COMMUNITY GROUPS AND VOLUNTEERING - OUR PROMISE:
"We will promote, support and encourage the work of community groups and volunteering in Wiltshire."
In making this Promise, we acknowledge that:
• Community groups and volunteers in Wiltshire enjoy providing a diverse variety of services and activities for local people, that can improve quality of life and life chances in local neighbourhoods;
• In addition to community groups, volunteers can be found in larger voluntary organisations and in the public sector;
• Community groups are generally well placed to understand the needs of local people;
• Community groups can play a range of different roles including:
- providing a voice and advocacy for residents and local service users;
- building relationships, networks and participation in local communities;
- providing self-help and mutual support to build stronger and more resilient communities;
- delivering services, often locally and informally, based on their assessment of community need;
• Developing the capacity of community groups and encouraging/enabling volunteering is beneficial for everyone;
• Community groups and volunteers can provide real value for money;
• Community groups are independent and respond to local needs. This means they do not necessarily need to have relationships with the public sector;
• Community groups and volunteers in Wiltshire operate in a county where rurality presents specific issues and challenges.
• Volunteering builds skills and experience, enabling people to give back to their community of interest, enhances employability and creates employment. It promotes social inclusion and contributes to the building of community networks and participation. High levels of volunteering are therefore indicators of healthy and active communities;
• Anyone can volunteer; they may already be employees coming forward from any sector who are willing to give their time, skills and experience to their communities.
Joint Undertakings:
We all undertake to:
• work together to develop a modern and dynamic support structure to promote volunteering and support good practice, recognising the benefits of effective working relationships and consistency of approach;
• take account of needs when recruiting volunteers or designing and delivering our services;
• widen the public and commercial interest in volunteering by improving the profile, status and range of volunteer activities;
• celebrate the contributions volunteers make;
• ensure volunteers are brought into policy-making consultation processes;
• recognise and overcome barriers to volunteering;
• recognise that volunteering opportunities complement rather than replace the role of paid staff and ensure that organisations’ policies and working practices reflect this.
Voluntary and Community Sector undertakings:
The Wiltshire Compact voluntary and community sector partners undertake to:
• Recognise the importance of excellent management of volunteers, which will require allocation of resources. Those who recruit, induct and manage volunteers should have this work recognised as part of their job descriptions or work plans and receive appropriate training and support;
• Ensure that volunteers are treated fairly, with training and support, and have their appropriate expenses paid in advance;
• Support and enable qualification in, or accreditation of, skills acquired through volunteering;
• Assist potential volunteers from all parts of society to find volunteering opportunities that fit their needs, interests and abilities.
• Encourage community groups to:
- Be clear and open about what a group stands for, the community they speak for, and the difference the group can make;
- Actively involve the community and other organisations in their work;
- Work in an open and transparent way, giving consideration to how people can join in their work and come to meetings;
- Promote local decision making;
- Consider need when recruiting volunteers or designing and delivering their services;
- Take advantage of appropriate training and development opportunities.
Public Sector undertakings:
The Wiltshire Compact public sector partners undertake to:
• Support community groups, encouraging them to flourish and thrive;
• Listen and respond to the advocacy that community groups provide;
• Recognise the value and benefits that volunteers bring to communities;
• Celebrate volunteering achievements;
• Encourage their staff to recognise the benefits of including the voluntary and community sector in the design of policy and services;
• Encourage their staff to recognise the benefits of participating in volunteering themselves;
• Work with the voluntary and community sector and private sector to consistently promote, support and develop volunteering across the county;
COMMUNITY GROUPS
In every neighbourhood, people come together to form groups. Whether they want to clean up their local street, provide support for local people with health problems, set up a football team, or celebrate a community festival, these groups are at the heart of our communities. As there are so many types of community group involved in countless different activities, it is difficult to classify or label them. So we don’t attempt to be too prescriptive about exactly what community groups are. Instead below is a list of some of the characteristics of community groups, which can help you to identify them and understand how they are different from other types of voluntary organisation:
Community groups tend to:
• Have come together because of a shared interest or aspiration;
• Have little or no financial income;
• Have an informal structure;
• Be led by members and volunteers;
• Be based in a neighbourhood or community rather than a wider area;
• Provide informal services to communities.
Some examples of types of community group are:
• Self-help groups, networks and forums that bring together people who have something in common, and offer advice and support to each other;
• Residents’ associations and other groups of people who come together to improve their street or neighbourhood;
• Faith groups that organise religious activities and community and social events;
• Sports clubs and music groups;
• Committees that organise local community events and festivals;
• Groups of people who meet regularly to socialise and enjoy shared activities, such as youth and retirement clubs, lunch clubs and mother and toddler groups;
• Groups that form for a short period to campaign on a local issue like traffic problems.
There are far more community groups in existence than other types of voluntary organisations.
VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering has been described as an important expression of citizenship and essential to democracy. Volunteers commit their time and energy, for the benefit of society and the community. It is a substantial social investment that creates social capital and is a vital part of active citizenship, making a major contribution to raising the quality of life. Volunteering can take many forms; is undertaken freely and by choice, without concern for financial gain; and is underpinned by five key principles:
• Choice – Volunteering is a choice made freely by each individual. Whilst volunteering is not a contractual agreement, it does involve rights and responsibilities.
• Diversity – Volunteering should be open to all. Implementing equalities policies and schemes, and a welcoming approach are fundamental to support diversity.
• Mutual Benefit – Volunteers offer their contribution unwaged but should gain in other ways in return for their contribution to the community.
• Recognition – There is explicit recognition of the value of the contribution made by volunteers to an organisation, community, the economy and to society and wider social objectives.
• Support – Good support, management and training of volunteers are an essential part of volunteering.
Volunteering managers may wish to explore the opportunities for accrediting their work through the Investing in Volunteering award – see http://iiv.investinginvolunteers.org.uk/
More information is available from:
• DEVELOP, providing the GROW project: www.developecs.org.uk
• The Volunteer Centre www.volunteercentrewiltshire.org.uk
• Wessex Community Action www.wessexcommunityaction.org.uk
• The Wiltshire Infrastructure Consortium www.wsic.org.uk
• Community First www.communityfirst.org.uk
• Do-it www.do-it.org.uk
• Volunteering England www.volunteering.org.uk
• The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action www.navca.org.uk
• The National Council for Voluntary Organisations www.ncvo-vol.org.uk
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE WILTSHIRE COMPACT HERE.