Hot
Topic Archive
January
2006
Print version
Here's
to a truly inclusive New Year!
OzVPM
Director Andy
Fryar
In
the OzVPM e-newsletter for December 2005, I offered
a 'tip of the month' which suggested we look carefully
at the events we choose to celebrate throughout the
course of a year, to be sure we don't exclude volunteers
from different religious, cultural or lifestyle groups
from feeling truly included within the life of our
program.
I
specifically used the example that while many of us
happily label our end-of-year celebrations as 'Christmas'
events, we often neglect to recognise major events
from other faiths throughout the course of a year,
and I posed the question of whether this had the potential
to alienate some of our volunteers as a result. As
you can imagine, this elicited a great deal of response
both within the OzVPM
newsgroup and also via personal emails
sent directly to me 'off group'. It was such a burning
issue that I thought it worthwhile following up with
a broader discourse through this month's 'hot topic'
forum.
As
a re-cap for those of you who did not read the original
'tip', here's an excerpt of what I wrote:
It's
December and 'tis the season to be jolly', however
our communities (and by default more and more volunteers)
are coming from cultures, religions and backgrounds
where Christianity is not the dominant belief system.
It's easy to overlook this in the course of our busy
schedules and assume that all our volunteers also
celebrate the Christmas season in the same way we
might. While I am not suggesting that we no longer
hold Christmas parties, it is important to assess
the language we use, and be culturally sensitive to
those volunteer team members who don't celebrate Christmas.
Failing to do this risks alienating those volunteers
who don't celebrate at this time of the year. Perhaps
an 'end of year' function works better or maybe we
need to also celebrate and make mention of significant
annual cultural events from other countries.
My
point was not one about political correctness, nor
was it about trying to deny the importance of Australia
's Christian heritage. Rather the message I wanted
to make was that we should remember that our communities,
and by default our volunteer programs, are constantly
being reinvented and made up by a much broader cross
section of people than simply those who come from
English speaking backgrounds and have a belief in
Christianity. Indeed if anything, I believe Christmas
in most western countries now feels more like a holiday
dedicated to the power of credit facilities and commercialism
rather than a religious celebration.
To
move away from the direct example of Christmas, there
is a broader issue I'd like to raise in this month's
column - that being the way that we, as Volunteer
Program Managers do - or more often than not do not
actively include individuals and groups from other
cultural and lifestyle groups into our volunteer programs.
Sadly,
I believe we all too often give only 'lip service'
to inclusion within our programs. Sure we talk all
the time about involving indigenous people, culturally
and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations, those
with disabilities, young people, the homeless and
many other marginalised groups - but how many of us
actually go out of our way to actively engage these
groups as volunteers?
Further,
what do we miss out on by not pursuing them as volunteers
within our organisations?
My
thinking about what might constitute 'true inclusion'
has been fuelled by my recent trip abroad where I
heard a number of statistics which were absolutely
mind blowing, and where I heard testimonies and reports
that attest to the less than ideal job most of us
are doing in this respect (my apologies for those
of you who are already doing this well)
Let
me cite just a few examples.
While
in suburban Glasgow in Scotland , a friend told me
that in the local public primary school 96% of students
came from families where English was not the first
language spoken at home (no that's not a misprint!).
Similarly, in Ireland , 38% of the many immigrants
heading into that country come from countries where
English is not the main language (mainly from eastern
Europe ).
Sure
these are overseas examples, but in Australia , nearly
2 million people have immigrated to our country since
1980 and around one in four Australians were born
overseas, so perhaps the picture is not so different.
Consider
an article in a recent edition of the 'Herald Sun'
newspaper (22/12/2005) which strengthens this argument.
The article cited statistics about changes in religious
affiliations in Victoria over the period 1996 - 2001.
It told us that Buddhism had grown by 77%, Hinduism
by 45%, Islam by 38% and Judaism by 6%. Catholicism
was up by only 3.8% while the Anglican church was
actually down by 1.6%. To be fair, the article did
not cite figures mentioning the huge growth in the
Pentecostal movement over recent years (see
our May 2005 Hot Topic) , however
the point is that we cannot deny that in Australia,
as in many other countries around the world, we now
live in highly complex multi-cultural communities,
and sadly, I constantly fail to observe this diversity
within our volunteer programs.
Moving
away from cultural differences, here are a few other
questions to ponder:
- What
proportion of people with disabilities do you have
involved in your volunteer program?
- How
many indigenous Australians are registered as volunteers?
- How
do you actively involve young people or families
in your agency?
- When
was the last time you advertised for volunteers
from within specialist target groups like gay, lesbian,
bi-sexual and transsexual (GLBT) communities?
The
most common (and often easiest) excuse I often hear
is that these groups only choose to volunteer within
their own cultural or interest group, and while there
may indeed be some small element of truth to this
- the question I'd like to pose is how often do we
actually ask ?
Let's
take the GLBT community as an example. A 1998 report*
found that not only do this group give more in terms
of both volunteering time and financial support than
the general population, they also give equally to
the GLBT community and other broader causes.
Surely
if 'word of mouth' and asking people to participate
are the most effective methods of recruitment it augurs
the question of why aren't we asking more? Consider
the charity toy runs that occur each year by biker
groups around the world - someone somewhere had the
foresight to make an approach to these unconventional
groups - with positive and pleasing results.
I'm
reminded of a story told in 'Turn your
organisation into a volunteer magnet'
** by friend and Australian ex-pat (now Londoner)
Nikki Squelch, about her successful efforts to befriend
and eventually recruit a number of new immigrants
from the African country of Eritrea to her program.
While I'd encourage you to read the full story for
yourself, it is clear that in Nikki's case, the time
she spent getting to know this marginalised group
had far reaching benefits for both her agency and
the Eritreans themselves. Had Nikki not taken the
time to seek out and connect directly with this group
this tremendous union would never have taken place.
So
what does a successful and inclusive program look
like?
Well
I think it is a program where the involvement of marginalised
or minority groups and populations is pro-actively
sought and encouraged - and not just spoken about.
One
of the best examples I have come across involves Scope
in the UK. Scope
is an UK based disability organisation
whose focus is on people living with cerebral palsy.
Their aim is that "disabled people achieve equality:
a society in which they are as valued and have the
same human and civil rights as everyone else" . Having
worked myself for more than a decade in the disability
sector I love the fact that Scope don't just hang
their hat on their mission - they go beyond 'saying'
what they will do and instead practice what they preach.
For example not only do they have a staffing policy
which dictates that 10% of their staff (at all levels
of the agency) must be people with disabilities, they
also have a system of 'enabling funds' that assist
disabled volunteers to have the opportunity to make
any necessary physical and support changes in the
workplace to aid in their participation. It's a great
example I think we can all learn from.
So
why not start your new year by making a pledge to
find exciting ways to involve new volunteer groups
in your agency?
Now
let's hear from you.
- Do
you agree that we don't do a good enough job of
being pro-active' in seeking marginalised groups
as volunteers in our programs?
- What
do you think are the barriers to this happening
better?
- If
you already do this well - why not share your story
and tips of success for others to learn from?
*
" Creating
Communities: Giving & Volunteering by Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual and transgender People " 1998
** "Turn
you organisation into a volunteer magnet" , 2004,
Fraser Dyer, Andy Fryar, Rob Jackson (editors)
It's
not too late to...
Respond
to this month's Hot Topic
(Be
sure to add your name, title and organisation to your
message)
Should
this link not open your regular email browser, simply
send your reply to response@ozvpm.com
Read
other people's responses
Print
version
The
contents of this Hot Topic are copyright © 2003
- 04 OzVPM.
You may reproduce this Hot Topic in part or in full
on the condition that the author, source and website
address (www.ozvpm.com)
are quoted. OzVPM copyright
policy
Visit
this month’s ‘Hot
Topic’ on the Energize web site.
|
