Action Research of Groundwork's New Horizons Project
Groundwork UK has launched the New Horizons programme to engage young (16-25 year old) ex-offenders in volunteering opportunities and so inspire them to make a lasting change. The work is being focused on four Groundwork Trusts in England. IVR has been commissioned to carry out a piece of Action Research over 18 months to evaluate the New Horizons programme. Amongst other things, any relationship between volunteering and levels of offending will be explored.
For further information, please contact: nick.ockenden@volunteeringengland.org
Anchor Trust Volunteering Programme
Volunteer involvement in Anchor Trust care homes has to date been minimal, with no central drive to involve volunteers and no standard policies or procedures. The potential power of involving volunteers in Anchor Trust homes has, however, been recognised. The Trust are looking to establish a new Volunteer Programme, with the aim of developing a more targeted, systematic approach to volunteering and by doing so enhance the quality of care provided to Anchor’s residents. A pilot programme is being run in three care homes to develop the initiative before national roll out. IVR will be working with Anchor throughout the pilot. Taking an action research approach, IVR will help to monitor progress of the pilot, highlight successes, identify and review challenges. The research will take place over 18-months and will involve a number of different research methods.
For further information contact: angela.ellispaine@volunteeringengland.org
Compact: The relationship between Local Authorities and Volunteer Centres
The Commission for the Compact has funded IVR to explore the relationship between Local Authorities and Volunteer Centres. This research aims to examine the factors that underpin successful relationships, how this impacts upon the effectiveness of Volunteer Centres and local authorities and make recommendations about the future development of these relationships. The research will include a telephone survey of Volunteer Centres as well as in-depth case studies of four local authority areas.
If you would like more information regarding the research, or would like to inform the research in any way please contact Matthew Hill at matthew.hill@volunteeringengland.org
Cripplegate Foundation. The impact of volunteering in Islington
Commissioned by the Cripplegate Foundation, this research looks to assess the impact of volunteering across projects in receipt of Islington Community Chest grants. It will explore the impact of volunteering on volunteers, the organisations/groups and service users. It will also identify wider lessons for involving, managing and supporting volunteers within small community organisations and on ways of engaging with those less likely to participate in volunteering. The project will be completed in June 2009.
For further information please contact angela.ellispaine@volunteeringengland.org
Implementing the Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit
IVR are providing training, support and advice on volunteering impact assessment to 19 projects in receipt of funding from the Department of Health's Opportunities for Volunteering scheme. The projects are focused on developing the involvement of service users as volunteers and IVR has provided them with training on how to use IVRs Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit and designed tools specifically for their projects.
For further information please contact: joanna.stuart@volunteeringengland.org
Monitoring, measuring and evaluating the National Trust’s voluntary volunteer management
The National Trust has commissioned IVR to undertake research and evaluation to help them to monitor, measure and evaluate the impact of Voluntary Volunteer Management (VVM). VVM is being piloted in some National Trust properties who are developing roles for volunteers to manage other volunteers in all aspects of their volunteering experience with the Trust. Through this initiative the organisation aims to enhance the way volunteers are managed including the way volunteers are recruited, inducted, trained, supported, communicated with and recognised.
The evaluation work with the National Trust will be ongoing until March 2010.
For further information please contact Joanna.stuart@volunteeringengland.org
The role of volunteer centres in Leicestershire in supporting the volunteer journey.
IVR has been commissioned by Voluntary Action Leicester to research the ways in which Volunteer Centres in Leicestershire can and do support volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations at different stages in the ‘volunteer journey’. The research will also seek to identify any good practice case studies and to provide recommendations for maximising the effectiveness and impact of Volunteer Centres in enhancing the volunteer experience in Leicestershire. The project will involve working with eight case organisations in Leicestershire, speaking to their volunteers and volunteer coordinators through a mix of surveys, focus groups and interviews.
For further information contact: angela.ellispaine@volunteeringengland.org
Pathways through participation
This research project will explore how and why people get involved and stay involved in different forms of participation in their communities. It aims to increase knowledge of people’s pathways into participation and of the factors that shape this over time. We are looking at participation in a very broad sense, to consider the act of taking part in a wide range of social or civic activities, such as volunteering, being a member of a local community group, purchasing fair-trade goods, attending a PTA meeting, acting as a representative on a local strategic partnership, responding to a consultation and voting. This is a joint research project being led by NCVO in partnership with IVR and Involve.
The project has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund through its Research Grants programme. It is a 2.25 year project, commencing in April 2009.
For further information visit: http://pathwaysthroughparticipation.org.uk/
For further information please contact angela.ellispaine@volunteeringengland.org
Research on student volunteering
The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s (NCCPE) vinspiredstudents programme was set up in recognition of the challenges and opportunities facing the student volunteering sector. As part of its work NCCPE has commissioned the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR), in partnership with Dr Clare Holdsworth, to conduct a piece of research into the motivations for and outcomes of student volunteering.The research will explore the motivations for, routes into, experience and perceived impacts of volunteering among students. It will also consider the capacity for involving student volunteers within community-based organisations, and the difference that it makes to them. We will be working with six case study universities to course of nine months. For more information about getting involved see: http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/about-nccpe/student-volunteer-research-heis-required-to-participate-in-national-research-programme-
For more information contact georgina.brewis@volunteeringengland.org
Skills and Volunteer Management in the Third Sector
Skills Third Sector has commissioned IVR to undertake a piece of research to explore the skills gaps and development needs of people who manage volunteers. The research will also explore their perceptions of the skills gaps and development needs of the volunteers they support. The research is the first national survey exploring the nature and impact of skills shortage and gaps in the volunteering sector. It will build on existing research evidence, most notably Management Matters, a national survey of volunteer management capacity undertaken by IVR in 2008, to inform policy and practice.
For more information contact: georgina.brewis@volunteeringengland.org
VALUE project. New European project
Working with the University of Liverpool, IVR is co-leading a major new European project which seeks to explore and develop relationships between universities and adults in Europe. The VALUE (Volunteering and Lifelong Learning in Universities in Europe) project will involve sharing good practice about how adult volunteers can use their experience and skills to gain credit as part of university courses or link up with Higher Education institutions. It will produce a series of national reports, good practice resources, a new website, and a final networking conference in 2011. The VALUE project is a consortium of 18 partner organisations and universities from 12 different countries.
For more information, please contact nick.ockenden@volunteeringengland.org
