This week has been a busy one in the sector. As well as being Carers Week, it was also Small Charity Week, Refugee Week and Diabetes Week. And as if that weren’t enough, the Home Office this week announced that the ISA Vetting and Barring Scheme was to be put on hold: The Home Secretary Theresa May has confirmed that the comprehensive vettting and barring scheme, due to commence next month, has been put on hold and will be subject to review to bring it [...]

There is some confusion surrounding the change to the rules regarding those who work with vulnerable people.  In summary, the new ISA requirements will set up a list of people registered to work with vulnerable people, that will exist alongside the CRB checking system. From November 2010 the Independent Safguarding Authority (ISA) has said that all those who commence new work or start a new volunteering vole after that date must apply to be registered with them.  This registration is the responsibility of the employee [...]

There are many national surveys and much research in the UK and abroad that seek to define volunteering (here are just a few links) but we’re going to try and start from a simple common sense approach and try not to get too caught up in these definitions – there will be plenty of time elsewhere to consider policy and funding agendas and the role they play.

Below is a link to a video entitled It’s About Time which was part of the Volunteer Films Project on the Community Channel. This clip was published in the spring of 2008 as part of the Time Banking Campaign which is sadly no longer live – but that’s not why it’s been included as this week’s Video Tuesday entry. The people in the video describe a system where individuals earn time credits by the hour for time volunteered and then are allowed to spend those credits by calling [...]

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 [...]