Agenda item

To review the Volunteering Services.

7.1       The Committee received a report on the design and implementation of the Westminster Volunteering Brokerage Service. 

7.2       The Committee welcomed Councillor Steve Summers and Callum Whittaker, Policy Officer, who discussed with the Committee the new Team Westminster Volunteering Strategy which would provide a host of new services that would contribute to the delivery of the core Better City, Better Lives commitment to increase the number of people who volunteer in the city. 

7.3       The Committee welcomed Chris Lloyd, Communities Development Manager (Libraries), who discussed with the Committee how the library service used volunteers as part of their service delivery.  Chris explained that volunteers added value to the work being carried out by the library staff and in return benefited from training, work experience and personal gain and development.  He advised that volunteers were from all age groups and community backgrounds, although there were only a small number of teenage volunteers. 

7.4       The following key themes emerged from the Committee’s discussion:

·         the difficulty of measuring the monetary value of volunteering to services and the community.

·         the need to remind people that the Volunteering Strategy was introduced not to replace people in paid employment but to encourage people to volunteer because of the positive effect volunteering could have on an individual and the community.

·         the importance of raising the profile of volunteering by publicising volunteering opportunities to Further Education Colleges and new arrivals to the City and by actively promoting awareness of volunteering in the City using market stalls, office foyers, youth clubs and the Lord Mayor’s Parlour.

·         the importance of developing Apps and on-line portals to encourage volunteering participation to ‘busy’ people so that they could have the opportunity to volunteer for ‘one off projects’.

·         the importance of targeting secondary schools and youth groups to inform teenagers of the benefits of volunteering to themselves and their community and the importance of the time credit service to young people and new volunteers even if established volunteers or  older people did not feel it was necessary.

·         the need to make use of existing resources such as the Westminster Guides and how best to raise their profile and make them more accessible.  The Committee noted that whilst Westminster was increasing their investment in volunteering many other London Authorities were reducing their budget.  

·         the need for organisations to have a proper recruitment process, work programme and training schedule in place for their volunteers so that they  feel appreciated and part of the workplace.

·         the need for professionally paid staff to continue to be responsible for the Council’s core legal statutory obligations such as in the care industry

7.5       The Chairman thanked everyone who had given up their time to attend the            meeting and contribute to the discussion.

7.6       RESOLVED: That the following recommendations be reported to the Cabinet        Member for Sports, Leisure and Open Spaces for consideration for developing his Volunteering Strategy:

1.  That the Committee welcomed the new Team Westminster Volunteering Strategy and acknowledged and recognised the wide network of volunteers working within the community.  The Committee fully supported building on the strengths of existing volunteering programmes and increasing participation levels by commissioning a host of new services that support volunteering in Westminster.

2. That the Council develop and use appropriate and innovative technology such as on-line portals and Apps to encourage increased volunteering participation particularly where time is a restriction to people. This would enable ‘busy’ people to volunteer for ‘one off projects’ that were time limited.

3. That the Council, as an employer and commissioner, encourages volunteering through publicising the opportunities available to those who study (Further Educational Colleges), work and arrive in the City. The Committee endorsed using market stalls and the Lord Mayors’ Parlour, where appropriate to do so, to promote awareness of volunteering in the City.

4. That the Council target secondary schools and youth groups to inform teenagers of the benefits of volunteering to themselves and their community and to encourage young people to adopt volunteering as a life style choice.

5. That the Committee encouraged the exploitation of volunteering for any opportunity where volunteering would be appropriate – there were no ‘no go’ areas

6. That great care should be taken around activities where WCC had a legal duty of responsibility to maintain standards and not use volunteering purely as a way to reduce costs in times of financial restraint.