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hayley.lightfoot
I read an article recently that suggested that one of the ways employer supported volunteering could be more successful, is for the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, to engage better with the trends of corporate social responsibility managers within businesses.   I don't agree.   ESV has been around for many years and the most regular comments I receive from…
hayley.lightfoot's blog

Mike Wild
I started writing something shortly after the new Prime Minister has made his first speech on the steps of Downing Street. Another premiership set to be dominated by Brexit. It has paralysed national policy and politics for the last 3 years and it looks like this is set to continue for the foreseeable future...but the phrase which is ringing in my ears from the speech is “the doubters, the…
Mike Wild's blog

Nigel Rose
At meetings where people from statutory organisations are extolling the virtues and importance of the VCSE sector, I quite often feel like saying “SHOW ME THE MONEY” over and over again, just like Cuba Gooding Junior says at an increasing volume to a confused Tom Cruise in the film Jerry Maguire. He doesn’t want warm words - he wants cold cash. I can’t remember what happens after that but it all…
Nigel Rose's blog

barkery.jammeh
What a way to round up our volunteer stories for this years Volunteers week! Check out our last installment of volunteer stories (Including a volunteer video) highlighting the importance of celebrating volunteers and their contribution. Today we are sharing Lesley’s and Amruta’s stories and a video from the National Football Museum. We hope you enjoy :-) Volunteer Name:  Lesley Volunteer…
barkery.jammeh's blog

aleena.khan
All this week we are sharing volunteer stories, highlighting the importance of celebrating volunteers and their contribution. Today we are sharing Helen's and Rita's stories:    Volunteer name: Helen Age: 60 Where are you from? Stockport What's your volunteer role and what do you do in that role? I teach English in an informal setting to foreign nationals many of whom are…
aleena.khan's blog

barkery.jammeh
Happy Volunteers Week :-) Volunteers Week 2019 is here and we look forward to a great week of Celebration! It’s a little bit different for us this year and a change from our usual and very popular ‘Volunteer Fair’ event (back next year)… but nevertheless we have plenty of activities planned and presentations scheduled for this week. Reward & Recognition To begin, and in familiar tradition…
barkery.jammeh's blog

shanna.lennon
  Volunteer Coordinator Forum – May 2019   This time round, we met at the Booth Centre, a day centre that offers advice, activities and support to homeless people in Manchester. It was great to meet in a space that was obviously thriving with activity. We had many new faces at the forum many of whom were new to their role, this is one of the main reasons the Volunteer…
shanna.lennon's blog

helen.walker
"You’re never going to kill storytelling, because it’s built in the human plan. We come with it.” - Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale For me, this quote sums up the power of stories. Sometimes stories are seen as fluffy and not as serious as facts and figures but before we had statistical models and survey data, we had stories. They were used as education, entertainment and to…
helen.walker's blog

karen.dyson
It is possible to switch off from work when you have a job in the voluntary sector but this hasn’t been one one of those days for me. The day began with a tram journey to Manchester, whiling away the time as I often do, by pottering about on Facebook and twitter. Most days I think this just answers my own question about why don’t I read as many books as I used to, but today it was very…
karen.dyson's blog

danielle.conway
Having heard the good news that I had been offered the role of Health and Care Development Worker at Macc, I was obviously elated and very keen to get started. So, I looked in my diary and saw that the North Manchester Community Explorers meeting was coming up. These meetings have been so useful for me in my previous role as a Community Connector. They have supported me to learn about the…
danielle.conway's blog

aleena.khan
Victoria and I attended an Ambition for Ageing seminar yesterday by Kate Jopling where she presented the findings from a recent publication ‘Age-friendly and inclusive volunteering: Review of community contributions in later life' by the Centre for Aging Better in partnership with the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS). The report can be found here: https://www.ageing-better.…
aleena.khan's blog

shanna.lennon
  Volunteer Coordinator Forum – March 2019 We were joined by a wide range of organisations working across Manchester City who spoke about the positives and challenges of coordinating volunteers at their organisations with others offering support and advice. One pertinent challenge which many shared was volunteer coordinators are increasingly being asked to cover a greater area and…
shanna.lennon's blog