The Voice of Volunteering, Issue no 8, September 2007

Closed on APEC public holiday
The Centre for Volunteering

The Centre for Volunteering will be closed on the APEC public holiday on Friday, 7 September. The Centre's Volunteer Referral Service will be operating with limited staff for the week starting Monday, 3 September.

New volunteering resources
Volunteering Australia

Volunteering Australia has released two new resources this month: Employee Volunteering: A Guide for Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (includes CD with templates, tools and checklists); and Practical Guide for Involving Volunteers from CALD Backgrounds. Both tools can be ordered through Volunteering Australia's website.

Future of Volunteering survey

Is volunteering a doomed activity? Where will the volunteers of the future come from? What will motivate them? What forms will volunteering take in the future e.g. corporate volunteering, time-limited, project-based?

The Future of Volunteering is an innovative project which will use narrative research processes, tools and proprietary software to explore critical public policy. The project's key objectives are to develop an understanding of policy issues and implications given the changes in demographics and patterns of volunteering, and provide guidance for organisations funding and managing volunteers.

Any NSW-based organisation or individual with experience in volunteering or managing volunteers is encouraged to participate in this program. The more stories collected, the greater the information that can be used to identify volunteering themes and patterns. Complete the Future of volunteering survey today.

Linda Burney visits Kempsey
NSW Minister for Volunteering

NSW Minister for Volunteering Linda Burney (right) spent time with Simone Younger and her twins Ethan and Joel and Home-Start volunteer Shani Galleghan (left) during a recent visit to Kempsey – Shani visits the family for several hours each week.

The Kempsey Macleay Home-Start program, run by Sheri Foster, is a volunteer organisation modelled on the early intervention Home-Start program that originated in the UK. It's now operating across Australia and internationally. The Kempsey program is supported by 33 volunteers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, recruited and trained by Sheri to be mentors for families with children under 5 (they can also have older children). The service provides a whole range of practical and emotional support – from helping with basic business matters to doctors' appointments and shopping to motivation and bolstering self-esteem for mothers. The program is funded by the NSW Department of Community Services.

September Networking Breakfast: Involving volunteers in leadership roles
Tuesday, 18 September 2007, 8.30am–10.30am
Level 2, 228 Pitt Street, Sydney

Does your organisation involve volunteers in leadership roles? Do you involve volunteers in strategic planning? Do you ask them to provide input into program or project development? Do you ask them to take on roles providing leadership to staff, volunteers or leading a project team?

Donna Purcell, Volunteer Program Manager, will share some of the volunteer leadership initiatives being developed and implemented across a range of programs and projects within The Cancer Council NSW.

Numbers are limited. RSVP is essential. Please order your $5 breakfast in advance. Tea and coffee are free. Email The Centre for Volunteering or phone 02 9261 3600.

SVM training: Meeting procedures
Thursday, 27 September 2007, 9.30am–1pm
Loftus TAFE, Room GG05, Rawson Ave, Loftus
Free to HACC funded staff and Management Committee members, $15 others

Have you ever been asked to chair a meeting or take the minutes but didn't know how? This workshop will answer these and many more questions. Information will be provided on chairing meetings, minute taking (how much is enough?), and some basic requirements about meetings and keeping records of proceedings. This workshop is conducted by SVM for St George Community Services' HACC Staff Training Project and is aimed at both staff and management committee members. To book, please phone (02) 9580 9055 or email admin@stgcs.com.au

International volunteer management expert Susan J Ellis
Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 9:30am–4pm
Theatrette, Parliament House, Sydney

Leading volunteering author, trainer and commentator, Susan J Ellis, will lead an innovative workshop titled Beyond Lip Service: Assuring that Volunteer Contributions are Valued and Supported in Sydney in October 2007 on behalf of The Centre for Volunteering.

The full-day workshop will comprise morning and afternoon sessions: Strategies for Achieving Volunteer/Employee Teamwork and Internal Marketing Savvy: Telling the Story of Volunteering.

Limited places are available. To book, download a registration form today

October Networking Breakfast: How do you work with volunteers from CALD backgrounds?
Tuesday, 16 October 2007, 8.30am–10.30am
Level 2, 228 Pitt Street, Sydney

The title of The Centre's October Networking Breakfast is How can you adapt your volunteer program to tap into the pool of skilled volunteers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds?

Alison Keene would love to hear from you before the breakfast if you have some insight to share about working with volunteers who are newly arrived in Australia.

Numbers are limited. RSVP is essential. Please order your $5 breakfast in advance. Tea and coffee are free. Email The Centre for Volunteering or phone 02 9261 3600.

Volunteering SA's Going For Gold Conference
17, 18 & 19 October 2007

Volunteering SA Inc's world class conference is designed to celebrate, recognise and inspire volunteers, whilst teaching, challenging and encouraging volunteer managers. Conference delegates will go home with new ideas, new friends and a desire to build community spirit through volunteering. More details will be available soon at www.goingforgold.org.au

2008 Volunteering Australia National Conference
3–5 September 2008
Gold Coast, Queensland

Planning for Volunteering Australia's 2008 national conference is underway. The theme is Volunteering – catch the new waves. More details as planning progresses.

NSW Volunteer of the Year Award 2007
Nominate your volunteers for the NSW Volunteer of the Year Award 2007. This award will showcase volunteers who have shown dedication and initiative in their work and have positively contributed to the not-for-profit organisations where they volunteer. The final date for nominations have been moved back to Monday, 15 October 2007 to give more time for entries.

Nominate your most dedicated and productive volunteers – download a nomination form today.

Volunteer Referral Service and volunteers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

The Volunteer Referral Service (VRS) has recently compiled the following statistics for the period January–June 2007 on the numbers of people interviewed:

• 1889 potential volunteers
• 596 were males and 1293 were females
• 863 (46%) identified themselves as coming from a CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) background.

The VRS will compile further statistics on how people found out about volunteer roles. Meanwhile, the message The Centre would like to share with its member organisations is that there is a large pool of skilled and willing volunteers who may not have years of local experience, may not yet have perfect English, but they are out there, and they could be a real asset to your organisation!

School Community Involvement Program

SCIP was very busy in August.

The SCIP team ran successful Community Education Days at St Catherine College and Marist College Pagewood. Many thanks to the speakers from the following organisations for their inspiring talks: Asylum Seekers Centre, Amnesty International, Animal Liberation, Australian Red Cross, St Vincent de Paul Society, The Wilderness Society and Youth Challenge Australia.

On 1 August, SCIP ran workshops on youth volunteering at the State SRC Conference in Arcadia and at the Willoughby Council Youth Forum. Feedback from both workshops was very positive; the young people will take back what they learned to their respective schools with the aim of promoting youth/student community involvement.

Ethical intelligence and good decision making

Staff and Board Members of The Centre for Volunteering attended training in early August on ethical intelligence and good decision making. The pro bono training session run by the St James Ethics Centre provided a review of the definition of ethics, philosophical perspectives of ethics and how ethics relate to morality, law, risk management and governance. Key components of ethical decision making and the St James Ethics Centre's ethical decision-making model were also discussed. The training session provided The Centre with a useful model with which to approach strategic planning and risk management planning.

Farewell: Gwenda Lawther

The Centre for Volunteering and the School of Volunteer Management (SVM) has said farewell to Gwenda Lawther, Head of School, SVM. Gwenda has been with SVM for the past 18 months and has played an integral role in evaluating and updating SVM's accredited training and workshops.

© The Centre for Volunteering 2007 | ABN 28 002 416 024
Level 2, 228 Pitt St, Sydney NSW 2000
T: 02 9261 3600 | F: 02 9261 4033 | E: info@volunteering.com.au | W: www.volunteering.com.au
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