Responses
to June 2004 Hot Topic
Exploring
the social side of volunteer involvement
by
Andy Fryar
Posted
on June 15, 2004 by Belinda Stevenson, Volunteer Coordinator,
Old Colonists' Association of Victoria, Australia
This
was so timely. I have recently sent all volunteers
a questionnaire and one of the questions was "do
you want a social club?" and "would you
be interested in taking on a leadership role".
The results to date have being very promising with
37.5% saying "yes they want a social club"
and 1/3 of them wanting to take on leadership roles.
I instigated this firstly because some of our volunteers
are needy and secondly because I hoped it would have
a networking ripple effect amongst our volunteers.
I am keen to hear how other organisations started
it and if you allow the volunteers to organise everything
themselves and if more turned up than expected once
it started.
Reading with much interest.
Posted
on June 11, 2004 by Michael Loh, Volunteer Coordinator,
Dover Park Hospice, Singapore
I fully agree that social groups are important for
networking amongst volunteers in any given organisation.
Far more than this, it provides the basic platform
for support, sharing of experience and forming friendships.
All of these will help to prevent burn-out as volunteers
will then be working in convivial environment where
there is always someone they can turn to when feeling
heavy-laden or 'down and out'.
Over
the years, we have formed different social groups
at Dover Park Hospice. The most recent social group
to be formed was the line-dancing group which started
with just 5 volunteers and has grown over the last
2 months to about 15. I expect and believe this group
will grow to at least 30 by end of the 3rd quarter.
In this group, volunteers let their hair down and
have fun. What is more important is that they come
with similar interest and enjoy doing what they do
outside of their voluntary duties. They meet weekly
on a Wednesday evening.
Another
group is Pearlie's Angels which started off as a social
group of ladies interested in cooking. This group
has developed into a minor business venture - catering
food for small events hosted by the Hospice Centre
with all proceeds going to a special fund used to
buy necessities for patients.
Another
social group (if we can call it that) comprises mainly
Buddhist volunteers keen on the Dharma. They meet
monthly at the Hospice to evaluate their commitment
to helping dying patients and how Dharma has helped
them cope with dealing with death and dying issues.
It is like a support group in itself but more than
that. They have outings for vegetarian meals, attend
Buddhist conferences, organise pilgrimage to India
& Nepal etc.
The
list can go on and on. The most wonderful part is
that these social groups are volunteer initiated and
continue to be volunteer driven.
As
Volunteer Coordinator, I see this as a positive move.
These social groups help to motivate our volunteers,
give them direction and sense of belonging.
Posted
on June 9, 2004 by Jordan Kaslin, Director of Volunteer
Resources, Chicago, USA
In
my organization we have used a volunteer social club
as a means of having volunteers interact with one
another for many years. My experiences have been extremely
positive and I can only encourage others to develop
similar avenues in their own programmes.
It's
not too late...
Let's
hear what you think
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