Volunteering in Derry City Council Area

Transcription

1 Volunteering in Derry City Council Area March

2 Contents Item Page 1 Background 3 2 Methodology 3 3 Key Findings 4 4 Practical Implications 5 5 Cumulative Response from Phases Phase 3 Results Only 8 2

3 Volunteering in Derry City Council Area 1 Background 2013 has been designated the UK City of Culture. The North West Volunteer Centre in partnership with Volunteer Now is leading on the recruitment drive for volunteers who will act as ambassadors for the city during the year. In 2009 and 2010 Volunteer Now undertook research to map volunteer involving organisations in Northern Ireland- the aim of this research was to build a regional database of volunteer involving organisations and included gathering information on; the nature of organisation s work, volunteer roles they offer, volunteer management practices and experiences of recruiting and retaining volunteers. In total, information was received from over 3,400 organisations across all Council areas in Northern Ireland through either of the two phases of the research; 192 of these organisations stated that they offered volunteering opportunities in the Derry City Council area. In order to build upon the mapping information already collected on volunteering across the Council. A third phase of the research was conducted in 2012 and included a number of additional questions on organisations interested in getting involved in the City of Culture activities and promoting City of Culture opportunities to their volunteers. The results below are based on all of the information collected during phases 1-3, which represents the views of 275 organisations. 2 Methodology The methodology remained the same across the three phases of the research - the survey remained largely the same and contact was made using an electronic and postal self completion survey. In order to achieve the maximum response rate a number of reminder s were sent and follow up telephone calls made to each organisation. The 2012 survey specifically targeted volunteer involving organisations in Derry City Council area that had not responded to phases 1 or 2 of the mapping exercise. An electronic survey (n=151) or postal survey for those we had no address (n=42) was sent out to 193 organisations in the area, from contact details provided by Volunteer Now s and the North West Volunteer Centre s contact databases. Due to the lower representation of church/faith based and sports groups in previous phases, efforts were made to identify additional contacts. Overall, this final report is based on the results from 275 organisations. This is an accumulation of 192 responses from phases 1-2 and 83 organisations from phase 3 (43% response rate). To develop a full picture of volunteering a cumulative total response rate for the three phases of the mapping research has been calculated and has been illustrated in the following graphs. 3

4 3 Key Findings Overall, the results from this research are largely based on the views of volunteer involving organisations that identify themselves as Voluntary and Community Sector organisations (78%). A very small percentage where from sports clubs / groups (4%) and church/faith based groups (1%), even though efforts were made to boost contacts from these sub sectors in the initial mailing list. Income levels of responding organisations ranged between less than 1,000 to more than a 1 million. Half of them had incomes between 10, ,000. There were 13 different sub sectors of work which organisations were involved in across different areas; children and young people, community development and disability were the most common. 56% of responding organisations only provided volunteering opportunities in the Derry- Londonderry council area. However, approximately one quarter also extended their reach to Limavady (23%) and Strabane (23%). 22% provided opportunities province wide. 1-7% also provided opportunities in other council areas. Half of respondents indicated challenges with recruiting enough volunteers over the last year. 72% of respondents were interested in using the Volunteer Now and North West Volunteer Centre websites to promote volunteering opportunities. Key elements of best practice in volunteer management were being used across responding organisations i.e. a named person to go to for support; induction and training and support & supervision meetings. However there were variations in the numbers applying these practices. Just over half of respondents provided written role descriptions, which indicates that roughly half do not. Three quarters of the respondents reported challenges with providing sufficient induction and training. The majority of organisations wanted to find out about how they could get involved in volunteering programmes or initiatives connected with the City of Culture. There was substantial interest from organisations with regard to training in generic areas of volunteer management, safeguarding, impact measurement, creating volunteer champions and governance as well as more specific areas such as sports volunteering. 4

5 4 Practical Implications The results across a number of key questions indicate that a substantial percentage of the organisations would benefit from support with recruitment, induction and training and management for volunteers. There was also interest in other areas of volunteering such as impact measurement and governance. There are a range of resources and access routes for support in these areas. The Volunteer Management Health Check is a very useful user friendly tool for reviewing practices. It is based on the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard. Volunteer Now staff can facilitate this review and support groups to identify practices and polices that could address specific issues. Alternatively, Volunteer Now has a full training portfolio that organisations can select key courses from. The publications section of has a range of information sheets, checklists and templates for policies and documents that support all stages of volunteer involvement. As well as interest in getting support with key areas of volunteer management, many of the respondents indicated that they would like to find out more about how to get involved in the volunteering initiatives/programmes connected with the City of Culture events. 5 Cumulative Response from Phases 1-3 (Base: 275) Figure 1: Break down of nature of organisations offering volunteering opportunities in Derry City Council area % Voluntary / community organisation 1% Church/Faith based Nature of Organisation 4% Sports Clubs/groups 1% Social enterprise 6% 8% Statutory Limited Company 1% Other 5

6 Figure 2: Sub Sector of Organisations Sub Sector % 5% 2% 15% 11% 8% 2% 8% 3% 4% 9% 5% 3% 21% 0 Figure 3: Income Levels of Organisations % Income Level % 16% 21% 9% 5% 16% 0 6

7 Figure 4: Formal Application and Monitoring Processes When recruiting new volunteers does your organisation do any of the following? Yes Responses Ask new volunteers to complete an application form 62% Interview/informal chat with potential volunteers 91% Ask new volunteers to provide references 55% Undertake an Access NI check 82% Require new volunteers to undergo a trial period 57% Figure 5: Elements of Best Practice in Volunteer Management Once recruited, do new volunteers receive any of the following? Yes Responses An induction with regard to the organisation 88% Training to carry out their role 83% A written role description 54% A named person to go to for support 91% Support and supervision meetings 79% A written volunteer agreement 47% Copy of/information about health and safety regulations 79% Copy of Child Protection Policy 79% Copy of/information on equal opportunities policy 68% Copy of/information about insurance cover 56% Figure 6: Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers Over the last year what has your experience been with regards to the recruitment and selection of volunteers? Yes Responses Difficulty in recruiting enough volunteers over the last year 50% Difficulty in recruiting volunteers with the skills/experiences you need over the last year 58% Difficulty in having more volunteers apply than you can involve over the last year 27% Difficulty in providing sufficient induction and/or training to volunteers over the last year 25% Difficulty in retaining volunteers over the last year 39% 7

8 6 Phase 3 Results Only The remaining tables are based on the results of phase 3 mapping results only. This represents 83 organisations. Figure 7: Volunteer Roles Offered Please indicate below which of the different roles are carried out by your volunteers. Yes Reponses. Administration/Office work 69% Drugs/Alcohol use 12% Committee/Trust member 58% Finance/Accounting 12% Fundraising/Flag days 55% Home-based volunteering 12% Young people 41% Management/Information skills 12% Befriending 38% Mental health 12% Children 38% Driving/Escorting 11% Older people 35% Health/Hospitals/Hospices 10% Advice/Information 34% Learning disabilities 10% Care/Support 31% Unemployment 10% Community development 30% Anit-poverty work 7% Sports/Outdoor activities 27% Homeless/Housing 7% Arts (Music/Drama/Crafts) 23% Prisoners/(Ex) Offenders 7% Women's groups 23% Sensory impairment 7% Counselling/Listening 22% Human/Civil Rights/Justice 5% Catering 20% Library/Information Management 5% Residential volunteering 20% Online volunteering 5% Disability/Physical 19% Short term/seasonal 5% Teaching/Tutoring/Supporting 19% Brain injury 4% Computing 18% Crime/Safety 4% Mentoring 16% Disaster/Emergencies 4% Conservation/Gardening 15% Journalism 4% Families 15% Languages/Translating 4% Campaign/Lobbying 14% Religion/Faith 4% DIY/Practical 14% Specialist/Technical 4% Environment 14% Museums/Galleries/Heritage 3% Marketing/PR/Media 14% Overseas volunteering 3% Men's groups 14% Race/Ethnicity/Refugees 3% Research/Policy work 14% Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Transgender 1% Shops/Retail 14% 8

9 Figure 8: Council Areas Covered In addition to Derry City Council, please indicate which other Council areas your organisation offers opportunities for volunteers. Please tick all that apply. Derry City Council Only 56% Ballymena Borough Council 1% Limavady Borough Council 23% Ballymoney Borough Council 1% Strabane District Council 23% Banbridge District Council 1% Province wide 22% Carrickfergus Borough Council 1% Omagh District Council 11% Down District Council 1% Belfast City Council 7% Larne Borough Council 1% Coleraine Borough Council 6% Newry and Mourne District Council 1% Fermanagh District Council 6% North Down Borough Council 1% Magherafelt District Council 4% Ards Borough Council 0% Armagh City and District Council 3% Castlereagh Borough Council 0% Cookstown District Council 3% Craigavon Borough Council 0% Dungannon and South Tyrone 3% Lisburn City Council 0% Don't know/unsure 3% Moyle District Council 0% Antrim Borough Council 1% Newtownabbey Borough Council 0% Figure 9: Interest in Promoting Opportunities Via Internet Would your organisation be interested in promoting volunteer opportunities via the internet, for example through the 'North West Volunteer Centre' and 'Volunteer Now' website? Response Percent Yes 50% No 5% Not sure 22% We already do 23% Figure 10: Benefit from Training/Information Would your organisation benefit from training / information on any of the following areas? Yes/I don t know Attracting and Selecting Volunteers 57% Managing and Motivating Volunteers 63% Essential Volunteer Management in Sport 37% Creating Volunteer Champions 63% Measuring Impact 62% Developing Volunteer Policies 48% Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups 52% Governance 52% 9

10 Figure 11: Response to Involving City of Culture Volunteers Would you like to find out more about how you can involve the City of Culture volunteers in your events? Response Percent Yes 88% No 12% Figure 12: Response to Promoting City of Culture Opportunities Would your organisation like to find out more about promoting City of Culture volunteering opportunities among your current volunteer team? Response Percent Yes 86% No 15% 10

11 Volunteer Now delivers services across Northern Ireland. We have offices in Belfast, Broughshane, Enniskillen and Newry. Registered Office: 129 Ormeau Road, Belfast BT7 1SH. A Charity (Inland Revenue) No. XT Company Limited by Guarantee No. NI Registered in Northern Ireland. Volunteer Now 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, e.g. electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior, written permission of Volunteer Now. 11