volunteering will be at the Volunteer Expo Live, NEC  Birmingham 6–7 May.

Tickets are free and the expo brings charities, community groups and campaigns together under one roof to celebrate the impact of volunteering. There’s a full programme of great speakers, alongside interactive learning workshops and an on-site activity where visitors can help pack food parcels to be distributed to Ukrainian refugees. If you’re working in the voluntary sector, this is an event not to be missed. We can’t wait to see you there.

We’re also hosting an online event on 10 May with Vision partners. Although its currently fully booked you can still email us to join the waiting list.

Read the key messages we made in our submission to the Vision team where we outline our aspirations for volunteering in England in 2032.

Volunteers’ Week: 1–7 June

This year’s theme for Volunteers’ Week is ‘a time to say thanks’. Plans are underway across the UK to celebrate volunteers’ achievements and thank everyone who has volunteered, including anyone who wanted to but was unable. Keep an eye on @NCVOVolunteers for updates and join the UK-wide celebrations.

New report from Mobilising Volunteers Effectively

Mobilising Volunteers Effectively’s new report, Communities are doing it for themselves (pdf), shares lessons from mutual aid experiences across England and Wales. The report contains recommendations about the legacy of mutual aid for local authorities, the voluntary sector and national policy makers.

European Volunteering Capital 2024

NCVO is a member of the Centre for European Volunteering (CEV). CEV is inviting cities and towns to apply to win the title of European Capital of Volunteering 2024. CEV has produced a communications toolkit to help bring volunteering organisations and local authorities together to apply.

To find out what being a European volunteering capital can do for you, you can:

Nominations close on 3 June and the winner will be announced on International Volunteer Day on 5 December. If you’d like to know more about the competition, email Gabriella Civico, the director of CEV.

Investing in volunteers

Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is a UK quality standard that helps you improve how you manage your volunteers. It’s an externally verified award, awarded by the UK Volunteering Forum, and covers 6 quality areas for improving volunteers’ experience with you. With the imminent launch of the Vision for Volunteering, there’s never been a better time to start your IiV journey. Register your interest and get a quote so you can join a community of IiV achiever organisations.

NCVO online training

Strategic planning: Processes and tools for direction and decision making

Has the pandemic prompted you to rethink your strategy? We’re offering a one-day online course to help on 18 May, 10.00–15.30.

Volunteers and the law

We’ve refreshed our online training course on volunteers and the law to address issues emerging from the pandemic. We’re offering this on 14 June, 14.00-17.00.

Safeguarding essentials in charities

The next date for our online safeguarding essentials in charities course is 22 June, 10.00–15.00.

Good practice in volunteer management

Our popular online good practice in volunteer management course takes place over two half days from 10.00–13.00. You need to attend both days as they’re two parts of one course.

June course
Session 1: Tuesday 28 June
Session 2: Wednesday 29 June

July course
Session 1: Monday 11 July
Session 2: Wednesday 13 July.

Jarina Choudhury
Volunteering Development Consultancy Officer, NCVO
26 April 2022

This blog first appeared on blogs.ncvo.org.uk