Begin at the Beginning

What do the words ’supported volunteering’ (often referred to on this site by the shorthand SV ) mean when used together? To many of you who visit our site this may seem a rhetorical question but our early conversations with other volunteer-engaging organisations have proven otherwise – especially when speaking with those who may rely on volunteers but do not, as yet, have an SV initiative in place. To these folks the question ‘what is supported volunteering’ sounds alot like ‘what do you do to support your volunteers’. But no matter how well a service manager describes the wholesome volunteer managment practices of their organisation it’s just not the same thing.

So let’s start with a standard resource in the UK for all things volunteering and look to Volunteering England who suggest that:

Supported Volunteering refers to schemes where volunteers receive additional support in order to carry out their volunteer roles.

Short, succinct and to the point. On an international level the definition would seem to be similar:

special arrangements for the placement of volunteers and individual support for them once the placement has been made

Furthermore, many UK based projects we’ve identified often refer to helping those with special needs or reaching out to potential volunteers from under-represented communities.

But it would seem that SV is something more than just helping a person volunteer – if practiced resonsibly and proactively it is more complex – a process, not a single act. That is to say that SV is about:

• understanding the needs of those you are trying to help
• being able to assess those needs and establish a joint understanding of the barrier(s) that they represent
• and enacting an agreed plan of action to overcome the challenges at hand.

This is process that touches on all aspects of a project – from conception and initial proposal through to actual delivery and evaluation. For the organisation involved it more than just ‘helping’ others to volunteer.

With this in mind the following is proposed as a more process-focused working form of words for the project:

working to identify & understand the barriers to volunteering faced by an individual or group and seeking to create sustainable solutions to overcome those barriers.

This may seem just word play to those who have a history in working in this area but it is important that our subject is cleary defined for those who are only at the early stages of building an SV project. It’s also key that we build a definition that speaks of a process that can be applied regardless of the nature of barriers involved.

So our question to you is does this description apply to your experience of SV? What could be added, deleted or changed to make it more accurate? Answers on a poscard, please ……..OR  you could just leave a comment below