Volunteering

Do you enjoy meeting new people? Are you looking for a change of direction? Have you thought about volunteering?

You can gain so much by volunteering:

Meet new people and make new friends
Gain useful work experience
Learn new skills, use the ones you have already
Build up your confidence
Provide a real service to your community
Add to your CV
Do something you enjoy

People volunteer for may different reasons: to help other people in the community, gain work experience, learn new skills, meet new people, gain access to training or to "just get out of the house". Whatever the reasons, people get a lot out of volunteering.

BAVO provides a Volunteer Centre which offers up-to-date information, advice and guidance to people who are looking for volunteering opportunities. Whether you are an organization looking for volunteers, or an individual looking for a suitable volunteering opportunity, registering with BAVO is free.

With over 100 registered voluntary organisations offering a range of volunteering opportunities, BAVO’s Volunteer Centre can match your skills and interests with a vacancy that suits you best.

We provide one to one confidential interviews at our main office and in a range of outreach premises across the Borough. The interviews are designed to provide volunteers with the information they require to make informed choices in volunteering.

There are many opportunities, from administrative work to driving, conservation to education. You can work with many different organisations and people in your area and most organisations offer training and pay out-of-pocket expenses. You could make a real difference.

BAVO has details of lots of local volunteering opportunities, and there is bound to be one that suits your interests. Please telephone for more information on 01656 810400.

The GwirVol website is here!

GwirVol is a uniquely Welsh, diverse partnership, promoting, supporting and driving forward youth volunteering.

GwirVol is an initiative made up of a partnership from the voluntary, community, public and private sectors and led by the views of young people in Wales. The initiative exists to take forward the recommendations of the Russell Commission accepted by the Welsh Assembly Government.

GwirVol was formally launched on Monday 6 April, 2009, at the All Nations Centre in Cardiff by Dr Brian Gibbons, Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Social Justice and Local Government.

The number of young people taking part in volunteering in Wales is set to be significantly increased through a partnership of organisations from the voluntary, public and private sectors. The aim of the initiative is to achieve a sustained step change to youth volunteering in Wales through the involvement and leadership of young people.

GwirVol will be led by the young people themselves through GwirForce - a panel of young people who sit on the partnership - and supported in their work by Youth Volunteer Advisors in each of the 22 Welsh local authority areas.

The GwirVol initiative will also give out £500,000 in grants including £110,000 through local grant panels comprising young people to encourage youth led volunteering projects in their own areas. In Bridgend the funding is administered by a group of young people called the Bridgend Funding Group.

GwirVol is taking forward the recommendations of the Russell Commission, which set out the framework in 2005 for youth action and engagement.

Visit the Gwirvol webite on www.GwirVol.org

GwirForce - GwirForce is a diverse panel of young, spontaneous and fun volunteers aged 16 to 25 committed to promoting and driving forward youth volunteering in Wales. GwirForce is split into three sub-groups The Ambassadors, The Engineers and The Marketeers. More information about GwirVol and Gwirforce is available on the GwirVol website at www.GwirVol.org.

GwirVol Youth Volunteering Grants 2009-2010 - ‘Opportunities’ and ‘Promotion’

The new round of GwirVol grants has now been launched. For more information visit our Funding pages or download the application and guidance.

JobCentreplus' guide to benefits and voluntary work

A comprehensive guide for individuals who may want to volunteer but are uncertain whether this will impact on their benefits. Download the guide.

Workforce Hub Review of National Standards for Volunteer Managers

Do you manage volunteers? Revised National Occupational Standards for managing volunteers published

The UK Workforce Hub have revised and updated the national standards for the management of volunteers - which are available to download for free.

These standards have been developed for everyone who manages volunteers. Voluntary and community organisations across the UK will be able to make use of the new standards in their recruitment, selection, training and development procedures in order to improve the skills of volunteer managers.

The standards were written by a steering group of experts and practitioners led by the UK Workforce Hub and compiled by the Management Standards Consultancy. The process included a three month UK wide consultation period in which individuals were able to contribute their views via an on line consultation or at one of the UK events. All of this hard work has led to this final version.

These standards are funded by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, (UKCES). They include the knowledge and skills that every competent manager of volunteers needs to be able to demonstrate in order to do their job to a nationally recognised level of competence.

The new standards can be accessed at www.ukworkforcehub.org.uk/mvnos08.

The UK Workforce Hub has also developed National Occupational Standards for Fundraisers (which have also been recently updated) and for Trustees and Management Committee Members. To find out more about these standards, visit www.ukworkforcehub.org.uk/nos.

If you're interested in finding out more about our standards work, join the mailing list by emailing workforcehub@ukworkforcehub.org.uk quoting 'NOS mailing list'.

Millennium Programme - 16-24's

Millennium Volunteers is a programme for volunteers aged between 16 - 24. It gives young people encouragement and recognition for the volunteering that they do. Funding and accreditation for the Millennium Volunteer Programme is given by the Welsh Assembly.

The 'Certificate of Recognition' is awarded for 100 hours of volunteering and 'The Award of Excellence' is present for 200 hours of volunteering achieved. Out of pocket expenses are paid to all MV's including travel and childcare costs. This is an innovative scheme, which emphasises the volunteering achievements of young people.

If you are aged 16-24 and looking to volunteer, or indeed, if you are an organization wishing to recruit younger volunteers please contact Sharon for further information on this scheme.

The Russell Commission

BAVO has recently being awarded funding to develop volunteering opportunities for young people aged 16-25 and to encourage and support voluntary organisations to develop and include young people in their volunteer projects.

The development work will involve an audit of current volunteering opportunities for young people with a particular emphasis on opportunities for under represented groups of young people and aims to identify new volunteering opportunities.

The aim of the Russell Commission is to ensure that all young people, regardless of background, have an equal opportunity to volunteer.

The Russell Commission is intended to help drive forward the National Framework for Youth Volunteering across Wales. This is an exciting development and will provide more volunteer opportunities to young people that want to become actively involved in their community. The project will run until March 2008.

If you are a young person aged 16 – 25 and would like to volunteer or you are a voluntary organisation that would like help and support to develop a volunteer vacancy please contact Sharon .

picture of sharon headon

To email Sharon, click here