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Our People, Volunteering

7 Sep 2017 - 20:05 by jack.puller

In October 2017, Manchester City Council (MCC) and Macc will be launching an exciting partnership initiative to link Council employees with Manchester’s local voluntary community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) organisations.

Could your organisation benefit from short-term support with things like business and marketing planning; fundraising or support at an event or activity?

“Our People, Volunteering” will support the Our Manchester strategy and the Council Social Value commitments by offering an employer supported volunteering programme to all staff employed by Manchester City Council; that supports them to connect with local communities and bring new skills and resources into the VCSE sector. Our People, Volunteering will also promote participation, and building capacity and sustainability in the VCSE sector.

Manchester City Council employees will be encouraged to apply for up to 3 days volunteering leave a year. Being launched part way through the leave year initially employees will be entitled to 1.5 days leave (pro rata) until the start of April 2018 and this will this increase to 3 days leave (pro rata) for the following 12 months.

This is a great opportunity for VCSE organisations to benefit quickly and easily from the substantial skills and experience of Manchester City Council employees; by putting forward short-term volunteering opportunities based on a range of areas and specialisms. The following are just a few examples:

  • Information Technology
  • Legal
  • Finance
  • Human Resources
  • Engineering
  • Arbor (Grounds Maintenance and Tree Surgery)
  • Project Management, Surveying and Planning.

Opportunities for “Our People” may also lend themselves to, or enhance an existing volunteering programme:

  • Fundraising
  • Mentoring or Befriending
  • Running training or workshops
  • Participating in events
  • General help and support

Our People, Volunteering will give your organisation valuable access to a considerable amount of support time, skills, attributes and lived experiences.

The Our People, Volunteering offer will also incorporate a group volunteering component; allowing teams or groups of employee volunteers to support one-off or project-based volunteering opportunities.

Our People, Volunteering will formally launch on 2 October 2017 and will continue on a rolling basis for the foreseeable future.

Mike Wild, Chief Executive, Macc said:

“Macc is excited to be working on this new initiative with Manchester City Council as part of developing the Our Manchester approach in the city. We particularly welcome the leadership the Council is showing in setting an example to other employers. This is a great way to make more of a difference in Manchester. We strongly believe that as well as benefitting hundreds of charities and community groups across Manchester, the Council will benefit from a workforce which will have a huge range of relationships with community organisations. Council employees will also benefit from meeting new people and the chance to get involved in some of Manchester’s amazing local community organisations.”

Volunteer Centre Manchester will be providing the brokerage platform for volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations through their Volunteer Engagement and Recruitment Application (VERA); and can also offer support to your organisation with identifying and developing short-term volunteering opportunities – we’re here to help!

If you're organisation is already promoting volunteering opportunities via the volunteer centre, and think that they would be compatible with Our People, Volunteering, please contact the volunteer centre via the channels listed below.

For further information about Our People, Volunteering please contact Volunteer Centre Manchester on 0161 830 4770 or [email protected].

The volunteer centre will also be hosting a number of Our People, Volunteering Workshops to discuss the programme in more detail, and to support organisations who would like to be involved.

To read more about these workshops and book a place please click here.

 

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Manchester City Council is the local government authority for the City of Manchester.

Macc is the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector support organisation for the city of Manchester.

Volunteer Centre Manchester is managed by Macc and provides information, support and training to Manchester residents who want to volunteer. The volunteer centre also supports Manchester-based organisations who want to recruit volunteers, need help and advice to develop new roles, introduce or update policies and procedures or have a training need. Volunteer Centre Manchester is an NCVO quality accredited Volunteer Centre.

VERA (Volunteer Engagement and Recruitment Application) is a web-based platform from Volunteer Centre Manchester that supports volunteer-involving organisations with their volunteer recruitment. VERA also provides an outlet for people who are interested in volunteering or social action to register their interest in volunteering opportunities.

Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV)

Organisations in the private and public sectors can and do encourage their own staff to volunteer in their own time or provide opportunities for staff to volunteer in work time (eg by allowing volunteering leave). This is usually referred to as employer supported volunteering or ESV for short.

Some organisations may set up more regular arrangements or partnerships with businesses to work on a particular project together on a time limited basis or to develop opportunities for employees to volunteer on an ongoing basis.

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