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Volunteering Strategy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Action to support volunteering is action to tackle poverty and disadvantage. Action to support volunteering is action to support community activity and build respect for others. And action to support volunteering can be action to harness the energy, enthusiasm and potential of Scotland's young people. It is for these reasons that the Scottish Executive aims to embed a robust culture of volunteering in Scotland. This strategy sets out how this work will be taken forward over the next five years.
2. Scottish Executive investment in volunteering must be focused on areas which will deliver significant improvement for the long term. Therefore the Strategy has as its foundation a comprehensive evidence base which draws on the findings from existing research on volunteering, the views and ideas of those who volunteer and may potentially volunteer, those who manage volunteers, and those who are affected by volunteering.
3. It is clear from this evidence that the Executive is starting from a position of relative strength. Scotland has high rates of volunteering in comparison with the rest of the UK, and other European countries. However, our big challenge is to match the supply and demand for volunteers. Many volunteer involving organisations currently experience shortages of volunteers and these will become more pressing over the next 20 years as a result of further demographic change.
4. Despite the significant demand for volunteers, particular groups of people, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, the unemployed, the long-term sick and disabled, the poor, and those lacking in formal qualifications, are consistently underrepresented in volunteering, although they appear no less willing than others to volunteer. These groups face formidable barriers to volunteering. Some are financial; some stem from a lack of awareness about volunteering and how to access it; some arise from mismatches of skills and assets, with the less skilled and qualified not welcomed or considered as having a role to play. Moreover there is often a lack of flexibility in opportunities and a lack of expertise in many of those whose job it is to manage volunteers, be they paid staff or volunteers themselves.
5. The evidence indicates that the combined effect of these issues impact primarily on those from disadvantaged backgrounds, resulting in the creation and perpetuation of an opportunity gap in volunteering. The evidence also indicates that focusing efforts on young people is, in the long term, the most effective way to close this opportunity gap.
6. With a new and radically different volunteering initiative for young people, Project Scotland as its centrepiece, this Strategy outlines how the Scottish Executive will work with others to embed a robust culture of volunteering in Scotland. As a major funder and influencer of the volunteering sector, the role of Scottish Executive Departments and Agencies will be crucial to achieving this aim. But there is an equally important role for those who are responsible for the development of volunteering practice, for volunteer involving organisations, and for volunteers themselves.
7. With a comprehensive set of aims, vision and values at its heart, the Scottish Executive Volunteering Strategy consists of four complementary and interrelated strands.
Strand one: Focusing on Project Scotland and young people
8. This strand aims to ensure that young people are enthused by, and involved in, volunteering. If volunteering is to truly become an integral part of Scotland's culture, action must be prioritised on Scotland's young people. Becoming aware of what can be achieved through, and what benefits can be derived from, volunteering must become part of growing up in Scotland. There is a key role here for the Executive and all of those organisations which have an interest in enabling young people to reach their full potential. Project Scotland will be central to achieving this. It will enable young people from all backgrounds to gain the unique benefits of up to a year-out volunteering, providing an experience which is both life-enhancing and life-transforming.
Strand two: Dismantling the barriers to volunteering and closing the opportunity gap
9. Those who are underrepresented in volunteering are often those who are least aware of the benefits of volunteering, and how to get involved in it. Action focused on young people will be complemented by more effective promotion of volunteering around other key life stages, both within and outwith the workplace. Central to work to make volunteering accessible to all will be actions designed to overcome the financial barriers to volunteering. This strand will involve a range of organisations with a direct and indirect interest in volunteering, including the Scottish Executive, employers, and support agencies such as employment services and careers advisors.
Strand three: Improving the volunteering experience
10. The objective of this strand is to ensure that volunteers are welcomed and valued by organisations which engage volunteers, and that they are given guidance, training and support to develop through volunteering, according to their individual needs and aspirations. This will be achieved by developing the skills base of those who manage volunteers. There is a key role here for Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS) and the national network of Volunteer Centres.
Strand four: Monitoring, evaluation and ongoing policy development
11. The strands proposed have been arrived at further to extensive work by VDS to analyse the current picture of volunteering in Scotland and, with stakeholders, develop a consensus on priority areas for Executive intervention. Ongoing monitoring, evaluation and research will be essential to ensuring volunteering policy remains focused on tackling the key issues. This strand aims to ensure that mechanisms are in place to measure the impact of volunteering on individuals, organisations and communities, and to generate and test potential solutions to proactively overcome barriers to volunteering. It is also essential that the Strategy is supported by policy across the Scottish Executive. This will be achieved by fully articulating the role of volunteering in helping to achieve policy objectives, and ensuring that volunteering interests are represented in policy development. As well as the Scottish Executive itself, this will involve organisations with research interests.
12. For each of these strands the Scottish Executive will engage with stakeholders in the voluntary, public and private sectors to identify the specific actions necessary to take this work forward. This will consider factors such as differing needs of rural and urban areas. Through the consultation process, stakeholders proposed a range of solutions, many of them innovative, to address problems in supply and demand of volunteers. These, as well as the broader research, will be taken into account in developing the detail for each strand of work. The Executive will keep stakeholders informed by publishing annual progress reports on actions to support the Strategy.
Key outcomes
13. It is intended that the strategy will deliver:
- More volunteers from socially diverse backgrounds;
- An increased range of young Scots aware of volunteering and the benefits it brings to volunteers, communities and organisations, as well as improved awareness amongst young people of how to access volunteering;
- Increased range of adults aware of the benefits of volunteering and how to get involved as a volunteer;
- Experiences that match the needs, aspirations and lifestyles of volunteers;
- Improved opportunities for skills and personal development through volunteering;
- Higher standards of volunteer management in both the public and voluntary sectors;
- A higher proportion of organisations operating inclusive practice;
- Improved understanding of the relationship between volunteering and social security benefits amongst potential volunteers and those who advise potential volunteers;
- More effective measurement of policy which impacts on volunteering and Scottish Executive investment in it;
- Better evidence with which to identify priorities for Scottish Executive interventions to embed a robust culture of volunteering in Scotland; and
- More effective Scottish Executive policy interventions to support quality, inclusive volunteering.
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