A recap of our conferences
Written by Georgia Sanders, Networks and Engagement Officer for the Vision for Volunteering
Between January and March 2024, we hosted five online conferences for anyone and everyone involved in volunteering. These gatherings convened stakeholders from across the volunteering sector to dive deeper into the Vision for Volunteering’s five themes and hear some of the insight from across the sector on how we can look to improve by 2032.
The five themes of the Vision for Volunteering are:
Awareness & appreciation
Power
Equity & inclusion
Collaboration
Experimentation
What are the Vision themes for?
Our themes have been selected carefully, following a lot of research and feedback from people working and volunteering across the sector. These are the areas where you feel volunteering needs to step up its game, and the ways in which we can elevate the volunteering experience for everyone involved.
The themes are broad - and this is by design. We’re keen that those in the sector listen to the themes and how they speaks to them and their work. We want you to consider how these areas resonate with you personally - what our themes mean to one organisation, they might not mean to another. And that’s okay!
The conferences
Starting with an exploration of Awareness & Appreciation, we heard from Tempo Time Credits’ Rachel Gegeshidze, who delved into her approach to giving back to volunteers and helping them to feel valued.
The next on the list was Power - participants engaged in networking breakouts and discussed the empowerment of volunteers as a catalyst for societal transformation. Nicola Lake of ResourceVol spoke about growing your volunteer leaders, while #iwill youth ambassadors Bill Curtis, Joba Chowdhury, ZeZe Sohawon and Mabrookah Agbabiaka gave poignant testimonials on their experiences with volunteering and taking social action.
During our Collaboration, we heard strategic case studies from Sam Clift at the London Transport Museum's, as well as practical guidance on collaborative volunteering methodologies. Lisa Andrews from CVS Tendring also walked us through Tendring’s beautiful community garden, and how collaboration fostered its development.
The theme of Experimentation showcased pioneering approaches toward volunteer engagement. Maddy Mills of Family Volunteering Club talked about her ‘trial and error’ approach to experimentation, not being afraid to try new things and, crucially, not being afraid to fail. Young Lives vs Cancer then gave an interesting insight into their new microvolunteering platform which allows volunteers to get involved on their own terms.
The final conference, dedicated to Equity and Inclusion, discussed the non-negotiable imperatives of accessibility. We explored themes such as listening to those with lived experience with Helen Russell from Tyne and Wear Museums, committing to trauma-informed practice with Maria McEvoy from Volunteering Matters, and the amplification of marginalised voices. Amy McGarvey presented findings from NCVO’s Time Well Spent report, focussing on volunteering amongst the global majority.
As well as hearing from thought provoking speakers, attendees also took part in networking breakouts, enjoying discussions across all of the themes and coming away with new contacts, new learnings, and new ideas.
To our speakers, participants, and collaborators, we want to say an enormous thank you for helping to make a success of these events - and we look forward to bringing you many more in the future!