This document explains how the Voluntary and Community sector in Welwyn Hatfield will lead the devlopment of solutions that meet the area’s diverse needs, providing information services, support and advice and guidance and bringing local groups together to co-ordinate local action and to share knowledge. The full strategy can be downloaded from here, and a summary from here.

PRESS RELEASE: 15 August 2011

Volunteering Herts gets £100,000 boost from the Big Lottery Fund

Volunteering Herts, the network of quality accredited Volunteer Centres in Hertfordshire, is delighted to be one of 15 Volunteer Centre networks chosen by Volunteering England to work with them over the next 2 years on a national £1.9m Big Lottery Funded project. It is the BLF’s largest-ever grant for volunteering and was developed to strengthen volunteering in local communities in response to the effects of the recession and the increased demand for Volunteer Centre services.

The Big Lottery Fund solicited the bid from Volunteering England, which will manage the project nationally and distribute funds to the 15 partners. A £100,000 slice of the total project funding has been secured by Volunteering Herts for a 2 year project which will be led by Volunteer Centre Dacorum.

Carmen Dillon, CEO of Welwyn Hatfield Volunteer Centre, said “This funding has been secured at a time when Volunteer Centres in Hertfordshire are overstretched because of the number of unemployed people accessing our services. We will be appointing a part time County Development Officer to extend current collaborative work, particularly in activities which will enable long term unemployed people to gain skills and increase their employability through volunteering. Hand in hand with this will be our work with local organisations to help develop new voluntary opportunities which meet local needs.”

“The BLF project represents a great opportunity for Volunteer Centres in Hertfordshire. This short term project will demonstrate our ability to respond and be effective in supporting people and communities in difficult times. Looking beyond this 2 year project, our long term aim is to ensure that all Hertfordshire communities have access to consistent Volunteer Centre services.”

Although Hertfordshire overall is the least deprived of all counties in the East region, it has distinct pockets of deprivation and unemployment. The recession accounted for a dramatic rise in unemployment in the county in 2008/9 and levels have not decreased significantly since. This situation is reflected in the recruitment statistics of Volunteer Centres which show an increase of 151% in unemployed people using their services in the last 3 years. Unemployment has affected people with professional skills as well as those who face barriers to employment as a result of low skills levels, low self esteem, disabilities or mental health issues.

As part of the BLF project, “Introduction to Volunteering” workshops for people new to volunteering will be run throughout the county and these will link into existing Volunteer Centre brokerage services (helping volunteers find appropriate voluntary placements). Personal development training (confidence building, communication skills, teamwork, and interview skills) will also be on offer.

Developing voluntary opportunities for people with specialist, professional skills will be another key priority of the project. Some districts of Hertfordshire have reported a significant increase in highly skilled people taking redundancy, or early retirement, as a result of the economic down turn. Volunteering offers them an opportunity to contribute to local communities by sharing their skills.

Providing volunteer management advice and guidance for organisations will also feature in the Volunteering Herts project. The network has recently launched a quick and easy online checklist for volunteer-involving organisations to assess their current policies and procedures. Details of the Valuing Volunteer Management 6 Point Promise checklist can be found on the website.

Tony Edwards, Deputy Chief Executive of Volunteering England said: “Volunteering England is delighted that the Big Lottery Fund is supporting this important project. As communities are faced with the realities of the recession – fewer jobs, reduced funding for public services – the support of volunteering and the voluntary sector will be crucial.”

“Working alongside 15 Volunteer Centre partners, in locations affected by the economic downturn, we will explore new ways in which volunteering can make a difference to the lives of individuals and to the economic and social health of communities. Above all, we aim to make a significant difference at a local level during a time of real need.”

The project will also incorporate a research component, undertaken by Volunteering England’s Institute for Volunteering Research in partnership with Birkbeck, University of London. Over a three year period, the research will examine the project’s outcomes and explore the role volunteering can play in helping communities to cope with the economic downturn. The resulting knowledge will inform wider application of the project’s principles in other communities around the country.

About Volunteering Herts

Volunteering Herts is a network of Volunteer Centres. It consists of 3 independent Volunteer Centres (Broxbourne & East Herts, Dacorum and Royston) and 6 which are integrated with Councils for Voluntary Service (Hertsmere, North Herts, Stevenage, St. Albans, Three Rivers and Welwyn Hatfield). The Centres are quality accredited by Volunteering England. More details about the Centres and their services on: – http://www.volunteeringherts.org

The network of Volunteer Centres in Hertfordshire works with around 6,000 volunteer-involving organisations. Annually the Volunteer Centres recruit over 8,500 new volunteers. The Centres maintain details of current voluntary opportunities which are uploaded onto the National Volunteering database on www.do-it.org.uk