the bradford district volunteering … active citizenship. research shows that 28.5% of our...

THE BRADFORD DISTRICTVOLUNTEERING STRATEGY 2011 – 2013

Volunteers are energetic people that gladly give of themselves and their time for worthy causes. They deserve recognition and acknowledgement for their hard work.

Foreword

Introduction

Local context

National context

International Context

BVSP Vision, Values and Aims

Action Plan

Acknowledgements

AppendicesAppendix 1 Definitions and Volunteering Types

Appendix 2 The strategy consultation process

Appendix 3 List of organisations involved in the consultation process

Appendix 4 BVSP members and key strategic partners

Appendix 5 Place Survey Question 15

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STRATEGY 2011 – 2013

CONTENTS

I have gained many personal skills by participating

in residentia l, conferences and events which have given me

conf idence, improved my self-esteem and made me more

independent. The skills I use while volunteering are

actually skills for life. Assam Mahmood – Volunteer Youth Mediator, Peerlink UK

“The Bradford district has a proud tradition of volunteering. Our volunteers make invaluable contributions and play an important role in local life. The Council has recognised this through our Active Citizens 2011 campaign, our Big Plan and our strategy for Active Citizenship.

Research shows that 28.5% of our district’s population volunteers regularly, the highest rate of all local authority areas in Yorkshire and the Humber.

From national voluntary organisations to small local community groups, volunteers are using their time to make a difference, give something back to their local community and gain valuable new skills.

Volunteers make an important addition to a wide range of services delivered by local organisations and are particularly valuable to more disadvantaged residents.

The district has been innovative in its approach to supporting work with volunteers. This strategy builds on Bradford district’s 2006 Policy Statement of Good Practice in Working with Volunteers, which was the first policy of its kind in the country.

However, more can be done to encourage people to volunteer in our district.

Opportunities could be made more accessible and information better co-ordinated. Voluntary organisations could be supported to recruit more volunteers and utilise their skills more effectively.

This Volunteering Strategy aims to address these challenges and supports the work of all our partners ensuring that by 2013 Bradford is a district where everyone has the opportunity to volunteer and make a difference to their neighbourhood, their community and themselves.”

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Cllr Imran HussainDeputy Leader of Bradford Council

Volunteering is widely recognised in today’s society as being extremely important to all parties involved: to the volunteers themselves, to communities and the organisations for whom the volunteers volunteer (statutory and voluntary sector), and for the direct recipients of the volunteers’ services.

Volunteering can provide many benefits by:• Introducing different perspectives, skills, knowledge and experience to public and voluntary sector services and to community activity

• Promoting inclusion

• Providing opportunities for training and experience, and helping to equip individuals for employment

• Adding significant value to public and voluntary sector services

• Involving the private sector in voluntary and community activity (through employer supported volunteering initiatives)

This District wide volunteering strategy aims to identify the key issues (challenges and opportunities) for volunteering in the district, and to outline the key objectives which will address the issues and to set out a plan to achieve the objectives. With ever-increasing demand for resources, and shrinking budgets, the challenge in the implementation of this strategy will be to ensure, as far as possible, that new appropriate, good quality opportunities are developed and that volunteers are not used inappropriately to perform roles which should be carried out by paid staff. Another challenge for organisations will be to dedicate sufficient resources to the management of volunteers including their support.

The strategy has been produced by the Bradford Volunteering Strategic Partnership – the partnership has replaced the ‘Bradford Good Practice Group’ which produced the first joint (voluntary and statutory sector) Good Practice Policy Statement. This was launched originally as a Bradford Vision policy statement (Bradford Vision was the local strategic partnership at the time) but after the demise of Bradford Vision the policy statement was re-launched as a BVSP statement. The statement was adopted by Bradford Council as policy in 2003.

The Good Practice group became the Strategic Partnership in response to the recognition of the need to be fully integrated into the district’s Partnership and decision - making structure. Having formerly been a member of the Building Communities Partnership (although with no formal reporting status) , it is now a member of the Stronger Communities Partnership and is actively involved in that partnership’s Active Citizenship Delivery Group (see local context).

The member organisations in the Bradford Volunteering Strategic Partnership are representatives of most of the major volunteer-involving organisations (both statutory and voluntary) in the district. They may have direct responsibility for their organisation’s own volunteers but will also have a strategic overview of the organisations needs in terms of volunteering and may have responsibility for the development and implementation of the organisation’s volunteering policy.

Some of the organisations involve a small number of volunteers themselves (in particular the Volunteer Centres) but their main role is to broker volunteering placements with other organisations and to offer advice to these organisations on good practice in the involvement of volunteers.

All member organisations are committed to the promotion of volunteering in all its forms throughout the district. The member organisations are listed in Appendix 4 with key partners.

The Partnership has hosted various joint promotional events as well as a conference during the International year of the Volunteer in 2001. In 2011 it initiated the Year of Active Citizens 2011 and it has written the Volunteering Code for the district’s Compact adopted in 2010. This code summarises the shared principles by which all partner organisations agree to work. It also includes the following shared values:“All partners recognise that people have a right to be active within their communities and value the important contribution that volunteering makes to quality of life in the district”.

Also in 2010 Bradford was the most successful City in England in delivering the the Department for Work and Pensions volunteering brokerage scheme. The scheme (led nationally by Volunteering England) has helped over 500 long term unemployed people to develop work based skills through volunteering in the last year. Independent research by the DWP found that 20% of people who took part found that volunteering helped them to leave benefit and find work.

In 2011 Bradford is a pilot for the National Citizens Service and 74 young people took part in summer volunteering projects led by the Bradford Volunteer Centre and Bradford Council.

For the purposes of this volunteering strategy , volunteering is defined as:

an activity that involves spending time, ‘unpaid’, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or individuals or groups other than (or in addition to) close relatives.

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INTRODUCTION

The Big Plan (or Sustainable Community Strategy) shows that volunteering reaches all communities within the District and that volunteers are within the statutory, private, public and voluntary and community sectors. In the Local Strategic Partnership the Children and Young People Partnership enables 1,326 young people aged 16-25 to engage in volunteering over the last two years with 357 young people receiving a national award for volunteering though the National Young Volunteers Service, V Involved. This service is operated locally by Volunteering Bradford. The Health and Wellbeing partnership found that 46,000 volunteers support 13,000 people to live at home. Volunteers also contribute to the work of the Safer Communities partnership with volunteers as Special Police Officers, Police Community Contact volunteers, Neighbourhood Watch groups and Magistrates. Under the Stronger Communities partnership volunteers support community events (from the Mela to the Lord Mayor’s Parade), support community festivals (from the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Pride festival to Travellers events) and also the cultural Olympiad leading to 2012. The Voluntary and Community Sector in the Bradford District is substantial and is made up of 3,000 organisations. 10,000 members of management committees and 27,000 volunteers. (Source: Bradford Council Third Sector Review 2009.) Equally volunteering is a nationally recognised part of the District’s education providers. The University of Bradford has won a national award for it’s volunteering module and Bradford College has written the first Voluntary and Community Sector degree programme which has a volunteer management module. Through the national V Schools initiative led locally by Bradford Volunteer Centre, all Bradford Secondary schools students (14-16) have opportunities to undertake volunteering and it is part of the National Curriculum under Citizenship for the first time. Finally volunteering is at the heart of the District’s Active Citizenship strategy which will be delivered through the 2011 Year of Volunteering promoting Active Citizenship (see International Context below).

In 2004 the government strategy “Change Up” set out a road map for the modernisation of volunteering infrastructure. The aim of the strategy was that “by 2014 the needs of the frontline voluntary and community organisations will be met by support which is available nationwide, structured for maximum efficiency, offering excellent provision which is accessible to all while reflecting and promoting diversity, and is sustainably funded.” The strategy provided support and helped re-brand a network of Volunteer Centres. There are two quality accredited Volunteer Centres in the District, one in Bradford City Centre and the other in Keighley. More recently in January 2008 the Commission on the Future of Volunteering was set up to develop a long-term vision for volunteering in England. The Commission reported in with recommendations directed at all sections of society – private and public sector, voluntary sector and individuals. Volunteering England established six action groups to ensure the Manifesto has a significant impact and that together we improve the future of volunteering. These action groups tackled the key themes identified in the Commission’s recommendations, each led by an individual of influence in the area. In the future we are two years away from the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics which will inspire thousands of new volunteering roles and engage people who haven’t previously volunteered. Through active involvement in the Yorkshire Gold strategy and with a number of Olympic “Inspire Mark” projects we are working to ensure that Olympic inspired volunteering leaves a lasting legacy to benefit the people of the Bradford District. Other future government volunteering proposals include a national day of volunteering, volunteering for young people and the inclusion of volunteering activities in the appraisals of Civil Servants.

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LOCAL CONTEXT NATIONAL CONTEXT

I enjoy the role and love working with children giving them an

opportunity to take part in sport. I would really like a job in sports

coaching in the future and think that volunteering has helped me build my

conf idence and taught me the disciplines needed to be a good

coach and has already led to some casual coaching work.Daniel King is a multi sports coach in various schools in Bradford

Active Citizens 2011 - The European Year of Volunteering Supporting Active Citizenship

The 2011 Year of Volunteering a European wide programme of activities that will help us effectively celebrate and promote volunteering in the Bradford District. Engaging more people in volunteering in the District at this particular time is anticipated to have a positive role in offering an additional and constructive outlet for all age-groups and communities, many of whom are experiencing negative impacts as a result of the impact of the recession. It is also seen as an opportunity to attract new resources into the District. Active Citizens kicked off with a launch event in January 2011 in City Hall and already over 100 events have taken place events across the District.

The 2011 year aims:

• To celebrate and promote volunteering;

• To increase community engagement through volunteering especially through roles promoting active citizenship;

• To create more volunteers and volunteering opportunities;

• To deliver a quality volunteering experience.

We have initiated and helped lead the Active Citizens 2011 campaign which has seen a 21% increase in volunteering enquiries to date.

To date we have supported over 124 events across the district including the packed launch event in City Hall. Events have taken place across the District and have been coordinated by volunteer staff in the Neighbourhood Offices, regeneration, Youth Serivces and Tourism Culutre and Sport. In Bingley and Menston we supported a Neighbourhood Action Planning event on Active Citizens. We supported a similar and smaller event in Shipley. We have supported two events for Women for International Womens Day and will support the Hindu community with Sewa Day in October. We led additional launch events at the Airedale and Kirkgate Shopping Centres and held a Speed Matching Event and Volunteering Fun Day in Keighley for Volunteers Week.

We were a keynote speaker at the Bradford Assembly to launch the year to the Voluntary and Community Sector.

Organisations have been given additional help to enable them to provide better support for volunteers and over 2637 new volunteer roles have been created. Ten training events have been delivered through the year, with 400 new resource packs with DVD’s and USB information supported by a web portal. On the web over 20 films about volunteering have been made and published. We have supported over 40 new organizations to take on volunteers for the first time including the West Yorkshire Fire Service.

The Volunteering Strategic Partnership is a group of representatives from a wide range of statutory and voluntary sector organisations who are committed to promoting volunteering and who believe that volunteering is a major social force in today’s society. They also believe that volunteering must be managed effectively in order to ensure that it is of benefit to all parties involved. To this end the Partnership meets regularly to ensure that ‘good practice’ is achieved wherever possible in the involvement of volunteers.The purpose of the Partnership is:

To bring together volunteering infrastructure organisations and other key agencies in the district which involve volunteers in the work of their organisations in order to:

1) Promote and develop volunteering in the district by maintaining a strategic overview of volunteering and, in particular, volunteering good practice

2) Monitor the implementation of “Bradford Vision’s Policy Statement of Good Practice in Working with Volunteers” throughout the district’s voluntary and statutory sectors

3) Engage with key strategic bodies (all sectors) on all current and potential volunteering initiatives

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INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT

BRADFORD VOLUNTEERING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP (BVSP)

I am very proud of the changes we have helped to make at Bradford Theatres. I know how much these improvements mean to disabled people.

Championing disabled people’s needs has really helped me too. It has given me a strong sense of purpose and built my confidence to get out and try new things

BVSP’S UNDERPINNING VALUES• commitment to valuing volunteers and volunteering, and recognising the potential of volunteering

• commitment to diversity and inclusion

• commitment to collaborative and partnership working

• commitment to the promotion of quality volunteering opportunities which promote inclusion /access by as many people as possible

• commitment to the promotion of sustainability in volunteer involvement

• commitment to the promotion of ‘good practice in working with volunteers’ among volunteer-involving organisations throughout the district

• commitment to the various forms of volunteering as defined in the Active Citizenship Framework

• commitment to adequate resourcing of volunteering and recognition that volunteering is not cost-free and volunteers are not ‘cheap labour’

• commitment to encouraging the recognition of volunteer management as a profession

AIMSIn order to achieve this vision, BVSP aims to ensure that:

• we raise the strategic profile of BVSP and of volunteering in the Bradford District

• volunteering is adequately resourced

• new volunteering opportunities are developed

• systems are in place to measure the impact of volunteering

• equal opportunities in volunteering is promoted and barriers to volunteering challenged

• the quality of volunteering in the district is raised

VISION

BVSP’s vision for volunteering is for:Volunteering to be recognised and promoted as a valuable activity which improves the lives of people and communities, and enhances the delivery of quality voluntary and statutory services in the Bradford District.

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Sue Scott Bradford Theatres Access Group

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ACTION PLAN APRIL 2011 – MARCH 2013

Key objective Actions Lead Body/key partners Timescale Links to other

strategic work

1. To raise the strategic profile of BVSP and of volunteering in the Bradford District

2. To work towards ensuring that volunteering is adequately resourced

BVSP

BVSP

November 2011

February 2011

Ongoing

November 2011

June 2011

Ongoing

May 2011

Ongoing

A) Ensure that BVSP contains members from key volunteer-involving organisations who have a strategic decision-making role, in relation to volunteering, within their organisation

B) Explore local/national volunteering indicators, and consequent links with BDP and other district, sub-regional and regional networks/Partnerships

C) Develop a Strategic Plan for volunteering in the Bradford District

D) Ensure that organisations are aware of BVSP and the local volunteering infrastructure support organisations (Volunteer Centres) and the support that it can give to organisations and agencies from all sectors and in all aspects of volunteering and volunteer management

E) Ensure that BVSP is aware of and, where appropriate, involved in those policy- making bodies and initiatives where volunteering is discussed – including relevant Partnerships and Forums (REWORDED)

F) Ensure that BVSP has representation on key strategic agencies/committees at local, regional and national level

G) Encourage volunteering to be considered in the planning of existing and new services (including the promotion of realistic resourcing for volunteering)

H) Contribute to the writing of the ‘Volunteering Code’ section of the district’s Compact

A) Be involved at strategic level in decision- making bodies where conversations appropriate to the funding and resourcing of volunteering in the Bradford District are taking place

Inter-generational strategy Active Citizenship Strategy Change Up

- Third Sector Review

- Compact

- Commission on the Future of Volunteering

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strategic work

2. To work towards ensuring that volunteering is adequately resourced

3. To ensure new volunteering opportunities are developed across a wide range of organisations to meet the needs of potential volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds

3.1 To develop and open up new volunteering opportunities

BVSP

BISONBfunded

BISONVolunteer CentresbFunded

BVSP (and in particular Volunteer Centres, UCAN and vinvolved team) (lead agency Volunteering Bradford)

September 2011

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing2011 – 2012(note – 2 Inspire Marks awarded 2009)

B) Aim to embed good practice in commissioning to ensure appropriate resourcing for volunteering (including through the development of the district’s Compact) (see 1g))

C) Disseminate information relating to sources of funding relevant to the management of volunteers and/or the promotion of volunteering good practice, via the Volunteer Organisers Forum, the BVSP website, Briefing Bradford, bFunded, CVS etc

D) Campaign, to maintain the strategic position of volunteering and key volunteer-involving bodies in the district

E) Work with organisations who are bidding for funds for volunteering, to ensure that funds cover volunteering-related expenses adequately (see 3.4 e))

A) Identify gaps in the type of volunteering opportunities available and/or where demand is greater than availability

B) Develop marketing and other support strategies to deal with the shortages identified and to identify possible areas for new developments

C) Target organisations which involve volunteers, but which are not currently on V-base with the aim of getting them to register on V-base

D) Recruit and broker volunteers to act as Committee members, and ensure that Boards are able to implement volunteering good practice

E) Work with other bodies/Partnerships to identify and develop volunteering opportunities (e.g. within the inter- generational Strategy)

F) Seek funding as BVSP to create new volunteering opportunities (and deliver work via relevant organisations)

G) Plan to develop opportunities, in conjunction with other agencies, to contribute to the district’s work in the 2012 Active and Engaged Communities theme

Third Sector Review

Compact

Commission on the Future of Volunteering

LSP (Stronger Communites Partnership)

Inter-generational Strategy

WNFV

Olympics Volunteering Regional Strategy

Regional Yorkshire Gold Strategy

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strategic work

3.2 To develop opportunities and support systems for volunteers with extra support needs

3.3 To encourage appropriate models of Employer Supported Volunteering and thereby increase level of Employer Supported Volunteering

3.4 To encourage all volunteer-involving organisations to comply with the district’s Good Practice Policy Statement on involving volunteers

BVSP (in particular Keighley Volunteer Centre)

Keighley Volunteer Centre

Keighley Volunteer Centre and People First

Beinvolved initiative (Bradford Chamber of Commerce)

Volunteer Centres

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

By end 2012

Ongoing

By end 2012

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Tackle organisational barriers to, and increase potential support for, volunteers with extra support needs by:

A) Signposting organisations, e.g. to Keighley Volunteer Centre, to access resources, including training

B) Helping organisations to think creatively about how to meet the needs of volunteers with extra support needs

D) Providing accessible training (where an organisation’s own training may be inaccessible or may act as a barrier)

A) Agree a definition of this type of volunteering

B) Maintain an overview of this volunteering and disseminate information about volunteering opportunities

C) Develop partnership agreements between relevant organisations to cover the promotion of and coordination of ESV volunteering opportunities

D) Work in partnership with ESV-promoting initiatives including promoting the Volunteering England (or other) toolkit where appropriate

A) Provide advice and support to organisations on the management of volunteers

B) Support the dissemination (in various forms and as widely as possible) of most ‘up-to-date’ good practice information (including CRB checks, health and safety issues etc)

C) Promote culture-change to encourage organisations to: (a) be more volunteer-friendly and (b) identify more opportunities

D) Continue to target organisations which are not registered on V-base (see 3.1 c))

Big Plan


Volunteering England toolkit (on Employer Supported Volunteering)

Third Sector Review


DIVA

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strategic work

3.4 To encourage all volunteer-involving organisations to comply with the district’s Good Practice Policy Statement on involving volunteers

4. Establish ways to measure the impact of volunteering, for all relevant parties, in the Bradford District

5. To ensure that Bradford’s diverse communities (including communities of interest) participate in and are reflected in the volunteering opportunities at all levels

Volunteer Centres

BVSP

BVSP

Bradford Resource Centre and Bison

Ongoing

December 2011

By October 2012

By October 2012

By October 2012

By March 2012

March 2012

By end 2012

Ongoing

Ongoing

E) Work with organisations who are bidding for funds for volunteering, to ensure that funds cover volunteering-related expenses adequately (see 2 e))

F) Review the function of the VOs forum (including relationship to BVSP) and develop new methods for volunteer organisers to be able to network, thereby improving awareness of good practice, and reducing competition for funding

Develop and implement systems to measure the impact of volunteering. In particular to:

A) Pilot the Volunteering England (VE) ‘Impact Assessment Toolkit’ (and/or other systems of impact measurement where needed) to meet the needs of partner organisations and VCS organisations

B) Arrange training in the use of the VE ‘Impact Assessment Toolkit’ (and/or other systems of impact measurement), initially for partner organisations

C) Promote the VE Impact Assessment Toolkit (and/or other systems of impact measurement) partner organisations and to a pilot group of volunteer- involving organisations.

D) Subject to results of pilot work, extend use of toolkit to other organisations

E) Work with the DIVA database partnership to explore ways of obtaining feedback through their monitoring on the impact of volunteering

A) Ensure that BVSP membership reflects the diversity of the Bradford district

B) Find ways to encourage organisations to monitor the diversity of their volunteers

C) Work with other organisations to obtain data on diversity and under-representation issues

D) Define and analyse causes of under-representation

E) Develop systems and provision to tackle barriers and under-representation

Third Sector Review


Change Up

Big Plan

Third Sector Review

Single Equalities Act

Big Plan

Change Up

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strategic work

6. To improve the quality of volunteering experiences in the district

BVSP

Bradford Resource Centre and Bison

BSupported

BVSP

Bsupported

Bsupported

C-Net

Ongoing to March 2012

March 2012

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

June 2011

September 2011

Ongoing

F) Obtain and analyse information from e.g. Place Survey and Bradford Observatory, and plan to target under-represented groups

G) Target particular organisations/ networks/ geographical areas to promote volunteering and encourage participation

A) Support the delivery of a programme of training for volunteer coordinators/ organisers/ managers on various aspects of volunteering good practice

B) Support the delivery of a programme of good practice awareness-raising for other staff who will be working with volunteers

C) Offer support for organisations to develop and improve their volunteering programmes through e.g. provision of information on the BVSP website, circulation of BVSP Good Practice packs, and work with organisations towards the Investors in Volunteers Award, or local Award (see f))

D) Encourage the continued development of appropriate infrastructure support structures and support systems which will develop volunteering in the Bradford

E) Offer the opportunity for Volunteer Managers to network and share experiences through the Volunteer Organisers Forum

F) Collate and circulate information on training (including accredited training) for Volunteer Managers

G) Collate and circulate information on training and accreditation for volunteers

H) Develop and introduce a Bradford Awards Scheme – BVSP Awards to be available for organisations to nominate their own volunteers annually, and also for organisations to be nominated by volunteers for their good practice.

I) Explore options to facilitate volunteers ‘having a voice’ (e.g. via Partnerships, Neighbourhood Forums, and Volunteer Organisers Forum)

J) Continue to communicate with volunteers and potential volunteers about the range of opportunities and benefits of volunteering

Inter-generational Strategy


APPENDICES11

Appendix 1

DEFINITIONS AND VOLUNTEERING TYPES

for the purposes of this volunteering strategy , volunteering is defined as:

an activity that involves spending time, ‘unpaid’, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or individuals or groups other than (or in addition to) close relatives.

Employer Supported Volunteering Businesses and the public sector are becoming increasingly interested in how their own employees can become involved in volunteering. Many and varied programmes are being set up to assist employees to volunteer, whether during work hours or in their own time. This is called Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV). ‘Civic roles’ Certain organisations are required by law to provide volunteers to carry out certain roles. These volunteers therefore perform statutory roles, but are none-the-less genuine volunteers. Examples of such roles are magistrates, school governors, youth offending panel members, Independent Visitors. (Information on volunteering opportunities of this type are available from Volunteering Bradford / Keighley Volunteer Centre)

Private sector volunteeringEmployees of private sector organisations may become involved themselves in volunteering via their organisation’s Employer Supported Volunteering Scheme.

Work placements or college placements School or college students are often required to undertake a placement through which they can gain experience – this can be a block placement of two weeks (as if often the case for year 10 or 11 school students) or a longer placement e.g. 16 hours per week over several months as required by Health and Social Care courses. Placements may carry with them certain expectations, which mean that they are different in nature from volunteering due to the type of roles which need to be undertaken, or the level of supervision which needs to be given etc. Organisations may or may not be willing / able to accommodate this. However, it may be feasible for students to become ‘mainstream’ volunteers with an organisation ands simultaneously use the experience

gained to satisfy the requirements of their course. This would mean that they undergo the normal selection and placement expectations of the organisation in question. While work or student placements would not therefore normally be regarded as volunteering, certain placements may be negotiated which do meet an organisation’s criteria of a volunteering placement.

Informal volunteeringThis strategy covers most types of volunteering in a wide range of statutory and community and voluntary sector organisations. The Strategy does however apply to volunteering which takes place for an organisation of some type. Where the volunteering takes place for mutual self-help purposes (e.g. an informal ‘mums and tots’ group set up by a group of parents but not under the umbrella of an organisation), or where it is of a very informal nature e.g. helping a neighbour, this type of volunteering is not covered by this Strategy. This is because the Strategy assumes there is a responsible person/people within an organisation who are in a position to influence the volunteering and take responsibility for it. This is consistent with the question in the Place Survey about volunteering.

ParticipationIt is recognised that there are various forms of participation in community life / with communities of interest (as defined in the Active Citizenship framework) which are not considered to be volunteering – this could include activities such as attending a place of worship, attending a festival, or campaigning about a Highways issue. All forms of volunteering may therefore be regarded as participation, but not all types of participation are regarded as volunteering (for the purposes of the Strategy).

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Appendix 2

Strategy consultation process

Consultation on the draft Strategy took place between 1st June 2009 and 31st October 2009.A consultation event was held on 1st June 2009 at the Norcroft Centre, University of Bradford.Invitations were sent to:

• All organisations registered on v-base (the Volunteer Centres’ database of registered organisations in the district)

• Members of BVSP (Bradford Volunteering Strategic Partnership)

• Chairs of Partnerships of the BDP (Bradford District Partnership, the district’s local strategic partnership)

• Bradford Council Strategic Directors

• Other Council officers with a potential interest in volunteering

Representatives from a range of organisations attended which included both voluntary and statutory organisations, with an interest in operational volunteer management as well as strategic volunteering issues. The organisations which attended the event are listed in Appendix 1.

Participants were invited to attend two of the following workshops in the morning which covered major themes in volunteering in the district.

(The topics also reflected some of the themes/recommendations from the Commission on the Future of Volunteering). The workshop topics were:

1. What are the barriers to volunteering in the Bradford district a) generally and b) for particular groups?

2. Given the increase in demand for volunteering placements, where are the new volunteering opportunities going to come from and what type of new placements are needed?

3. How can we increase the quality and impact of volunteering in the Bradford district?

4. What are the issues for people managing volunteers in the district?

After lunch participants considered the Strategy’s Key Objectives and Action Plan in small groups. Comments were collated and revised Objectives and Action Plan were sent out to participants with amendments shown in red.

Consultation also took place with the Volunteer Organisers Forum on 13th October 2009. (The Forum is a group of Volunteer Organisers which meets quarterly to share practice and ideas, and discuss issues of concern).Again an overview of the Strategy was given and those present discussed whether the draft key objectives reflected priorities in their own organisations. Notes were recorded and amended objectives and Action Plan were sent out with amendments in blue.

Finally the draft Strategy was taken to the Active Citizenship Delivery Group on 8th December 2009 – the Strategy was endorsed by the group and discussion took place about gaining support for the implementation of the strategy (both in terms of funding and political support).

Appendix 3

Appendix 4

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Royds Community Association Little Horton Streets AheadBradford Metropolitan District Council -Stronger CommunitiesKirkgate Studios & WorkshopKeighley Volunteer Centre Carelink Befriending SchemeDomestic Violence ServicesSeniors Show the WayBradford Metropolitan District Council – Adult & Community ServicesMind in BradfordBradford Metropolitan District Council – Service Improvement TeamUniversity of Bradford Union (UBU) – UCANBradford Metropolitan District Council – Waste ManagementVolunteering Strategic Partnership (BVSP)Age Concern Bradford & District –Older People’s AllianceBradford Metropolitan District Council – Libraries, Archives & Information, DIVA databaseBradford Metropolitan District Council – Leisure ServicesAge Concern Bradford & District –Befriending Project

West Yorkshire Community Chaplaincy Project(WYCCP)Stronger Communities PartnershipMind in BradfordEducation Advice Service for Adults (EASA)Bradford Working Women’s ServiceBradford Metropolitan District Council – Neighbourhood Support ServiceCommunity AccordUniversity of Bradford - Peace StudiesIntegrated Youth Support - vtalent yearVolunteering BradfordBradford Environmental Education Service (BEES)IncommunitiesYoung EnterpriseBradford Metropolitan District Council – Bradford West Area Co-ordinators officeShipley & Bingley Voluntary ServicesBradford & District Senior PowerBradford & Airedale Primary Care TrustBradford Metropolitan District Council – Volunteering UnitYouthtrainNew Horizons Care in the CommunityBradford District Care Trust

NAVCAVolunteering EnglandBisonCnetISOGWYLDAYorkshire GoldLocal Government Yorkshire and the HumberRegional ForumGovernment Office Yorkshire and the HumberYAHVCONEngland Volunteering Development Council Yorkshire and the HumberAge UKBOPA

Bradford Volunteer Centre – Volunteering BradfordKeighley & District Volunteer CentreUCAN Volunteering Centre – University of BradfordVolunteering Unit - Bradford CouncilNACRO, Youth Offending TeamBe Involved – Chamber of Commerce led EmployeeVolunteeringVolunteers in Sport, Department of Culture, Tourism andSport- Bradford CouncilKeighley & District Volunteer Centre – SupportedVolunteeringBradford NHS Hospitals Foundation TrustAiredale NHS Foundation TrustBradford Metropolitan District Council – Volunteering Unit

List of organisations involved in the Strategy consultation process

BVSP membersKey Partners

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Zanib Thackray School Governor

Ann Calvert Volunteer Driver for elderly and disabled people, Bradford Volunteer Centre Social Car Scheme

I personally feel absolutely satisfied, I feel full. Everytime we see something change around school, we’ve got so much going on, all the changes and its just absolutely fantastic been a part of it. Because I left school with no qualifications it’s not that you can’t do it, because you can. I was saying to the headteacher, Hayley, that I’ll never stop learning. I’ll always learn something new!

Volunteer driving is so much more than just providing a taxi service.

I get a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment out of it and have built relationships with fascinating people who have lots of life experience.

Driving gives my week structure, gets me out of the house and out into the community. It’s a very important part of my life.

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