1. Can we encourage volunteering? Angela Ellis Paine Cumberland Lodge, 16.06.11

2. In pursuit of a step change Big Society and volunteering… Giving White Paper: Making it easier Making it more compelling Ensuring it is better supported Promising: Facilitating, not compelling Building from the bottom up Developing appealing opportunities A differentiated approach Learning lessons from the past Rhetoric and reality…

4. New Labour:

5. At least 28 funded initiatives 1997-2010, with funding from £70k->£100m and lasting for 1-9 years

6. From range of government departments and using a range of delivery mechanisms

7. Common themes:Quantity: Increasing the numbers of people volunteering Diversity: Getting a more diverse range of people to volunteer within a more diverse range of activities Quality: Enhancing the quality of volunteering opportunities and volunteer involvement Impact: Bringing benefits to the volunteers and to ‘communities’ Partnership: Working together to deliver programme aims

10. Limited evaluation or learning beyond individual programmes

11. National data on levels of volunteering suggest limited impact: levels of volunteering static

13. Why not Because they can’t, because they don’t want to, because no one has asked them… Range of barriers: Practical (e.g. CRB checks, information, formality, access, expenses) Psychological/attitudinal (e.g. confidence, image of volunteering, fear of over commitment) Structural Focus on the practical only scratching the surface

14. Is it possible? Yes, but… Need to move beyond the practical barriers Need to find new ways to ask An individual act… A differentiated approach…. Need to find new (or old?) ways to engage Depth as well and duration… Need to find new ways to support Different models of volunteer ‘management’… Retention as well as renewal… Need new understandings Multi-dimensional…