June 2018 volunteering update Dudley Volunteer Awards 2018

Dudley Volunteer Awards is an annual event held alongside Dudley CVS's Annual General Meeting. Local volunteers [both individuals and groups] can be nominated, winners are chosen by a panel made up of the Mayor, local decision makers, voluntary sector and business reps, and our Dudley CVS Chairman. Nominations for Dudley Volunteer Awards open in June each year and everyone nominated for the awards is invited along to the Dudley Volunteer Awards celebration in October. You can nominate now on this year’s Awards blog by visiting the Nominate page.

Training Volunteers and the Law training  Do volunteers have the same rights as employees?  Health and safety doesn’t apply to volunteers does it?  Are you aware how easy it is to create a contract with volunteers? Many volunteer-involving organisations are not aware of the legal implications when working with volunteers. Our session aims to dispel myths and clarify your legal responsibilities. We also use actual case studies where volunteers have taken organisations to court, to help demonstrate bad practice when involving volunteers. We are planning to run our popular Volunteers and the law training on 18th July 2018 in Brierley Hill. To book your place please visit our Eventbrite listing The charge for the training is £10 to cover the cost of room hire and refreshments.

What will the session cover?      

Defining volunteering and when someone is not a volunteer Who can or cannot volunteer and conditions that may apply How current legislation has implications for volunteers and volunteer involving organisations Identifying volunteers’ rights and the responsibilities of organisations when involving volunteers Taking steps to avoid creating employment conditions with volunteers Evaluating a legal case study and discuss the likely outcome

• Tools and Techniques to Manage Volunteers Effectively I am looking to run another session in July 2018, but need a minimum of 6 attendees, so please drop me an email to eileen@dudleycvs.org.uk if you are interested.  Do you think you need to update your volunteer management systems?  Have you suddenly acquired volunteer management responsibilities and don’t know where to start? Whatever your needs, our special full day session on volunteer management techniques and tools is bound to help! You will take a journey through every element of good practice for a volunteer programme, right from preparing necessary policies before involving volunteers, through planning volunteer involvement, recruiting, supporting, retaining, to volunteers leaving. Every learner will be provided with a resource CD of information sheets, publications and sample documents to take away and of course, the Volunteer Centre will be happy to support learners as they develop their systems, offering ongoing support and information.

• Community Information Point Network and Training Healthwatch Dudley has taken an innovative approach to information giving We have teamed up with local organisations to train an army of information champions to give community information. Information points have been springing up all across Dudley borough in libraries, cafes, pharmacies and other places where people already access information about local services. For more info and to book your free training place please click here.

Connecting / Events • Family Fun Day A family fun day will be held on Saturday 9th June to celebrate Volunteers and Carers Week. The free event, organised by Dudley CVS, will take place at DY1 venue on Stafford Street, Dudley. Families can enjoy a fun filled day and take part in activities including arts and crafts and sports. There will be music, refreshments and the opportunity to meet a marketplace of local groups and emergency response services that give their time to support local communities. Family Fun Day will run from 11am to 2pm and the new Mayor of Dudley will visit the event. At the marketplace people will have the opportunity to visit local groups and emergency response services including, Dudley Carers Forum, Dudley CVS, SODA, West Midlands Fire Service and many more! Second City Radio will be providing a live roadshow, so please come along and join in the fun! This day of fun celebrates Volunteers and Carers Week, annual campaigns raising awareness of the contribution volunteers and carers make to families and communities throughout the UK. Please help us spread the word by sharing our social media posts and sharing the poster. Join Dudley CVS for a day of fun on Saturday 9th June 11am - 2pm at DY1, Stafford Street, Dudley, DY1 1RT. For more information please contact Eileen Fielding at admin@dudleycvs.org.uk

• Connect with other groups and potential customers via INTERESTSME Are you a voluntary, community, faith or not-for-profit group? Do you struggle to reach new customers and make new contacts? You need to list your events on InterestsMe There’s a local one for Dudley borough and if you aren’t from the local area, there is probably one for your area too. Why not have a look?

Information Have you visited www.volopps.com yet? It’s our new searchable online portal for volunteering opportunities and we are hoping to do a formal launch in Volunteers Week.  Volunteers - Please do feel free to signpost any clients looking for voluntary work that way  Volunteer-involving organisations – If you involve volunteers our services are completely FREE and we can promote and share opps with potential volunteers, including our daily OPP OF THE DAY on our Facebook feed. Why not get in touch. Just drop Eileen an email on eileen@dudleycvs.org.uk

Funding Latest Dudley CVS Funding Bulletin Looking for funds for your group or organisation? Anyone can sign up to receive our free regular funding bulletins, along with our electronic newsletter by contacting Dale at Dudley CVS on dale@dudleycvs.org.uk