INSPIRING PEOPLE, CHANGING COMMUNITIES

OUR EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMMES

Improvements to employee health and well-being

To the community?

Share your skills with your community in a meaningful way and help achieve sustainable positive change

Provide capacity to community organisations and schools in real need

Build community cohesion and tackle inequality

Engage people from disadvantaged backgrounds with enthusiastic professionals and raise their confidence and aspirations while helping them develop vital skills

Improve the physical environment community organisations and schools work in

Who we are Volunteering Matters develop and deliver high impact volunteer-led solutions across the UK in response to some of the most difficult challenges facing individuals and their communities today. We engage more than 30,000 volunteers and 90,000 beneficiaries every year through 180 active programmes across the UK.

Employee Volunteering is a specialist department of Volunteering Matters which develops, delivers, manages and evaluates a range of employee volunteering opportunities from one-day team volunteering to longer-term individual volunteer placements with schools and community organisations. We can offer one-off Community Action Days (CADs) all the way through to long term major national programmes of employee volunteering.

ABOUT US

INSPIRING PEOPLE, CHANGING COMMUNITIES LEADING UK VOLUNTEERING IN POLICY AND PRACTICE

Who we work with We pride ourselves in offering tailor-made volunteer programmes to employers that meet real community needs, benefit employees and develop skills. To date, we have implemented successful employee volunteering projects all over the UK with companies large and small including Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, The Cooperative, Aviva, National Grid, Discovery Channel and many more.

The service provided by Volunteering Matters

Matching volunteers to specifically researched bespoke community projects;

Liaising between you, your volunteers and the community organisation/school;

A logistics visit with your volunteers

and the community organisation/school;

Volunteer briefings/training and screening;

An extensive risk assessment covering all aspects of Health & Safety and liability insurance;

Impact measurement of your volunteering projects/programmes.

What are the benefits to your organisation?

Skills development

Increased sense of pride for employees in their employer

Increased staff retention, motivation and engagement

Improved team building and morale

PR opportunities

OF EMPLOYEES FELT MORE POSITIVE ABOUTTHEIR EMPLOYER

82%

OF EMPLOYEES FELT THEY HAD MADE A DIFFERENCE TO THE COMMUNITY

95%

Employee team feedback:

“ The day was a fantastic success. The Deloitte team thoroughly enjoyed themselves”

“ The impact we had was tangible”

100% of Deloitte respondents felt they had made a real difference to the MRC

100% felt more positive about Deloitte and that their pride in Deloitte had increased

MRC feedback:

“ The workshop was brilliant - the energy the Deloitte volunteers shared was fantastic ”

“ It helped me to build my self-confidence and figure out my strong sides I can rely on and even be proud of ”

100% of participants said that they had found the workshop useful and that it provided the information they were looking for

CASE STUDY: COMMUNITY ACTION DAY

INSPIRING PEOPLE, CHANGING COMMUNITIES LEADING UK VOLUNTEERING IN POLICY AND PRACTICE

a welcome chance for community organisations to offer their service users different types of activities and contact with people they would not usually have the chance to meet and spend time talking to.

3) Practical activities Practical volunteering days allow teams to make a tangible difference to community spaces such as schools, parks, conservation areas, community centres etc. Teams can get their hands dirty making a big difference while providing much needed valuable community resource. Practical volunteering gives teams the chance to team build and engage positively with their local community.

Contracting and one-off Community Action Days Volunteering Matters provides a flexible service to meet the needs of all sizes of employers as required. We can organise one-off events at a time of your choice or have a contractual arrangement with employers to deliver a specific number of projects over a period of time.

Contracted clients will have a dedicated project manager from Volunteering Matters.

Team size and timing considerations The usual team size for all CADs is around 10-20 volunteers. On some occasions we can organise events for up to 75 volunteers depending on the capacity of the community organisation as well as health and safety requirements.

For interactive and skills-based projects numbers are limited to a maximum of 20 volunteers, but the optimum is 6-15 volunteers.

At Volunteering Matters, we find the volunteering opportunity that is tailor made for your employees matching your strategic objectives. This ranges from skills development programmes to practical team building opportunities. On our Community Action Day programmes teams of volunteers spend a day supporting community organisations and schools through a range of activities.

Volunteering Matters will source a bespoke opportunity for you overseeing health and safety, insurance and all logistics to ensure a successful, meaningful and positive volunteering experience for you and your staff.

Types of CAD projects 1) Skills-based activities Skills-based team volunteering is highly effective as it enables your employees to pass on their professional skills to the community. As a team, volunteers can for example host workshops for young people and adults facing multiple challenges to finding employment improving their confidence and transferrable skills while also raising their aspirations or support community organisations with capacity-building. We will make best use of your employees’ skills to benefit local communities.

2) Interactive activities Interactive team days allow volunteers to support people in the community directly, e.g. by taking a group of elderly people on a day trip or supporting disability sports activities. Volunteers have the opportunity to give something back in a fun, engaging way while also using their softer skills. This can be an eye-opening experience for the volunteers, while also providing

Community venue profile

The Migrants Resource Centre (MRC) is a charity based in central London which works with migrants and refugees from all over the world. It was first set up in 1984 and has been in existence ever since as a community centre for migrants and refugees living across London.

Aims of the day

A team of 10 Deloitte volunteers were looking to bond as a team whilst using their professional skills to support others in the community. Volunteering Matters matched them with the Migrants Resource Centre to provide an employability workshop for a group of migrants who faced many barriers to employment in the UK due to a lack of familiarity with the systems here.

What happened?

The Deloitte team ran a fun and interactive CV and interview workshop, sharing tips from their own experience and providing 1:1 and small group activities to help participants develop their employability skills. Informal networking over lunch was also a key part of the day, giving both sides the chance to interact with a group of people they may not normally come into contact with.

Our costs Our charges are on a sliding scale based on the team size and the number of options we are requested to identify. Prices start at £780+ VAT for up to 10 volunteers.

In addition, we recommend a budget of £5-10 per volunteer to cover tools and materials. It is not essential, but it does enable teams to work with organisations that do not have enough resources to cover the basics.

COMMUNITY ACTION DAYS (CADS)

Through our Talent Matters programme we matched Nikki-Dee with the homelessness charity SIFA Fireside in Birmingham.

Anne, project manager at SIFA Fireside: “due to changes in funding and the landscape in which we operate we recognised that we needed to re-define our purpose and aims. Our volunteer Nikki-Dee met with us on multiple occasions providing guidance, tools and training to support us to identify and define our key values, services and benefits. It was exactly what we needed.

Nikki-Dee was really supportive and worked at the pace we needed, she tailored everything to how our organisation functions and was realistic about how much we could carry

INSPIRING PEOPLE, CHANGING COMMUNITIES LEADING UK VOLUNTEERING IN POLICY AND PRACTICE

Volunteering Matters offers individual volunteering programmes aimed at developing and challenging your employees in a different setting and environment. It is suitable for all sizes of employers including SMEs.

Talent Matters is a skills-based volunteering programme that helps individual volunteers share their professional skills with charities and community organisations.

After a careful matching process, we support community partners and volunteers as they work together through the step-by-step process. This requires both parties to commit

to 20-30 hours over 3 to 4 months. This can contribute towards volunteers personal and professional development plans and can work alongside their job.

Talent Matters will give volunteers the opportunity to develop their skills, tailored to their role, while supporting a charity achieve sustainable improvements in a variety of areas, e.g. marketing, impact measurement, business planning, IT. This programme can be tailored to meet Learning and Development goals as well as CSR objectives.

Our costs: Please get in touch for a quote.

OF VOLUNTEERS FELT THAT THE SKILLS THEY HAD DEVELOPED/IMPROVED WOULD BE USEFUL IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL WORK

75%

forward. The benefits of working with Nikki-Dee have been significant. We now have a clear vision of the benefits we provide and the impact we have as an organisation.”

In Nikki-Dee’s words: “Talent Matters is a programme that gets professionals like me to give their time to support charities by acting as independent facilitator and applying their expertise. When I heard SIFA Fireside were looking for help, I was quick to offer my expertise. Organisations in the UK are facing increasing pressure to deliver value for money. The first step to greater efficiency is for an organisation to focus on its mission and measure its results. Our project had support from the whole organisation and team, who were all dedicated, passionate and inspiring.”

CASE STUDY – TALENT MATTERS

INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMMES – SKILLS FOR SCHOOLSWe offer programmes in primary and secondary schools based around supporting children and young people with their reading skills, maths as well as mentoring. Through one-to-one support, volunteers help students become confident and able readers and /or help improve academic confidence and grades, raising aspirations. We also arrange business mentoring for senior school staff who would like a mentor from a commercial background to help them overcome organisational challenges.

Volunteering Matters researches a suitable school and sets up the programme, provides training, processes DBS checks and offers on-going support for volunteers and the school throughout the year. We also carry out a full evaluation if desired.

Our costs: Please get in touch for a quote

This mentoring programme is run in partnership with Deutsche Bank’s youth engagement programme, Born to Be. Their employees provide essential one-to-one or group support to 11 – 15 year olds to build skills, knowledge and change attitudes, helping to break down barriers faced by young people moving from education into employment.

Tom began tutoring GCSE maths students on a weekly basis at Holloway School five years ago. In his words: “I decided to volunteer primarily because it is a chance to do something different, away from the corporate world, and to hopefully make a positive contribution to society. Each week I work with between one and three students, providing focused support on the more challenging aspects of the maths syllabus and feedback on mock exam questions. To begin with, many of the students either lack confidence in their abilities, or haven’t had enough time to focus on fundamentals before moving on to more advanced concepts. However, with the focused support that these tutoring sessions provide, most students are able to progress from borderline C/D grades to safe C or even B grades. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the Born to Be programme: it’s been a great opportunity to give something back to society and do something different from the day-to-day grind. The experience also inspired me to become a governor at my local primary school.

CASE STUDY – SKILLS FOR SCHOOLS WITH DEUTSCHE BANK

INDIVIDUAL VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMMES – TALENT MATTERS

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VOLUNTEERINGMATTERS @VOLUNTEERING_UKVolunteering Matters is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 291222 and in Scotland no. SCO39171

To find out more about how we can support your employee volunteering: DR ANGELA SCHLENKHOFF-HUSDEPUTY HEAD OF EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING ANGELA.SCHLENKHOFF-HUS@VOLUNTEERINGMATTERS.ORG.UKVOLUNTEERINGMATTERS.ORG.UK/EMPLOYEE-VOLUNTEERING0203 780 5921

Setting up suitable and meaningful volunteering activities for your employees can be incredibly time-consuming and difficult. It takes time and expertise to find a suitable community partner from the large number of charities available. You have to find one that matches your ambitions, strategy and requirements, implement the logistics and risk management processes and build up a solid relationship with them so that you can maximise the value of your community investment.

The best EV programmes entail partnerships between employers and a brokering organisation. A broker helps to ensure that employees have a range of impactful and safe volunteering

options to choose from, that there is a good fit between employees’ skills and the needs of voluntary organisations and that the voluntary organisations and the volunteers can solely concentrate on the volunteering experience. Many community organisations decide to only engage with employee volunteers through a brokerage organisation as they do not have capacity or the expertise in-house to manage these programmes .

Great brokers are specialists in making impactful connections between employers and the voluntary sector so make sure you chose one with expert knowledge and an excellent track record.

WHY USE AN EMPLOYEE VOLUNTEERING BROKER?