Organisations
We support hundreds of organisations across Blackpool, Wyre, Fylde to promote their volunteering opportunities and encourage good volunteer management practice.
We provide the following to organisations that are registered with us:
Provide a Volunteer Charter and review kit, this includes a checklist of policies and procedures to check if you are ‘Volunteer-ready.
Review your opportunities to ensure they are appropriate and suitable for voluntary roles.
Upload opportunities to our online database so that your opportunities can be viewed by a wide-audience.
Match or broker individuals. Based on the information you provide and the individual’s requirements we will ‘signpost’ potential volunteers to a limited number of opportunities to help both yourself and the volunteer have the best experience.
Attend relevant events to promote and encourage volunteering. If you have an urgent need for a voluntary role let us know and we can get the message out there!
Monitor volunteer data across the area – this is vital so that we can help create a picture, both locally and at national level of volunteer contribution.
Promote the volunteer charter, this is a list of 10 principles of volunteer management good practice which we expect all our registered organisations to meet.
Organise regular Volunteer Co-ordinator Network Meetings (VCNM) – whether you are new to the sector or have been involved in the voluntary arena for many years, these meetings held at locations across the area are an opportunity to share news and keep up to date with all things volunteer related, from legislation changes, DBS, funding and more!
Testimonials
‘I needed to get out of the house and meet other people. I’d only been involved with Military life previously and that was all I knew. I moved to Blackpool and have had to start my life again – this has meant making new links in education, volunteering etc. It’s really been worth it.’
‘It’s built my confidence and got me doing more things. I’ve met loads of new people who are like me and in a similar situation to myself.’
‘I volunteer more for myself and to gain experience of being involved in my community. Before I started volunteering, I had nothing, I had just been on the dole since I left school.’
‘The VA have always been helpful. I always know they’re there.’
‘I became involved due to a request to help other Dads who were in a similar situation I found myself in. I had previously had a lot of difficulties in gaining access to my daughter and had lost hope at many points. The mental health effects and feelings of hopelessness were extreme – I just wanted to show Dads that there is a way to deal with the feelings they have and that they can resolve the situations they’re in. I wanted other Dads to know that they’re not alone – there are lots of Dads out there who are in a similar situation to the one I found myself in.’
‘I think volunteering has helped me grow at great bond with my daughter.’
‘Volunteering has helped me to meet new people and help other people effectively. It has helped me to learn new skills.’
‘I have undergone a steep learning curve and learned so many new things – I didn’t realise before the true extent of deprivation and its effects in Blackpool. The Learning to Feed course also taught me statistics that shocked me regarding the number of babies admitted to hospital with upper Gastrointestinal problems and Gastroenteritis.
‘I have made new connections in the Grange Family Hub and at the Volunteer Academy and I think I will continue to do so now that I have done the Learn 2 Feed Course and can get out in the community.’