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

A volunteer may require extra support for a variety of reasons. For instance, they could:

- be lacking in confidence after a long period of unemployment
- have physical disabilities or health conditions
- have learning disabilities
- have mental health issues
- be homeless
- be striving to break patterns of negative behaviour, such as gambling or drug misuse
- be a non-English speaker

At Volunteer Centre Slough we have recently developed a project to support those with mental health issues into volunteering. Over recent years we have worked with local support agencies and the community mental health team with the view to finding sustainable volunteering roles for their clients. We found that many people were open to the idea of volunteering but were unable to take the first step. As a result of a collaboration with our borough council and funding to develop a similar project we developed the [...]

After the Barriers to Volunteering event on the 6th May, we thought it would be a good idea to explain the purpose of this website and what we hope it will offer. Toolkit The toolkit will be accessed from the top of this page in the menu. There will be ‘drop down’ options for you to choose the subject you wish to find information on, and the type of information you are looking for. The topics for the toolkit will be as follows: Learning Disabilities [...]

A bit of light Friday afternoon reading of particular interest (and value?) to those looking to work with refugees & asylum seekers. The Refugee Awareness Project was the work of Refugee Action and ran from 2005 to 2008. It’s goal was to improve British understanding of and attitudes towards asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. Though the project has now folded its materials and teachings are still available online and amongst the many info sheets, informative maps and general goodies there is a collection [...]

Exploring the Barriers to Volunteering is a chance for volunteer-engaging organisations to come together and explore their options and potential for engaging with groups who are often excluded from meaningful volunteering experiences. The Chances4Volunteering Toolkit will officially be launched at the event and delegates will benefit from a brief introduction to the resource. Workshops Delegates will also be able to attend two of three workshops on the day, each covering a different set of barriers to volunteering: Mental Health (Mark Brown, Editor of OneinFour) Learning [...]