Minutes:
The Committee considered the undernoted report:
“1 Relevant Background Information
1.1BelfastCity Council through the work of Community Services has benefited in 2010 from over 75,000 hours of volunteer support. This has enabled the Council to deliver an enhanced service to local communities.
1.2According to the 2010 Volunteer Impact Assessment Report conducted for Community Services by Volunteer Now, for every £1 that BCC invests in volunteering, £3.45 is levered in return. This information is based on a VIVA (The Volunteer Investment and Value Audit) calculation which uses the average gross hourly wage of a full-time employee in Northern Ireland to give an economic value to volunteer hours.
1.3The Volunteer Impact Assessment Report 2010 identified a number of benefits of volunteering, for example, for the council through extending and informing its service delivery and for the volunteer by developing skills and confidence and a sense of community belonging:
- The important work of the summer schemes has benefited year after year from the dedication of our volunteers with 69% of our volunteers involved in this work. This has enabled our children and young people to benefit from a range of varied activities and experiences.
- Supporting
the continued development for the youth of the city, the Youth
Forum has provided an opportunity for young people from across the
nine electoral wards of Belfast to contribute to a series of
projects through volunteering e.g. supporting the development
of
Belfast’s new UrbanSportsPark and working with Good Relations on the second phase of the Belfast Peace and Reconciliation Action Plan. This important work helps us to work with and engage with our next generation in the development of the city and improve the design and deliver of our services.
- Volunteers also benefit as individuals from volunteering. Of those surveyed, 66% stated that their team working skills had improved through volunteering and almost 2/3rds of volunteers indicated that their sense of community identity had also increased. 80% of our volunteers told us that one of the biggest benefits of volunteering was their feeling that they are making a useful contribution and giving something back to their local community.
- Local communities benefit from volunteering as it enables BCC to provide an added value to the services we provide locally. 91% of service users surveyed indicated that they felt volunteers brought special qualities to what they did and that the services offered by volunteers were as good as you would get anywhere.
1.42011 is the European Year of the Volunteer (EYV). This is a year designated by the European Union to acknowledge the value and work of volunteers. This is an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the significant contribution of volunteers to BCC. It is also the 10th anniversary of the United Nations International Year of Volunteering: IYV +10. The EU has identified 4 themes for this year
- To create an enabling and facilitating environment for volunteering in the EU
- To empower volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering
- To reward and recognise volunteering activities
- To raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering
1.5Volunteer Now, the regional volunteer agency for Northern Ireland, is leading work on EYV and has identified ‘Valuing Volunteers’ as its theme.
1.6Volunteers Week is an annual event which takes place every year
from 1st to 7th June. This is an
opportunity to recognise the contribution that volunteers make to
the work of organisations. Community
Services are celebrating and
recognising the contribution of our volunteers during that week by presenting certificates and sending thank you cards to our volunteers. A number of centres are organising thank you events to coincide with Volunteers Week and we are hosting Volunteer Week displays in centres across the city.
2 Key Issues
2.1In order to recognise, value and celebrate the contribution of volunteers to our work we would like to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the designation of 2011 as European Year of the Volunteer to hold a celebration event in the City Hall on 14 September 2011. This will build on the activities taking place as part of Volunteers Week in June 2011.
2.2This event is an important way to demonstrate that BCC, through Community Services, values the significant contribution of its volunteers. It is also important in helping to retain and renew the commitment of our existing volunteers who make a significant contribution to our work and that of the broader community sector.
2.3In addition, Community Services has secured a small amount of funding (£500.00) from ‘Volunteer Now’ to develop an Older Volunteer of the Year Award. We are working in partnership with the Older People’s thematic group to develop the award process. The event has been endorsed by the All Party Reference Group on Older People (29th March 2011). It is envisaged that the award will be presented at an event in December 2011.
3 Resource Implications
3.1The funding required for the celebration event is £6,000. This is available within the unit revenue budgets.
3.2The Older Volunteer of the Year Award will be funded from the £500.00 secured from Volunteer Now.
4 Recommendations
4.1The Committee is requested to agree that a celebration event be held in the City Hall on 14th September 2011 as part of the European Year of the Volunteer 2011, in order to recognise, value and celebrate the contribution of volunteers.
4.2The Committee is requested to agree that £6,000 from the current Community Services budget be used to fund the event.
4.3 The Committee is asked to support the Older Volunteer of the Year Award.”
The Committee adopted the recommendations.