8% Of The Population Do 50% Of The Volunteering Hours #volunteersweek

Could we make volunteering more like a 'social group with a purpose'? More like booking a gym session, or going on a date - more fun & more flexible. Ditto professionalising and personalising the management of how it works - book a zoom call, ask (park mangers to make something happen rather than stop it). Places can do this using online rota, expenses systems and management tools as well as social media a default open communication system. Other potential organisational models to test will be parkrun/ green gym/ drop-in ways of helping. Good example here with Friends of Eaton Park.

Three young volunteers wearing orange high-vis jackets, clearing branches away.jpg

Places in the FPA cohort are trying different things but the support will mainly build on what has already been tried or is inconsistently delivered. It will mainly be about setting parameters within councils around culture and control. The places are looking at: Volunteering Development strategies, CRM Volunteer Management Software, organisational structures, park specific operating models, setting the culture & tone, workforce development, monitoring & evaluation.

Some places will position volunteering as a social good, some for health outcomes, others will focus on skill development, or linking local people with their local area. There's lots of potential benefits and focussing on doing fewer things well will help.

“Some places will position volunteering as a social good, some for health outcomes, others will focus on skill development, or linking local people with their local area. There's lots of potential benefits and focussing on doing fewer things well will help.”

What could we try now, cheaply, in the places we're going to every day? Some of our places are looking at ways to make it easier to work with the council, easier to get involved, more social enterprises, more activating of existing spaces.

So how do we open up to let the 92% of the population in?