Battersea Volunteers – New report on how community organisations work with Volunteers in Battersea  

Battersea Volunteers is launching a new research report today, highlighting how community organisation in Battersea recruit and support volunteers. It makes recommendations about how ‘Battersea Volunteers’ can offer support and resources to the sector to address the gaps in their volunteer programmes and raise the profile of volunteering in Battersea.

Battersea Volunteers

Battersea Volunteers is a new project of The Alliance (supported by Big Local SW11 and Winstanley & York Gardens Joint Venture), which aims to:

• Work with community organisations in Battersea to support and develop best practices in volunteering.
• Deliver training and one-to-one support in ‘Recruiting Volunteers’ and ‘Managing Volunteers’, so that community organisations in Battersea can take on more volunteers and be confident in how to support and manage them.
• Celebrate volunteering in Battersea. As well as, raise the profile of what we all do in Battersea. We need to say a massive ‘Thank You’ to the volunteers who support and add value to our much-needed community services.
• Support volunteer recruitment of local people to enhance the services that work with the local community.

Battersea Volunteers is a key component of The Alliance and Big Local SW11’s three-year strategy, which aims to tackle isolation, loneliness and mental health (esp. depression and anxiety) in SW11.

The report

The needs assessment research report highlights how community organisation in Battersea recruit and support volunteers. It makes recommendations about how ‘Battersea Volunteers’ can offer support and resources to the sector to address the gaps in their volunteer programmes and raise the profile of volunteering in Battersea.

We asked 84 community organisations in Battersea to complete an online questionnaire about their volunteering practices (October-December 2020). 32% (n.27) responded, which is a good response rate (average response rates typically are 1-5%).

Findings 

The research found that most local community organisations in Battersea work with volunteers to a greater or lesser extent. But they are on a spectrum.

At one end there are community organisations working systematically with their volunteers. For example, they

• have robust volunteer policies and procedures.
• have systems and process in place to support volunteers from recruitment, induction, training, supervision to when they leave.
• continuously review and refine their approach to volunteers.

For other organisations their work with volunteers has grown organically. They have created policies, procedures and ways of working with volunteers over time. But they may not have really examined what they do and why, or sought ways to improve the support they give to volunteers.

For others at the opposite end of the spectrum, they are still on the starting blocks and simply don’t know how they can work with volunteers.

It has been helpful to understand the range of experiences that different organisations have, when it comes to volunteering, so Battersea Volunteers can plan and design its services accordingly. It means we can offer a range of bespoke services tailored to meet the different volunteering needs of local community organisations in Battersea.

Download the report here: Battersea Volunteers – Needs Assessment Report – FINAL March21

Invitation to launch of this report 

We hope you will join us for the launch of this report on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, 10:00 – 11:30 am, on Zoom. Sign up here for a free ticket. We will present the findings and open up a discussion to promote closer working partnerships.

Thank You

We would like to extend our thanks to the organisations that took part in this research, with frank and open dialogue and completion of the survey. The survey is not merely to find out where the organisations are currently at. It is a tool for support. We will be following up with all organisations in Battersea to support them around the areas they have flagged as a need, bring them more closely together to promote partnerships and share knowledge and resources.

Thanks to the following who took part: Aspire2Inspire Dyslexia CIC. Battersea Befriending Network. Big Local SW11. Caius House. CAP UK. Carney’s Community. Enable Leisure and Culture. FAST London. Free2B Alliance.  Future Skills Training. Homestart Wandsworth. JAGS Foundation. Kambala Estate Residents Association / Kambala Cares. Katherine Low Settlement’s ESOL, Love to Learn and Elders Programmes. Link UP London. Providence House. Sen Talk CIC. Share Community. Sound Minds. South West London Law Centre (SWLLC). Spear, Clapham Junction. St Peter’s Battersea. Thrive.

Contact

To find out more about ‘Battersea Volunteers’ please contact:

Diana Hardman

Volunteering Development Officer

07956 617 084

[email protected]

www.blsw11alliance.org