So, you have thought about Awareness and you have thought about accessible formats for your policies and procedures. So what comes next?

Before you begin your recruitment, you will need to know how to structure that process and what policies and procedures you will need in place.

In order to successfully recruit and support volunteers with support needs, there needs to be some planning before the recruitment process takes place. This planning is needed to ensure that your organization is accessible and ready to take on volunteers with additional support needs.

RT @mentalcapital : Positive changes in attitudes to mental health problems taking place in the UK http://bit.ly/9Ig23M # RT @mentalcapital: Link2the full report RCPsych released today about the way ppl who self-harm are let down in the NHS. http://bit.ly/djziiq # RT @ThirdSectorLab: The micro-sociology of networks {slides} http://post.ly/lxnY # @vol_managersAVM thanks for the retweet in reply to vol_managersAVM # Powered by Twitter Tools

One of the most important things to consider when moving into the area of supported volunteering, is how to create a supportive and inclusive environment for those volunteers with traditional barriers to volunteering.

There are two key messages to remember here:

1. Keep it simple
2. Be flexible

@dmarsd Good luck in your campaign to overturn the decision. Stigma and fear around Mental Health is still such a big issue.Keep us updated! in reply to dmarsd # @oldiesclub I completely agree. The rules really need to be simplified for everyone. Small orgs can drown in the paperwork. in reply to oldiesclub # RT @ncvochlo Clegg asks what laws/regualtions charities would like to see cut http://bit.ly/9SRtxw #yourfreedom #crowdsourcing # @VolCenSDerbys I think some of those stories show a misunderstanding of who needs and doesn't [...]

The Chances4Volunteering Forum is now open! We hope that you will find it a useful tool in your work. Please visit the following forum post which gives instructions on how to register: Joining Instructions Image Credit Wili_Hybrid

RT @asthmauk: over a quarter of people with asthma have missed days off work in the past year because of their asthma. # RT @VolunteeringEng: Volunteering England response to Vetting and Barring Scheme review: http://tinyurl.com/27jw75c # RT @ivolunteeruk: Mixed reaction to the govt's plans to review the vetting and barring scheme – what do you think? http://bit.ly/95Ax26 # Confirmation from the CRB that the Vetting and Barring Scheme has been put on hold. http://ow.ly/1YD15 # The National Vetting and Barring Scheme, due to start next [...]

Coalition government confirm plans for social action and volunteering http://ow.ly/1OZ6L # Working on the forum. Hopefully to be released this week! # RT @TimetoChange: Do you want to help end mental health prejudice? Make a pledge: http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/ # RT @RNID: Inspiring story from India..Oxford graduate shows that deafness doesn't need 2be a barrier to employment opps http://bit.ly/bxWGRn # Useful page over at @NCVO on ICT resources for the Third Sector http://bit.ly/aDXwKj # RT @NCVO: We're crowdsourcing cuts to the voluntary sector http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/cuts please take part [...]

http://twitpic.com/1lh2et – Tanvir Ahmed explains to the workshop the finer aspects of BSL as a language. # http://twitpic.com/1lh2oj – Chris from Surrey vinvolved prepares for his presentation #c4vbarriers # http://twitpic.com/1lh3uj – Ciara & Kathy from Mencap prompt serious thought about the nature of 'disability' #c4vbarriers # http://twitpic.com/1lh4oe – Dawn helps distinguish between social and medical definitions of disability #c4vbarriers # http://twitpic.com/1lhd0e – Chris Philips from Surrey vinvolved talks about the challenges of youth volunteering #c4vbarriers # Just want to thank Ciara & Kathy frm Mencap, [...]

This is not the post that we sat down to plan a few weeks ago. We had planned to spell out the background behind the Goldstar Project and all they had to share with respect to …identifying the barriers to recruiting volunteers from socially excluded groups and offered ways to overcoming them. Sadly, during the last minute checks for spelling and broken links we discovered that the project website was down. We’ve held off until now in hopes that it was just a minor technical [...]