No. 2: 24 Apr 2017
SWIM NEWSLETTER
SWIM - an ACE-funded project to recruit and train volunteers and trustees in Cambridgeshire museums 2016-2018
Volunteering Best Practice
In this issue: Best Practice Volunteer
Management Training
Part of SWIM’s aim is to help museums work
towards and achieving Best Practice in their volunteering programmes. From supplying templates for policies and role descriptions, to the ‘soft skills’ needed to support your volunteer workforce. This newsletter explores ways in which we can help in a little more detail.
The Volunteering Helix SWIM is organising volunteer coordinator training, and we are helping individual museums on site, but for those who prefer self-led learning, see the helical ‘prezi’ (below). This covers legal issues (did you know that organisations need to check volunteers eligibility to work in the UK?), best practice, preparing for volunteering, recruiting volunteers and supporting volunteers. It only takes 30 mins to complete.
See www.volunteercambs.org for the latest museum volunteer roles
Forthcoming training 26 Apr Documentation 10 May H&S 23 May First Aid We are arranging Safeguarding, Microsoft Publisher and Social Media training. SWIM also has 2 H&S DVD sets for museums to borrow for staff and volunteer training
See: https://prezi.com/qrg1puvktiz_
Further info http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/2016/05/17/the-heart-of-good-practice-in-volunteer-management/
Responsibility for Volunteering All museums have identified someone who has responsibility for the volunteers and their volunteering programme. They will typically help recruit, train and supervise volunteers. But who has responsibility at Board level for volunteering? If anyone, this often will be the Trustee with HR duties. However, the volunteer landscape is different to that of paid employees.
Allocation of resources in the museum’s five-year Forward Plan is likely to include a volunteering element. Volunteers provide the equivalent of £25k work each year at each museum (median average across SWIM museums, excluding Trustees)
So it may be beneficial for someone at Board level to represent the volunteers and advocate for volunteering at a strategic level, while understanding the legal framework, while volunteer supervision and management is delegated to staff or volunteers.