Special Report: Inclusive volunteering

"When I was in Nagoya, Japan in December for the IAVE Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, I sat in on a workshop presentation by Moira Deslandes, CEO of Volunteering South Australia. I was so struck by the innovations represented by the project she described that I asked her to prepare an article for E-IAVE so we could share it with all IAVE members. This is the result. You will find her contact information at the end of the article." Kenn Allen

Volunteering South Australia received a complaint from a volunteer with a cognitive disability. She found our volunteer interviewers not able to respond to her and not able to recommend a suitable volunteering opportunity. Because we believe that complaints are free gift and the best possible way of continuous improvement, we embarked on a journey to find out how and why this could be rectified. It has resulted in a whole range of actions and opportunities for individuals and organisations. It has also led to new partnerships and identification of good practice principles.

In a nutshell, a staged project was designed. The initial phase was research and included focus groups with people with cognitive disabilities who were seeking volunteering opportunities and who had previous volunteering experience, a survey of volunteer involving organisations, a literature search and in-depth interviews. This led to training volunteer interviewers in disability awareness from a rights perspective, identification of best practice in organisations already including volunteers with cognitive disabilities and the development of partnerships with a university and financial support from a State government agency.

A group of potential volunteers were supported to become "volunteer ready" and organisations were identified to become "volunteer ready" as well. Working at both ends of the volunteering relationship is essential. Having a volunteer specialist (as opposed to a disability specialist) at the centre of this brokering has been determined as one of the key success factors. Volunteering is all about the free gift of your time, talents and energy – a focus on ability not disability. Our partners at the School of Health Sciences, University of SA, occupational therapy students were invaluable and the project would not have been able to advance without their input.

Altogether 60 agencies participated in the survey (representing 19,483 volunteers) and 22 organisations and 8 volunteers participated to identify best practice guidelines. Five agencies and 16 volunteers were involved in the pilot project which culminated in the Federal Minister presenting a "Welcome to Volunteering" certificate, lanyard and badge at a recognition ceremony during National Volunteer Week in May. Two Volunteer Inclusion Project Forums have been held which have been open to all participants – volunteers and organisations – and the input from these has continued to shape the project.

We think we are on the right path, but know there is a long way to go and are challenged by the UK slogan – It's time to Get Equal in Volunteering – and this will be our emphasis in the coming year as we prepare our business case to government to have this approach embedded into programs and funding for people with cognitive disabilities who want to go volunteering.

KEY LEARNING

Here is a summary of the key learning from this project to date:

Best Practice Guidelines

• Being flexible and adaptable
• Effective communication
• Effective support
• Best job matching
• Training
• Building a partnership
• Adhering to National Standards for Involving Volunteers

Benefits to Volunteers

• Increased confidence and self esteem
• Being recognised
• Developed team work skills
• Satisfaction in being able to share their knowledge and skills with other people
• "everyday is a new learning experience"

Benefits to Organisation

• Increased diversity
• Increased awareness and understanding
• Increasing community members that participate in volunteering
• Enhances patience and tolerance

Successful Volunteer Placement Requirements

• Volunteer work readiness – helping volunteers get ready to go start volunteering eg transport, preparing for interview, site visit
• Volunteer expectations – finding out what expectations volunteers have for their job, as well as their interests and skills
• Organisation readiness – flexibility around job descriptions, appropriate supports in place
• Organisation attitudes / influences – importance of disability awareness training and commitment to disability inclusion at all levels in the organisation
• Supply and demand – of volunteers and local volunteer roles

Moira Deslandes
CEO, Volunteering SA and NT Inc
220 Victoria Square
Adelaide SA 5000
AUSTRALIA
Moira.deslandes@volunteeringsa.org.au