Objective One - to bring about more positive attitudes at all levels towards volunteering and community action

Action Points

Action By

To help bring about a change in public attitudes

A1: Research is needed to identify public understanding and levels of activity and to measure changes in public attitudes and involvement over time.

The Scottish Executive

A2: Volunteering and community action should be promoted through schools, colleges and community education.

All bodies involved in education.

To bring about a change of attitudes amongst policy makers

A3: Policy makers should identify a champion in an internally strategic position in their organisations who will promote an understanding of volunteering and community action amongst policy makers. In particular:

Policy makers

A Scottish Executive Minister should champion the Active Communities Strategy within the Scottish Executive, its agencies and the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Executive Ministers

Public bodies should identify a named champion.

Public sector bodies

In local authorities, the Council leader should champion the Active Community strategy.

Local authorities

A4: The Scottish Executive and its Agencies should set an example to all employers by developing and promoting employer-supported volunteering policies.

Scottish Executive and its Agencies

A5: The Department of Social Security, the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service should remove the barriers to volunteering and community action that are created by the frontline operation of the benefits system. They should continue to raise awareness amongst frontline staff and with clients about the contribution volunteering and community action can make to employability.

Department for Social Security and Department for Education and Employment

A6: The Scottish Executive should ensure that the review of charity law in Scotland takes into account that volunteer involvement can be an indicator of charitable status.

Scottish Executive

To bring about a change of attitudes in the voluntary, volunteering and community sectors

A7: Funders should make it known that they expect evidence of a proactive approach to involving volunteers and engaging with the community in funding bids from groups and organisations in the voluntary, volunteering and community sectors.

Funders of voluntary, volunteering and community groups

A8: Funders should identify this as a performance indicator, to form part of the monitoring procedure.

Funders of voluntary, volunteering and community groups

A9: The Scottish Executive, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA), National Lottery Charities Board (NLCB) and other lead bodies should produce joint guidance on funding volunteering and community action.

Scottish Executive, CoSLA, NLCB, voluntary sector lead bodies

A10: Good practice and success stories about involving volunteers and the community should be disseminated to provide the sectors with examples of new ways of involving volunteers and working with the community and to raise awareness about the role of volunteers and of community action.

Voluntary sector lead bodies

To bring about a change of attitudes in the public sector

A11: Specific guidance should be issued to all public sector agencies on the their role in supporting volunteering and community action. This should build upon the Scottish Compact (which sets out the principles underpinning the relationship between the Scottish Executive and its agencies and the voluntary sector in Scotland).

Scottish Executive, CoSLA, NDPBs, SCVO and VDS.

A12: Examples of best practice should be promoted and disseminated, not only to ensure the implementation of best practice, but also to raise awareness in the public sector about the contribution made by volunteering and community action.

Scottish Executive, CoSLA, NDPBs, SCVO and VDS.

To bring about a change of attitudes in the private sector

A13: The adoption of the "principles of corporate investment" should be promoted across the private sector.

Scottish Business in the Community (SBiC), Quality Scotland, CBI Scotland, Chambers of Commerce in Scotland and other business organisations

A14: Scottish Business in the Community should promote volunteering and community action through its network of business support groups across Scotland.

SBiC

Media Campaign

A15: There should be a sustained media campaign, together with back up information/education packs. The campaign should:

Voluntary sector lead bodies and the Scottish Executive

• Maximise people's response to the active community vision;
• Raise the profile of volunteering and community action;
• Present a compelling view of existing volunteering and community action;
• Appeal to values, traditions and structures in Scotland, but, where appropriate, develop common themes and message for the whole of the UK; and
• Create a link to other activities such as Millennium celebrations, International Year of Volunteering 2001, and to the Scottish Parliament.

A16: A Media Strategy Action Group should be established to help co-ordinate and manage this campaign and to develop a long term media, marketing and communications strategy for the active communities initiative, for volunteering and community action and for the voluntary sector.

Scottish Executive, broadcast and print media, volunteering and community action organisations

A17: The Media Strategy Action Group should be allocated resources by the Scottish Executive to purchase quarterly supplement space in newspapers.

Scottish Executive

A18: The Working Group has already set up a short-term sub-group to provide a co-ordination point for work with BBC Scotland and with other media organisations. This sub- group should set the framework for the proposed longer term Media Strategy Action Group.

Scottish Active Communities Working Group - Media Sub-Group

A19: A media forum, which brings together key media interests and chaired by a prominent and influential media figure, should be established.

Its remit would be to generate informed debate in the media about the role and extent of volunteering and community action to ensure that the media's presentation of volunteering and community action is not stereotyped or limited.

Scottish Executive, VDS, SCVO and other interested bodies.

A20: There should be a review of Journalism and Media Studies courses to assess their approach to voluntary and community matters, and to inform course content.

The Higher Education Funding Council and lead voluntary bodies.

To bring about a change in attitudes amongst the professions

A21: The pre- and in-service training of managers and staff should include material to enable them to value community partnership working and to be able to engage appropriately with volunteers and community organisations.

Lead training bodies for the professions

A22: Guidance on best practice in involving volunteers and working with communities should be provided to professional bodies and institutes to help raise awareness and improve practice.

Scottish Executive, VDS, SCVO and Community Learning Scotland

A23: Healthcare professionals should be offered guidance and training on involving volunteers within hospital and community health services, and on supporting service users to become volunteers in the wider community.

Scottish Executive, VDS