09 August 2010

With spending cutbacks affecting the provision and funding of services by national and local government and with Citizen Dave Cameron’s Big Society big idea encouraging voluntary organisations and community groups to take over the running of services and facilities, volunteering will become even more important.

 

And so it is vital that volunteers find their experience rewarding, and appreciated, which many do not find now. According to the Scottish Household Survey, 41% of former volunteers in Scotland would not volunteer again. It’s not just small organisations where the problem exists, and it’s an issue which everyone using, or thinking about using volunteers, should be addressing. These concerns were raised in an article in a recent issue of Third Force News.Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS) have accepted that the concerns highlighted in the Volunteer Rights Inquiry interim report, carried out by Volunteering England as a response to a number of high profile cases of volunteers being poorly treated by volunteering involving organisations, are relevant in Scotland too.

If you are involved in any way with using volunteers (and that I think will apply to quite a few visitors to this website) you should download and read this significant report: Volunteer Rights Inquiry (515.21 kB)  Section 1 deals with the context and background. Section 2 sets out the individual stories and comments the inquiry received, which illustrate the nature of the problems that volunteers face and provide a snapshot of the stress suffered as a result. Section 3 flags up opposing views about how much enforcement and external pressure is required. And Section 4 summarises the range of options that have been proposed so far.

The Role of Tea in Volunteering

]In my experience as a volunteer and as a supervisor/trainer of volunteers there is one essential requirement for a happy volunteer, and that is – where it is appropriate and possible – to provide unlimited tea and coffee of good quality (with of course milk and sugar). This should be provided free of any charge. The foregoing should be standard. However to maximise the satisfaction provided by the volunteer experience, I recommend the provision of bone china mugs (for the best cuppa); tea pot (stainless steel is OK); real tea leaves, preferably pure Ceylon – Brodies Ceyon which you can purchase in Jenners in Edinburgh is rather good; and the volunteers’ tea should be made at least once a day by the most senior member of the organisation present to show the requisite appreciation for the volunteer’s work. Now what could be easier than that? (And please remember, most senior member of the organisation making the tea, to put the milk into the mug first. This has been scientifically proven to improve the flavour - it's to do with the way the hot water interacts with the milk.)

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