‘Show volunteers they are at the forefront of everything’
Michelle Clarke
Volunteer recruitment was the talking point at our latest Working Well session and Melissa Townsend from Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations, encouraged us to demonstrate to volunteers how central they are.
A simple way to do this is through developing a statement of commitment to volunteering and including this on volunteer recruitment materials. Recruitment needs to be focused, using materials and methods designed with specific ‘target groups’ in mind so the approach is relevant, credible, and conveys messages that land well with the audience.
Adopt a two-way approach in recruitment materials describing what the organisation needs and what volunteers receive in return. Including a short quote from a current volunteer is a great way to demonstrate how rewarding the role is. Keep phrasing simple, such as ‘could you help out?’ or ‘could you spare an hour or two?’
Help prospective volunteers to see the value in your cause. As a volunteer driver himself Roger Brown, from VEST Community Transport, said it is important to understand volunteer motivations. He noticed one volunteer always puts his name down to provide transport for people living in nursing homes.
When asked why, the volunteer said that his parents had used VEST transport in this way, and he understood the impact of those journeys. Roger also suggested using CT vehicles for recruitment. The day after he retired he was travelling to a supermarket when he stopped behind a VEST minibus at the traffic lights. It had a sign on the back asking ‘do you like driving? would you like to be a volunteer?’ That simple question started his journey of over a decade of volunteering.
Keep asking volunteers questions, encouraged Mike Logan as he outlined action research done by Monmouthshire Community Car Scheme (Bridges) in partnership with Aberystwyth University. ‘We ask drivers how things are going and think we know the answer, but one of the reasons I wanted to do this project was to check if our knowledge was right.’ There were some surprises. Bridges had been fearful of pushing people too hard, yet some volunteers said they’d like to do more driving.
Volunteers described how practical considerations, such as parking and navigation issues, can put people off driving, and they asked to be better informed about passengers’ needs to support them as effectively as possible. ‘The research showed there are additional things we can do and we realised that we should be asking some of these questions much more often.’
Besides asking questions to check understanding, communicating how much organisations value their volunteers is vital for keeping them. Roger described how VEST’s Operations Manager personally provides a warm ‘welcome home’ and thank you for drivers when they return to base. Other examples discussed at the session were social activities, a Christmas Meal where a group photo is taken of the volunteers and put on display in the office, cards, long-service certificates and awards evenings.
Above all though, we acknowledged the power of simply saying thank you.
Our third and final session in this series, Working Well with those with Dementia, takes place online, on 12th December where we will be looking at ways of supporting each other to ensure safe, comfortable journeys for those living with Dementia.
In this free to attend session you can expect peer to peer support, insight from professionals, a place to share your concerns or experiences whether they are positive or negative. Join us to be part of something that will lead us to providing the best experience for all.
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