The Scottish Government

Disability Working Group - Satellite Group 1 Employment

Routes into Volunteering

BACKGROUND

This paper sets out the Scottish context to volunteering and details the various initiatives to encourage and enable more people to volunteer.

Volunteering Statistics

According to the 2003 Scottish Households Survey (SHS), 24% of adults in Scotland aged 16 and over volunteer on a regular basis and indicates that 27% of people in employment and 13% of those who are unemployed volunteer. (To note: SHS Survey questions have been revised to provide more robust data from 2005 onwards.)

The Survey also found that the proportion of adults with a disability (with or without a long-term illness) who have given up time to help clubs, charities, campaigns or organisations over 2001 and 2002 was 17% compared with 28% of those surveyed with no disability or long term illness.

Scottish Executive Volunteering Strategy 2004 - 2009

Web address: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/vost-00.asp

The Scottish Executive's Volunteering Strategy aims to embed a robust culture of volunteering in Scotland. The Strategy is made up of three key strands:

• Strand One - Focusing on Project Scotland and young people. Aims to ensure that young people are enthused by, and involved in volunteering.
• Strand Two - Dismantling the barriers and closing the opportunity gap. Aims to address the barriers which prevent people from volunteering ensuring volunteering is accessible to all people in Scotland.
• Strand Three - Improving the volunteering experience. Aims 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.

UK Year of the Volunteer 2005

YV05 Website: http://www.yv05scotland.org/index.html

2005 is the UK Year of the Volunteer (YV05). In Scotland it aims to increase the range of young Scots and adults aware of volunteering and its benefits to volunteers, communities and organisations and how to get involved as a volunteer.

September 2005 has been designated Accessible Volunteering month and will focus on access to volunteering for disabled people. The Executive has commissioned Community Service Volunteers (CSV) to produce a video/DVD to encourage more disabled people to volunteer. Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS) also plan to launch research into disabled people and volunteering to coincide with the month.

ROUTES INTO VOLUNTEERING

Volunteer Centre Network Scotland ( www.volunteerscotland.info) is a network of 42 independent voluntary organisations operating throughout Scotland to involve more people more effectively in volunteering to help make Scotland a better place to live. They provide advice and information to prospective volunteers and assist people in accessing volunteering opportunities.

Project Scotland ( www.projectscotland.org) was launched on 11 May (2004, open for business 17 May 2005) by the First Minister to enable 16-25 year old Scots from all backgrounds to take part in full-time volunteering. It provides placements, travel expenses, childcare costs and, dependant of individual circumstances, a living allowance of £55 per week. The engagement of young people in volunteering is one of the key strands of the Executive's Volunteering Strategy.

Millennium Volunteers is a UK initiative which aims to create a programme of sustained part-time volunteering that will promote a sense of community involvement for young people aged 16 to 24 (25 in Scotland). In Scotland the programme was refocused in 2004 to make volunteering more accessible to young people, particularly those from socially diverse backgrounds and to complement Project Scotland.

Make a Difference Day is an annual one day event, where volunteering is promoted as making a difference both to the individual and society. It is a UK wide initiative which encourages people to try volunteering, and is billed as the UK's single largest day of volunteering. Make a Difference Day 2005 will be held on 29 October.

FUNDING

GO4Volunteering Grants Scheme ( www.voluntaryactionfund.org.uk) is an Executive small grants scheme administered by the Voluntary Action Fund. Grants are provided of up to £2,000 for small grassroots organisations to build up their skills and best practice in sustainable volunteering.

Volunteering Scotland Grant Scheme ( www.voluntaryactionfund.org.uk) provides grants of up to £35,000 a year, for three years, for community projects to develop volunteering opportunities for people who have practical difficulties to overcome, or who are from groups that are traditionally under-represented in volunteering.

PUBLICATIONS

Publications on volunteering and disability include:

1. Volunteering and Welfare Benefits, VDS July 2004 - http://www.vds.org.uk/information/docs/infoSheets/pdf1Volunteering%20and%20Welfare%20Benefits%20pdf.pdf

2. Scotland: Opportunities at 16, Skill Scotland - http://www.skill.org.uk/info/infosheets/scot_opp_16.doc (Skills also have a number of publications which can be purchased including Into Volunteering, Access to Volunteering: A How to Resource Manual for Voluntary Organisations)