Volunteer Managers shared experiences and ideas at our networking event

GoVolHerts joined North Herts & Stevenage CVS and around 20 volunteer managers from non-profit organisations across the county for a networking meeting where we discussed issues in volunteering and the volunteer management role - organising the participation of volunteers, recruitment, supervision and engagement. After a speed-intro circle in which we learned who everyone was and how many volunteers they managed (from just a few to nearly 1000!) we shared our perspectives on volunteering trends, how we respond, the issues we face and our particular experiences and interests.

GoVolHerts Volunteering Development Lead, Emily Butterworth said: "Working with volunteers is inspiring and rewarding, and you get to work with amazing dedicated people, but there can be challenges too, especially when the organisation is struggling to recruit the volunteers it needs. It can be hard to find enough hours in the day when you are working with a lot of people and you want to be supportive and ensure they have a great experience and the role is sometimes short on the resources and support that are really needed. Those working in this role may also feel their responsibilities are quite different and may be separated from other organisational activities, leaving them feeling isolated and possibly experiencing strain. Attendees gladly took the opportunity to speak with peers about some of their challenges and the solutions they are exploring. Everyone shared ideas and experiences freely and we could see how useful and inspiring that was."

Participants themselves set the topics they wanted to focus on and we held conversations on recruiting and retaining volunteers, improving marketing and on making the most of corporate volunteering, with lively table conversations on each of these topics. Summary notes and bullet points will be shared with everyone who attended. We also noticed much sharing of cards and promises of help between participants and we look forward to hearing about new collaborations.

Those attending particularly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with peers, share experiences, discuss different scenarios and approaches, and get insights and ideas from other participants. We hope a network will continue to meet regularly and we will keep you posted.