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
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
Crisis - Review of the Volunteering Programme (completed June 2009)
IVR undertook a review of Crisis’ volunteering programme during 2008/9. This explored the difference volunteers make to Crisis, its clients and volunteers and makes recommendations on how the programme could be developed. The research involved a series of focus groups, interviews and surveys with volunteers, Crisis staff and Crisis clients.
- Read a summary of the research
The full report will be available from this website from June 8th
For further information please contact: joanna.stuart@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
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 please contact angela.ellispaine@volunteeringengland.org
Queen Mary University, The impact of student volunteering
This research explores the impact of volunteering on student volunteers at Queen Mary, University of London. The project was commission by Provide, the university’s student volunteering programme. The project will look at the benefits of participation and the barriers to volunteering amongst students who are not involved. The research will be completed in April 2009. For further information, please contact: Joanna.stuart@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
Volunteering and employability
This project, commission by Capacity Builders, will explore the existing and potential role of Volunteer Centres in work to successfully link volunteering to employability. It will examine examples in which Volunteer Centres have developed effective projects and partnerships with frontline organisations. The research will result in a publication which describes good practice tips and principles in developing work around volunteering and employability.
For further information about this project please contact: nick.ockenden@volunteeringengland.org
