A Gateway to Work

The role of Volunteer Centres in supporting the link

between volunteering and employability

A Modernising Volunteering
Workstream Report
 What is NSS?
With funding from Capacitybuilders’ National Support Services programme, nine
national workstreams are addressing key areas of support for third sector support
providers, to help them meet the needs of frontline organisations.
Capacitybuilders is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Office of the
Third Sector in the Cabinet Office. It aims to have a significant impact on the support
available for frontline organisations across the third sector by taking forward the
ChangeUp framework and associated investment programme.
The nine workstreams are:
• The Campaigning and Advocacy workstream, led by NCVO
• The Responding to Social Change workstream,
led by Third Sector Foresight at NCVO
• The Collaboration Benefits workstream, led by bassac
• The Marketing and Communications workstream, led by the Media Trust
• The Equalities and Diversity workstream, led by the Women’s Resource Centre
• The Leadership and Governance workstream, led by NCVO
• The Income Generation workstream, led by ACEVO
• The Performance Management workstream, led by Charities Evaluation Services
• The Modernising Volunteering workstream, led by Volunteering England
More information at www.improvingsupport.org.uk

The Institute for Volunteering Research, 2009

Written by Colin Rochester
Research manager: Nick Ockenden
Research team: Kim Donahue, Jurgen Grotz, Matthew Hill, Judith Unell
Acknowledgements
Our thanks go to Capacitybuilders for providing the funding to make this piece of
research possible. We would also like to thank the eight Volunteer Centres who
participated as case studies, and the 220 who responded to the telephone survey, for
sharing their views and experiences. Thanks also go to the individuals who undertook
the research for the study: Kim Donahue, Jurgen Grotz, Matthew Hill and Judith Unell.
Finally, we would like to thank BMG Research, who completed the telephone survey of
Volunteer Centres.
The images within ‘A Gateway to Work’ are for illustrative purposes only, they do not
necessarily feature people who were unemployed at the time of the photograph.

2 A Gateway to Work
Contents
Executive summary 4

Foreword 6

1. Volunteering and employability 7

2. Why Volunteer Centres should address issues of employability 8

(and why they might not)

3. Identifying the need 12

4. Designing activities and services 14

5. Different organisational responses 18

6. Working with partners 20

7. Funding and sustainability 23

8. Measuring impact 24

9. Key points for good practice 25

10. Sources of further information 26

A Gateway to Work 3
 Executive summary
Introduction
This research explores the role of Volunteer Centres in supporting the link between
volunteering and employability. It was funded by Capacitybuilders and undertaken by
the Institute for Volunteering Research in 2009. It is based on a telephone survey of 220
Volunteer Centres and eight in-depth good practice case studies of Volunteer Centres.
Part one: getting involved
There is growing evidence to suggest that volunteering can improve employability
through building confidence, developing ‘soft’ skills such as team work and
communication, advancing ‘hard’ skills such as language, IT and management,
and demonstrating job readiness to potential employers. Research suggests that
volunteering is not, however, a ‘magic bullet’ or a direct route into employment.
Over one-third of Volunteer Centres are currently undertaking work in this area. The
work reflects many of the underlying values of volunteering and Volunteer Centres, and
can benefit volunteers, volunteer-involving organisations, and the Volunteer Centres
themselves. Such work can, however, involve capacity issues for Volunteer Centres,
challenging relationships with Job Centre Plus, and difficulties in securing funding.
Part two: delivery
This agenda is primarily relevant to three groups: the long-term unemployed, the more
recently unemployed, and the ‘aspirational’ unemployed.
The work of the case studies tended to focus on the recruitment and referral of these
groups, and providing ongoing support for volunteers and organisations. Some
schemes also offered the volunteers access to education and training. The majority of
Volunteer Centres had integrated their employability work with their general work, while
others had discrete projects funded by specific sources, such as the National Lottery,
or commissioned on contract by other bodies.

4 A Gateway to Work
Part three: partnerships and management
The majority of Volunteer Centres undertaking work in this area had partnerships with
their local Job Centre Plus. To get the most out of this often challenging relationship,
Volunteer Centres recommended building ongoing relationships with key members of
staff and devoting resources to persuade them of the value of volunteering.
The most common source of funding for these activities was the Volunteer Centre’s
Local Authority. Demonstrating the impact of their work was often seen to be
an important part of securing further funding. It was, however, recognised that it
could frequently be difficult, if not impossible, to say that someone had gained
employment as a direct result of their volunteering. Furthermore, recording ‘soft’
impacts, such as confidence, self-esteem and fulfilment, was seen to be an important
part of demonstrating how far volunteers had progressed on their journey towards
employability.
Part four: key lessons
The evidence from the research suggests that Volunteer Centres should:
• Consider how engaging in the employability agenda would contribute to delivery of
the core functions, and is part of their mission and values
• Base activities on good relationships with volunteer-involving organisations that
have sufficient capacity to host and support volunteers
• Devote time to building good relationships with Job Centre Plus
• Recognise that ongoing and comprehensive support that is focused on the
individual can lead to the most positive outcomes for volunteers
• Ensure that all volunteering is based on genuine freewill.

1 IVR is an initiative of Volunteering England and the University of East London.

A Gateway to Work 5
 Foreword
After a long period of high employment the number of people out of work and
seeking employment is rising. As well as dramatically increasing the scale of the
need overall, this will also mean that it will become more difficult for the long term
unemployed to access the job market. There will be a significantly higher demand
for help from those who have lost their jobs more recently. Volunteering can make
a major contribution to addressing these growing needs.
Volunteer Centres are already playing a pivotal role in this area.
We know of innovative projects which are helping the long term
unemployed gain – and keep – jobs. We are aware of ongoing work
to get people ‘job ready’. And we see activities which offer people a
meaningful alternative to employment. But we are also seeing a new
interest from throughout the network to do more.
This short guide has been produced to help meet this growing
demand. It is based on evidence collected from case studies of the
experience of eight good practice Volunteer Centres; the results of
a survey which drew responses from 220 members of the network;
and a review of the relevant literature.
The guide is in four parts. The first discusses the link between
volunteering and employability, and why Volunteer Centres might –
and might not – take it on board as part of their daily activities. The
second part of the guide looks at a variety of ways of engaging with the employability
agenda by exploring the different groups or categories of people who might be served,
the kinds of provision that could be made and the various organisational arrangements
that sustain them. Part three focuses on some key aspects of managing the work –
relationships with partner bodies; resources and funding; and evaluation. The guide
finishes by summarising key lessons for good practice and making suggestions about
sources of further information and advice.
In our current climate, a guide of this type is timely. I hope you find it a useful and
interesting read.

Justin Davis Smith

Chief Executive
Volunteering England

6 A Gateway to Work
 1. Volunteering and Employability
The relationship between volunteering and employability is not straightforward.
It is true that some kinds of volunteering can lead directly to employment: over 80 per
cent of the full-time volunteers involved with the National Trust move on to employment
or further training1, while 45 per cent of BTCV’s ‘Key Volunteers’ found jobs in the
environmental sector in 20042. Similarly, the National Survey of Volunteering and
Charitable Giving found that in 2007 just under a quarter of volunteers (24 per cent)
reported an important personal benefit of their volunteering to be that it gave them a
chance to improve their employment prospects3. A separate survey found that of those
individuals looking for work, 88 per cent of respondents said that they believed that
volunteering would help them get a job, while 41 per cent of those in employment said
that volunteering had helped them get their current job4.
On the other hand, volunteering is not a ‘magic wand’ or direct route into employment
for many people, especially those who have been unemployed for some time and
those whose difficulties entering or re-entering the job market are compounded by
other problems – such as ex-offenders, people who are physically incapacitated, and
those with mental health issues. Studies have found that unemployed people actually
volunteer slightly less than those in paid employment (35 per cent and 38 per cent
respectively5) and that volunteers can have longer durations of unemployment than
non-volunteers6.
But what volunteering can do instead for a wide range
‘There is a growing body of of people is to improve their employability – to provide
evidence about what people them with a better chance of entering the labour market.
gain from their volunteering in This might involve acquiring or retrieving skills; learning
terms of employability.’ or re-learning the habits and discipline of employment;
and improving confidence and self-esteem. This process
is often described as a ‘journey’ which will vary in length
according to the circumstances in which the volunteer finds him or herself at the outset,
and in which volunteering may only be one stage.
While research has so far failed to produce convincing statistical proof demonstrating
that people who volunteer have an advantage over non-volunteers in the job market,
there is a growing body of evidence about what people gain from their volunteering,
much of it provided by the volunteers themselves. The benefits include: gaining
practical experience and testing new career paths; acquiring skills; accessing training
which, in some cases, might lead to a recognised qualification; demonstrating
commitment and reliability; as well as becoming more confident and improving inter-
personal skills.

1 http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-trust/w-volunteering/w-fulltimevolunteering.htm [accessed March 2009]

2 http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/volunteerofficers [accessed March 2009]
3 Low, N., Butt, S., Ellis Paine, A. and Davis Smith, J. (2007) Helping out:
a national survey of volunteering and charitable giving Cabinet Office: London
4 Hirst, A. (2000) Links between volunteering and employability: Research report RR309 DfES: London
5 Low et al (2007) ibid.
6 Hirst (2000) ibid.

A Gateway to Work 7
 2. Why Volunteer Centres should
address issues of employability...
A significant number of Volunteer Centres have already engaged with volunteering
and employability. Our survey found that 37 per cent of the 220 Centres which
responded had carried out ‘work, projects or activities around volunteering and
employability during the past 12 months’. Why have they become involved and
why should other Volunteer Centres follow their example?
The first explanation is that employability offers a means of pursuing some of their
core functions. Work on employability can be an extension to the Volunteer Centres’
brokerage role; it may involve, as we shall see, developing the number and range of
opportunities for volunteering; and it will provide the opportunity for
‘Thirty-seven per cent of marketing volunteering to a largely new audience – the staff of Job
Volunteer Centres in our Centre Plus and other agencies with an interest in employment.
survey had carried out Secondly, the employability agenda reflects some of the underlying
work, projects or activities values of volunteering and the mission of Volunteer Centres. At
on volunteering and the heart of this is the belief that every potential volunteer can
employability in the past year’ expect to gain something from volunteering, as well as making a
contribution to an organisation or cause. Employability offers a route
for the involvement of a number of groups of people who are under-represented in
the volunteering population, but found in numbers among the ranks of the long-term
unemployed. They include people seen as experiencing social exclusion, such
as those with limited experience of the educational system; people with long term
limiting medical conditions; lone parents; people from minority ethnic communities,
and ex -offenders.
And thirdly, work on employability issues is of clear value to three core groups –
the volunteers themselves; the organisations with which they are involved, and the
Volunteer Centres.

What the volunteers had to say

Volunteers thought that the most important impacts on their employability were:
increased confidence, communication skills and team work, learning to be sensitive
and non-judgemental, increased discipline and order to life, and practical skills such
as IT, media and language. Other impacts included waking up in the morning and
doing something productive, and confidence in formal situations such as interviews
and applications. The removal of a sense of isolation that many volunteers had
previously experienced was a very important benefit of volunteering, especially
for single mothers and those suffering from mental ill-health. Crucially, many of
the volunteers thought that the development of these skills was facilitated by the
supportive and people-centred ethos of voluntary organisations. They also felt that
the flexibility of a volunteer role meant that they could develop gradually – especially
important for those who are isolated and/or have low confidence.

8 A Gateway to Work
The value for volunteers
Our case studies underline the value of the work to volunteers. While some of them
did go on to paid employment, the benefits were more widespread: 45 per cent of the
volunteers involved in the project run by Birmingham Voluntary Service Council found
work, but 90 per cent of them thought that the project had been a positive experience.
Across the case studies there was a considerable measure of agreement about the key
benefits of the experience volunteers gained:
Confidence and self-esteem this was seen as key to the whole process. In one
Volunteer Centre it was felt that since ‘many of the volunteers might be vulnerable
or face multiple exclusions, the raising of the confidence and the recognition of their
potential seems to be the most important initial impact’ and this ‘has been experienced
as life changing’. This was associated in another Volunteer Centre with ‘the removal
from isolation especially [in the case of] single mothers and those suffering from mental
health problems’.
‘Soft’ employment skills including communication skills and teamwork, learning to be
sensitive and non-judgmental, and other social or interpersonal skills.
‘Hard’ employment skills such as practical skills such as IT, media and language.
Evidence of employability including commitment to the role; ability to sustain a
working routine (‘getting out of bed in the morning’); a CV; a reference; and, possibly,
accreditation from training.
The value for volunteer-involving organisations
Work on employability issues can provide volunteer-involving organisations with
a significant source of additional volunteers and people who, as well as needing
support, also bring a range of different experiences and knowledge with them. One
volunteer, a man in his 40s who had been a carer for many years, was placed in a
carers’ organisation where his expertise was eventually recognised by his appointment
to a paid position. Organisations have also developed their expertise in working with
vulnerable people in collaboration with the Volunteer Centre.
The value for Volunteer Centres
As well as enabling a Volunteer Centre to pursue its mission and making a contribution
to the delivery of some of its core functions, engagement with the employability agenda
may bring other – more specific – benefits.
Firstly, it can raise the profile of the Volunteer Centre and of volunteering. This can
operate on a number of levels. In Cornwall, for example, it has led to a high profile
involvement in local partnerships at both operational and strategic levels. In Kensington
& Chelsea ‘possibly the most dramatic impact… is the profile it has generated, which
has enabled the Centre to build on and attract other projects’. And it has ‘significantly
widened’ the Volunteer Centre’s network in Newcastle.
Secondly, work on employability can bring about the development of new expertise:
in Birmingham there was a perception among staff that this type of project has been a
catalyst for learning around engaging with and supporting certain client groups, most
notably those with mental health issues, and the socially isolated. In Broxbourne, staff
gained qualifications in ‘delivering information, advice and guidance about learning and
work for adults’.

A Gateway to Work 9
 Thirdly, there have been financial benefits. In one case the funding for employability
work was generous enough to subsidise other activities, but this was unusual. On the
other hand, other Volunteer Centres reported that ‘while the project does not generate
a surplus it recovers its full costs and assists by improving the economy of scale for the
Centre’s core’.

A wide range of benefits

Volunteer Centre Broxbourne and East Herts provides information, advice and
guidance to people with low or no income, living in isolated areas, to help them
make better-informed decisions about their learning and work plans.
Many of the volunteers using the service might be vulnerable or facing multiple
exclusions. The raising of confidence and the recognition of their potential appears
to be the most important impact. Developing volunteers’ self esteem above this
initial threshold has been perceived as life changing, and in some instances as life
saving. Further practical benefits can include interview skills, team working, goal
planning, stress awareness and social interaction.
As part of the work, the staff of the Volunteer Centre were required to complete the
National Open College Network qualification in ‘Delivering, Information, Advice and
Guidance about Learning and Work for Adults’ as well as achieving the ‘matrix’
quality standard. As well as developing staff skills, this has helped to raise the profile
of the Volunteer Centre.
It is also felt that the Volunteer Centre’s work has helped to overcome outdated
perceptions of volunteering amongst funders, particularly in the private sector.
www.bvsda.org.uk

...and why they might not

There are a number of difficulties in the way of engaging successfully in work on
employability.
The first of these is the challenge of capacity. This is partly a simple matter of numbers:
volunteer-involving organisations may not need or may not be able to cope with
additional volunteers. It seems, however, that more is being asked of Volunteer Centres
recently. Eighty-seven per cent of those surveyed in our research had experienced an
increase in the number of enquiries about volunteering over the past six months. It is,
however, also about the kinds of opportunity available; one case study project could
not find openings for men who were over 40, and had to work with
‘There is a risk that funders partner bodies to create new opportunities. Sometimes also, there
and other agencies may was a geographical mismatch, with opportunities concentrated in
confuse volunteering one part of the area where there were few potential volunteers. Some
opportunities with work fields of activity are particularly over-subscribed but there are signs
experience placements.’ that competition for placements is becoming more general, leading
to organisations ‘cherry picking’ the most attractive applicants.

10 A Gateway to Work
These problems can be exacerbated if the Volunteer Centre has not developed a
strong relationship with volunteer-involving organisations. They may be reluctant to
accept volunteers from among the long-term unemployed, and may lack the expertise
and resources to meet the needs of volunteers who require additional support. Their
managers may also harbour understandable concerns about the ability of untried
volunteers to ensure that the organisation can deliver the appropriate level and quality
of service to users.
In some cases the level of bureaucracy involved meant that opportunities were
unsuitable. Project staff were anxious to get new volunteers started and could find
themselves frustrated by Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks or lengthy selection
or induction procedures.
The second challenge is managing the relationship with Job Centre Plus and other
bodies. While 51 per cent of those who responded to our survey reported that their
relationship with Job Centre Plus was ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’, participants in our
case studies had experienced a lack of interest in, and understanding of, volunteering
on the part of Job Centre Plus staff and, in at least one case, outright hostility.
The third set of difficulties are related to funding. As well as the primary concern
of securing the necessary funding and ensuring that it covered the full costs of the
activity, there are issues about working with funders. For some this will bring ‘a whole
new language and culture to deal with’, while others find the demands of monitoring
and evaluation onerous. This is especially problematic for smaller Volunteer Centres
with comparatively basic systems of financial management and administration. And, as
more than one of the participants in our case studies observed, ‘we still have to do the
day job’ of carrying out the Volunteer Centre’s core functions.
The sometimes fraught nature of negotiations with funders may also be a product
of very different views of volunteering and what it can contribute to employability.
Funders and other agencies in the employment field can take a very instrumental
approach, in which volunteering is the means of meeting simple, concrete goals,
such as reducing the numbers of people who are out of work, or increasing the
numbers of those achieving specific vocational qualifications. They may confuse
volunteering opportunities – which offer people the chance to contribute to the work
of an organisation or cause – with work experience placements, which are intended to
progress directly from unpaid work to employment in a specific occupation or sector.
As is hinted above, engagement with the employability agenda may detract from the
delivery of Volunteer Centres’ core functions rather than enhancing them. Meeting
funders’ requirements may contribute to a drift away from the Volunteer Centres’
mission. Meeting the needs of unemployed people may provide a stronger force for a
change of emphasis from brokerage and promotion to the provision of direct services
for this group of people. Finally, engagement may also lead to a change in the image or
reputation of a Volunteer Centre. Rather than catering for the whole community, there
is a danger that they will be seen as a specialist agency for the kinds of disadvantaged
groups found among the ranks of the long term unemployed. Other ‘reputational risks’
are associated with the perception that some at least of the ‘volunteering’ carried out
by the unemployed is, in fact, mandatory and people have little, if any, choice in the
matter. Volunteer Centres wishing to engage with the employability agenda will need to
negotiate these issues carefully.

A Gateway to Work 11
 3. Identifying the need
The first step towards engagement with the employability agenda is to identify
the need and differentiate between the kinds of people who are the potential
participants in activities of this kind. The literature offers a range of different ways
of categorising them, but our case studies have enabled us to identify three broad
types; the long-term unemployed; those who have lost their jobs more recently;
and people who are in employment but are looking to move into more skilled jobs
with better prospects.
The long-term unemployed
Long-term unemployed people are those who have been out of work for at least six
months but many of them have been out of the job market for considerably longer.
Much work can specifically focus on this group of people: of those Volunteer Centres
currently undertaking work around volunteering and employability in our survey, 82 per
cent said that their projects targeted the long-term unemployed. During recent years of
high employment the long-term jobless tend to be either concentrated in geographical
areas where unemployment is unusually high or experience issues and problems that
affect their chances of obtaining work. Many of them may be described as socially
excluded or vulnerable and they may have one or more of the following characteristics:
• living in disadvantaged communities
• membership of a minority ethic community
• aged over 50
• low educational achievement
• lone parenthood
• physical or mental disability
• long-term limiting health condition
• homeless
• ex-offender
• alcohol- or drug-related problems
Greater competition for jobs brought about by rising unemployment means that many
of the long-term unemployed, and especially people from socially excluded and
vulnerable groups, will struggle to find employment. Volunteering may be a means of
overcoming their disadvantage in the job market but here too they may find themselves
competing for opportunities with those made redundant more recently who may be
more attractive to some volunteer-involving organisations.
We also need to recognise that some long-term unemployed people are not seeking
work and others have no realistic chance of getting a job because of factors such as
disability or long-term illness. In these cases involvement in volunteering may be the
goal rather than a means to employment, and can provide a meaningful alternative
to employment.

12 A Gateway to Work
The more recently unemployed
Many of those made redundant as the result of rising unemployment will be looking
to return to the job market very quickly – although some may find this difficult.
Their interest in volunteering may be based on making sure they do not lose their
employability by:
• keeping active and involved between jobs
• maintaining their skills by using them
• ensuring that there will not be a gap on their CV
Alternatively they may be interested in equipping themselves for new forms of
employment by:
• gaining new knowledge and developing new skills
• tasting or testing new careers
And they might simply want to find ways of coping with being unemployed by:
• occupying their enforced leisure time with purposeful activities
• enjoying social interaction with other people
It can be important to maintain sufficient flexibility to respond to changing patterns
of unemployment; many newly unemployed people may have different and
comprehensive skills sets which could be seen as an opportunity for
volunteering organisations.
The aspirational employed
Our third group are looking to move into different – and ‘better’ jobs. They find their
current occupation unsatisfactory for one or more of the following reasons:
• low pay
• insecurity
• poor prospects and lack of opportunities
• lack of skills
Differences
The three different groups of people can benefit from volunteering in different ways,
and they need different kinds of activities and services and different levels of support.
It is also important to recognise the differences within the three ‘types’; some people
who have been unemployed for a long time may have considerable experience of
volunteering, for example, and they would not all describe themselves as being ‘in
need’ or excluded.

A Gateway to Work 13
 4. Designing activities and services
While the activities and services delivered by the case study Volunteer Centres
varied greatly, a common thread running through most of them was the
placement of unemployed people as volunteers. Four of them were aimed at
long-term unemployed volunteers in general and one focused on unemployed
ex-offenders. The scheme in Birmingham was fairly typical in seeking to place
50 people in organisations where they would commit to a minimum of 30 hours’
volunteering over a period of 12 weeks. There were, however, variations in the
way the schemes operated.
Recruitment or referral: some Volunteer Centres were responsible
‘The scheme in Birmingham for, and actively engaged in, promoting the scheme and recruiting
was fairly typical in seeking volunteers while in other cases participants were referred by other
to place 50 people in agencies such as Job Centre Plus.
organisations where they Support for volunteers: the extent of support provided by the
would volunteer for 30 hours Centres varied from occasional ‘trouble-shooting’ on the one hand
over a period of 12 weeks.’ to regular contact from a member of staff, backed up by financial
assistance with travel, child care, equipment or tools and specialist
help with issues such as mental health or debt advice.
Other kinds of help: some schemes offered help with accessing employment including
job search, help with applications and preparation for interviews. One scheme led to
the provision of a reference which could be used to support a job application.
Support for volunteer-involving organisations: most schemes offered support in setting
up the placement and ensuring the right kinds of support were in place. In one case
the Volunteer Centre worked with agencies to develop new kinds of opportunities
for volunteering. Financial support for equipment and materials was available
in some cases.

14 A Gateway to Work
 Ongoing support
Volunteer Cornwall’s work with employability is funded through the New Deal, the
European Social Fund and Department of Work and Pensions. Volunteer Cornwall
employs a team of one manager and five project support officers (PSOs). The PSOs
are based in Job Centre Plus for one afternoon each week and their staff arrange
referral appointments for the PSOs throughout the week.
The PSO undertakes an initial needs assessment with the participant in which
they discuss their experience, interests and barriers to employment. The volunteer
placement is then brokered by the PSO and the host organisation. The organisation
will often provide the volunteer with a taster day. On the first day of the placement
the PSO will visit the organisation to establish the relationship and develop a written
contract/pledge to agree terms and responsibilities.
Throughout the placement Volunteer Cornwall provides a range of financial support
to volunteers (to cover travel, childcare, equipment and tools) and to the host
organisation for any necessary supplies. Training is provided to volunteers by
Volunteer Cornwall on a range of relevant topics – such as first aid or food hygiene
– either in-house or externally contracted. Volunteer Cornwall can also provide
specialist support on issuesn such as mental health or debt relief.
The PSOs also provide ongoing support by visiting the volunteers every four weeks
during their placement. They can also be contacted by the volunteer for additional
assistance. Support can include help with CV writing, job searches or interview skills.
Job clubs are also provided for volunteers, and the transport to these is provided by
Volunteer Cornwall. This support is resource-intensive, but it is thought to be a key
element in the project’s success.
www.ccfv.co.uk

A second, less common, theme running through the case studies was education and
training. Some of this provision is linked to placements, and may take the form of pre-
placement and ‘on the job’ instruction as well as professional training. In Cornwall, for
example, a project funded by the European Social Fund and the Learning and Skills
Council Convergence Fund – which is open to the employed who wish to improve their
skills, as well as to the unemployed – might place a volunteer in a children’s centre
and provide childcare support training. Another example is provided by Volunteer
Centre Liverpool (VCL), where much of its work is focused on the recognition of skills
and experiences. VCL is an accredited body with ASDAN and is the only organisation
in Liverpool offering awards to all residents of Liverpool. VCL offers several ASDAN
awards – Certificate in Community Volunteering, Community Involvement and
Volunteering Award and a new Employability Award. ASDAN awards are a precursor to
more formal learning and can be an effective way of getting people back into education
or employment. The awards provide foundation work and underpinning knowledge for
people wishing to explore careers and undertake NVQs.

A Gateway to Work 15
 This concentration on education and skills is also key to the work undertaken by the
Broxbourne and East Herts Volunteer Centre in delivering Information, Advice and
Guidance (IAG) services. These are targeted on both employed and unemployed
people, and are intended to provide them with ‘the skills they need to be both
employable and personally fulfilled’. The core activity takes the form of one-to-one
advice sessions during which the potential volunteer is helped to develop an action
plan. Where possible, the Volunteer Centre will provide the placement, training or
coaching to enable the user to follow this plan and, where not, it will work with a range
of partners to make it possible.

A diversity of support
Education and training is at the heart of a very different approach adopted by
Volunteer Centre Liverpool. This has three main elements.
Outreach: the Volunteer Centre works with the 20 Job Centre Plus offices in its
catchment area. This involves speaking to the staff, meeting each of them about
once a year; keeping in touch with the key advisers; and making contact with their
users at the Job Cafes run by the Jobs, Education and Training (JET) Centres.
Preparing to Volunteer sessions: the Volunteer Centre’s outreach work highlights
these ‘group interview sessions’ which involve up to 12 people and are held every
six weeks. They are seen as an efficient method of brokerage and recruitment.
Accredited training: As well as helping to place volunteers, the Preparing to Volunteer
sessions also feed into the Volunteer Centre’s training programme, which offers a
flexible and accessible route into learning, enabling people to explore careers and go
on to take NVQs.
www.volunteercentreliverpool.org.uk

The Wirral provides us with another approach. The Council for Voluntary Services’
(CVS) Learning Guide programme involves volunteers in supporting hard-to-engage
people in community settings. The Volunteer Learning Guides offer a friendly point
of information for the less confident adult learner, and act as a signpost to learning
opportunities at local colleges and volunteering opportunities at the Volunteer Centre.

16 A Gateway to Work
The learning guide
Sarah became a Volunteer Learning Guide in order to obtain the practical experience
she needed to obtain her NVQ Level 4 qualification in Advice and Guidance. She
was working full time as an administrative assistant to the Advisor Team at a local
Further Education college, and had already obtained her NVQ Level 3. As a Volunteer
Learning Guide, her main placement involved visits to local schools where she made
contact with parents, helping them to identify learning opportunities and looking at
the broader implications of these, for example in terms of child care and benefits.
She also spent three months as a Learning Guide at a Job Centre Plus during her
lunch hour, approaching job seekers to discuss education and volunteering options.
Volunteering as a Learning Guide provided her with the necessary experience to
progress to Level 4, and she was subsequently able to achieve her immediate career
goal of moving out of administration into a direct advisory role at the college. She
said:
‘To have the placement enabled me to enhance those skills, because when I
originally did the placement I was working a lot behind the scenes, as I was just in
an administration role and didn’t go out to see clients. But actually being a Learning
Guide enabled me to have that confidence to go and approach people and use those
skills that I was being taught in Level 4.’
(Sarah is not the volunteer’s real name).
www.volunteeringwirral.org.uk

A Gateway to Work 17
 5. Different organisational responses
There are, broadly speaking, four sets of organisational arrangements through
which Volunteer Centres have engaged in work on employability.
An integrated approach: more than three quarters (76 per cent) of the Volunteer
Centres in our survey who had carried out work around volunteering and employability
had undertaken some activities as part of their general work. The outstanding example
of this approach among our case studies was Volunteer Centre Liverpool, who had
engaged with the employability agenda and incorporated work on this issue into its
overall programme.
A wholly-owned funded project: the outstanding example here is
‘Relationships between Wandsworth. The Volunteer Centre, building on earlier work, had
Volunteer Centres and secured a major lottery grant for its ‘Activate’ project, employing a
the volunteer-involving project worker to liaise with local volunteer-involving organisations to
organisations which provide increase the number and variety of volunteer roles available.
the opportunities are A partnership: while there are a number of collaborative
generally based on goodwill arrangements through which Volunteer Centres can address the
and mutual respect.’ employability agenda, comparatively few involve formal partnership
arrangements, but there are two examples highlighted by our case
studies. Newcastle Volunteer Centre is one of the members of the Ouseburn Valley
Volunteer Partnership which was set up to engage unemployed and economically
inactive people in cultural volunteering activities. Similarly, Broxbourne and East Herts
Volunteer Centre has received funding for its programme since becoming a full member
of the Information, Advice and Guidance Partnership in Hertfordshire in 2002-03.
The fourth and most common organisational model involved the commissioning
of services from Volunteer Centres by other bodies to whom they became sub-
contractors. Kensington & Chelsea’s programme, for example, is delivered as a
sub-contract to WorkDirections. Similarly, Volunteer Cornwall delivers part of a wider
programme as a sub-contractor to an organisation called Working Links.
Relationships between Volunteer Centres, who are engaged in work of this kind, and
the volunteering-involving organisations which provide the opportunities, are generally
based on goodwill and mutual respect. In Birmingham, by contrast, the arrangements
have been formalised and put on a businesslike footing by signing a service level
agreement with each placement organisation.

18 A Gateway to Work
A lottery-funded project
The Activate Project is a three-year, £167,493 project funded by the Big Lottery
Fund. Launched in April 2008, it aims to engage ex-offenders and those at risk of
offending in volunteering and training in the community, as a stepping stone
to employment.
Placements have included charity shops, painting and decorating on barges,
and giving time in hostels as befrienders and administrators. Volunteering is for a
minimum of three hours a week. Clients return to the Volunteer Centre every two
months for a review of goals and to establish if additional support is required.
Progression towards employment is expected after a year of volunteering.
Potential volunteers in these projects are likely to be vulnerable, for example, as
mental health service users, ex-substance misusers or ex-offenders and may
live chaotic lives. As a result, the service is focused on the needs of individual
volunteers.
Partner agencies have begun to support each other by offering referrals and
opportunities to one another. Training courses on topics such as mental health
awareness, the requirement for volunteering training, and volunteering in prisons is
delivered to the partners and volunteer-involving organisations involved.
www.wvsda.org.uk

Delivering services on contract

Volunteer Centre Kensington & Chelsea’s work with New Deal is subcontracted by
WorkDirections, a private company and one of the main welfare-to-work providers
in the UK. The Volunteer Centre must deliver the programme against set objectives
in order to receive payment from WorkDirections. Objectives include finding quality
volunteering placements and securing employment for at least three months.
The programme focuses on individuals who have been unemployed for at least
six months. It aims to place a minimum of ten people per month into volunteering
placements for a period of 13 weeks. It also sets out to provide support and
guidance to 24 placement providers per quarter.
Once WorkDirections have referred the individual to the Volunteer Centre, an initial
one-to-one meeting is held to develop an action plan. Participants are then given a
volunteer placement in which they are supported for 30 hours a week for 13 weeks.
Placements have, for example, included school classroom assistants, mentors
and befrienders in drug and homelessness projects and administrative reception
volunteers in doctors’ surgeries. During this period volunteers are also assisted with
the provision of job search facilities.
In the year ending March 2008, 24 per cent of volunteers had moved into
employment and had kept their job for at least three months. The Volunteer Centre
delivers placements for approximately five per cent of all of WorkDirections’ clients.
www.voluntarywork.org.uk

A Gateway to Work 19
 6. Working with partners
Job Centre Plus
The ability of Volunteer Centres to engage with the employability agenda depends on
the quality of its external relationship with a wider range of bodies than those which
provide the placements. One of the key organisations in this respect is the network of
Job Centre Plus offices. As we have already noted, just over half of the respondents
to our survey reported that they had a positive or very positive relationship with their
local Job Centre Plus office. And 63 per cent of those who had carried out work on
employability in the past year named Job Centre Plus as a partner in their projects.
Some participants in our case studies, however, had experienced difficulties in the
relationship. It was felt that many Job Centre Plus staff had negative attitudes towards
volunteering, based on a lack of understanding of the contribution it makes to society
in general and to unemployed people in particular. Even when volunteering is not
dismissed as ‘a waste of time’, it can be seen as a last resort when everything else has
failed, or an option for the most difficult individuals.
However, these attitudes can be addressed and overcome. One
‘Volunteer Centres stressed participant in the case studies felt that the views of Job Centre Plus
the importance of ongoing staff had shifted over the years, and that they were starting to see
dialogue with Job Centre the benefits of volunteering, but there was ‘still a long way to go’.
Plus staff.’ The problem was exacerbated by the high turnover of front-line staff,
and a continuing information gap within the service about what
volunteering could achieve.
There was agreement among case study participants that they had needed to address
the issue on three levels. Initially, in the first place, there was a need to speak to the
managers and persuade them to ensure the message that volunteering could make an
important and positive contribution to someone’s employability was passed on. This
was well summed up by a member of staff at one Volunteer Centre: ‘Don’t sell yourself
short. Don’t ever think that volunteering is demeaning or second-best’. Secondly, it
was important to talk directly to the front-line staff at their meetings or individually. And
thirdly, it was possible to identify key advisers within the Job Centre Plus offices and
important to maintain contact with them. In some cases, Volunteer Centres had been
able to arrange training for Job Centre Plus staff, but it was felt that more needed to be
done. As part of all three of these points, Volunteer Centres stressed the importance of
ongoing dialogue with Job Centre Plus staff, something that also helped to get round
the problem of high staff turnover.
Opinions were divided about the value of a physical presence of Volunteer Centre
staff in the Job Centre Plus office. On the one hand it was argued that, apart from
meeting the need to meet job seekers face-to-face, regular attendance and contact
with the staff built trust and helped to resolve problems. Time spent in this way could
be seen as an acknowledgement that Job Centre Plus staff have their own function
and targets and are not experts on volunteering; making it useful to have someone
from the Volunteer Centre present who is able to provide expert advice. An alternative
perspective is that a presence on the Job Centre Plus premises suggests that the

20 A Gateway to Work
Volunteer Centre is ‘part of the system’ rather than an independent body. Liverpool
offers a possible way of reconciling the different positions to achieve the best of
both worlds. The city has a network of Jobs, Education and Training (JET) Centres
which provide ‘a more person-centred approach to employability’ than the traditional
Job Centre Plus network, and they organise ‘job cafes’ which provide an informal
environment, which is an ideal venue for outreach and recruitment by Volunteer
Centre staff.
Other partners
Important as they are, the Job Centre Plus network is by no means the only significant
partner with whom Volunteer Centres may need to work on the employability agenda.
As well as the volunteer-involving organisations we have discussed elsewhere, these
tend to fall into two categories; those which, like Job Centre Plus, are sources of
referrals and those which offer additional services to unemployed volunteers.
Sources of referrals include Connexions and other employment agencies over and
above the Job Centre Plus system, local authorities and Primary Care Trusts; and a
variety of voluntary sector agencies whose users might benefit from volunteering in
connection with employability.
Service-providing partners are a similar mix of statutory, voluntary and private
sector agencies.
The numbers of organisations that might be involved, and the complexity of the
relationships between them, is crystallised by the description of one fairly small
project’s environment as ‘a spider’s web of funders and partners’ and ‘a plethora of
services involved in employability’. The case studies felt, however, that the benefits of
engaging with such partners justified the effort involved.

A wide range of partners

One North East’s ‘North East Volunteering’ funding stream aims to engage
unemployed and economically inactive people in cultural volunteering activities,
and offers a progression pathway into employment or further training. It funded a
series of pilot projects throughout the region, of which the Ouseburn Valley Volunteer
Partnership is one example.
Newcastle Volunteer Centre is involved as a partner in this project. It received
£10,000, to provide a range of different services for the project, for eight hours
a week. These include recruiting volunteers, interviewing and selecting suitable
candidates for referral to the project, and providing training on volunteering to
partners.
The Ouseburn Trust, a development trust for the Lower Ouseburn Valley, is the grant
holder and co-ordinator for the pilot. The referral agency is Newcastle Futures, which
also provides a strategic co-ordination role to a range of providers across the city.
More than a dozen further partners, such as Ouseburn Farm, Tyneside Cinemas,
Seven Stories, Recycle Y’ Bike, The Biscuit Factory and The Art Works Galleries are
members of the partnership, mainly as volunteer-involving organisations offering
placements.
www.volunteercentrenewcastle.org.uk

A Gateway to Work 21
 Service level agreements
Birmingham Voluntary Sector Council ran the ‘Volunteering into Employment’
project from October 2007 to July 2008 which was funded by the Learning and
Skills Council. Support was provided to the volunteers through an initial interview,
matching them with a placement and offering ongoing support.
The project formalised its relationship with host organisations through a detailed
service level agreement, which was signed at the start of the relationship.
Organisations providing placements received £450 for hosting a volunteer and for
providing ongoing support. In addition, they received £20 travel expenses for each
volunteer.
The Volunteer Centre felt that the agreement provided clarity of aims, roles,
responsibilities and limitations within the partnership. The payment formalised the
relationship, increased the flexibility of the hosts and provided them with resources
to properly support the participants. Host organisations were also supportive of the
agreement.
The Volunteer Centre has since developed a follow-on project called ‘Volunteering
and Wellbeing’, which features employability as one of several strands. They have
again put in place a service level agreement with partners, but have this time
strengthened the agreement to include elements of quality assurance (e.g. health
and safety procedures, induction, training).
www.bvsc.org

22 A Gateway to Work
7. Funding and sustainability
To state the obvious, the ability of Volunteer Centres to carry out work on
volunteering and employability depends on access to adequate funding.
As we have seen, many of the activities captured in our case studies were
commissioned or subcontracted out by larger agencies, many of which had much
wider remits than Volunteer Centres and which looked to them for the provision
of specialist services. Our survey identified the main funding sources for the
work carried out by the 82 Volunteer Centres which had been involved in work on
volunteering and employability (see figure 1).
Figure 1: Sources of funding for work on volunteering and employability.

Local Authority 50%

Local Area Agreements 23%

Primary Care Trust 21%

Local Strategic Partnerships 18%

Source of funding

Regional government 17%

Volunteer-involving organisation 10%

Job Centre Plus 9%

Central government 7%

Other employment agencies 5%

Connexions 5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Percentage of funding

Sample base: 82 (those Volunteer Centres carrying out ‘work, projects or activities
around volunteering and employability during the past 12 months’).

The Volunteer Centres which took part in the case studies were, by and large, upbeat
about continued funding. Their confidence was based on two main perceptions. The
first of these was that, while the exact design or shape of funding programmes was
subject to change, they expected that resources for work connected with employability
would continue to be made available. And, secondly, they believed that they could
demonstrate the value of their work and use that as a platform to gain future funding.

A Gateway to Work 23
 8. Measuring impact
In order to make the case for funding the Volunteer Centres acknowledged the
need to measure the impact of their work. It was recognised that it was often
very difficult, if not impossible, to say that someone had gained employment as
a direct result of their volunteering. This was not, however, an argument for not
attempting to measure the success of such work, and this would often involve the
use of ‘hard measures’; nothing was more persuasive than statistics showing the
numbers of people who had been helped into employment by volunteering. In fact,
it was often felt that demonstration of such outputs and outcomes was a key step
in securing further funding. Of those Volunteer Centres undertaking work around
volunteering and employability, just over half (54 per cent) said they measured
the number of volunteers who went on to find employment as a result; the most
common response was between one per cent and 25 per cent of volunteers.
But hard statistics alone would not capture the full range of impacts; they also needed
‘soft measures’ which would help them to demonstrate how far
‘The number of volunteers volunteers had progressed on their journey towards employability.
moving into employment ‘Soft measures’ do not imply a less than rigorous approach to
should not be the only evaluation. Clear and systematic measurement of impact, moreover,
measure of success in will achieve more than demonstrating value for money; it will
projects on volunteering make the case for setting more realistic aims and targets for the
and employability.’ programme than the numbers moved into employment alone. It was
also felt that recording improved employment prospects should
not be the only measure of success. Volunteering was considered
to lead to a whole raft of social and cultural benefits for those taking part, and that
such programmes should be designed, monitored and evaluated with an appreciation
of the holistic benefits. The numerous benefits for the Volunteer Centre and partner
organisations should also be taken into account when assessing the success of such
projects. It is possible to effectively measure the impact of volunteering – on volunteers,
on the organisations who involve volunteers and on the wider community – with the
Institute for Volunteering Research’s ‘Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit’7.
7 https://ecommerce.volunteering.org.uk/PublicationDetails.aspx?ProductID=V309

24 A Gateway to Work
9. Key points for good practice
The evidence from the case studies and our survey suggests that Volunteer
Centres should:
• Consider carefully how engagement with the volunteering and employability agenda
will contribute to the delivery of their core functions and is consistent with its
mission and values. It is important that attempts are made to ensure that any work
in this area does not result in ‘mission drift’.
• Establish a successful programme of work on volunteering and employability
based on firm foundations. The key factors for success identified by respondents to
our survey are – apart from sufficient funding – the capacity of the volunteer-
involving organisations (46 per cent); the effectiveness of the Volunteer Centre’s
relationships with them (33 per cent); and the quality of its relationships with Job
Centre Plus and the other employment services (25 per cent).
• Be clear about which group or groups of people in need they intend to provide
services or activities for. They should recognise that ongoing and comprehensive
support to volunteers can often be fundamental in ensuring that the outcomes are
as positive as possible for all parties, especially when volunteers are drawn from
more vulnerable groups. It can also be important to adopt an individual-centred
approach, concentrating on their specific needs and motivations and adapting
support as necessary.
• Ensure that the motivations of those involved, both the volunteers themselves and
the referring organisations, are based on a genuine understanding of volunteering
and the element of freewill. Where volunteering is seen as mandatory or confused
with work placements, success is likely to be more limited. Significant efforts
should be made by Volunteer Centres to ensure all partners have a comprehensive
understanding of the relevance and importance of volunteering to the employment
agenda, in order that all organisations appreciate its value and, in particular, do not
see it as a mandatory activity.
• Develop a clear focus on the kinds of services or activities they intend to provide.
• Explore the options in terms of organisational and funding arrangements and identify
the most advantageous for them.
• Develop strategies for establishing and developing the ways in which they intend
to work with volunteer-involving organisations who will provide the placements; the
employment services and other sources of referrals; and other partners. The
roles and responsibilities of each partner should be made clear, and if necessary
and relevant, set out in a service level agreement with the funder or contractor.
• Be clear about the kinds of impact they intend to make and the ways – hard and soft
– in which they can measure them systematically and rigorously. Including soft targets
in monitoring may be more appropriate for some groups of people than recording the
number of people moving back into work. Furthermore, it is important to adopt
a holistic approach to the link between volunteering and employability. It should, for
example, be recognised that some people may never be ready for employment, and
that volunteering can provide a meaningful alternative to employment for many.

A Gateway to Work 25
 10. Sources of further information
and advice
CEV (2007) Volunteering as a route (back) to employment. A report of the General
Assembly 23.03.07 Paris CEV: Brussels
http://www.cev.be/data/File/CEV-GAParisReport.pdf

Corden, A. and Sainsbury, R. (2004) Volunteering for employment skills:

A qualitative research study Social Policy Research Unit: London

Gay, P. (1998) Getting into work:

the role of volunteering in improving employability IVR: London

Hirst, A. (2000) Links between volunteering and employability:

Research report RR309 DfES: London

IVR (2004) Volunteer Impact Assessment Toolkit IVR: London

https://ecommerce.volunteering.org.uk/PublicationDetails.aspx?ProductID=V309

Low, N., Butt, S., Ellis Paine, A. and Davis Smith, J. (2007) Helping out: a national
survey of volunteering and charitable giving Cabinet Office: London

Ockenden, N. et al (2007) Volunteering works:

volunteering and social policy IVR: London
http://www.volunteering.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/4D138A1D-022E-4570-9866-
B8E3A4F86C20/0/Final_Volunteering_Works.pdf

Volunteering England A route to opportunity:

unemployed people Volunteering England: London
https://ecommerce.volunteering.org.uk/PublicationDetails.aspx?ProductID=V125

Volunteering England information sheet on the accreditation of volunteering

http://www.volunteering.org.uk/Resources/goodpracticebank/Information/
accreditationofvolunteering.htm

26 A Gateway to Work
Methodology
The research that informed this guide was carried out during March 2009 and
consisted of three different elements:
1. A literature review.
2. A telephone survey of 220 Volunteer Centres throughout England. This represents 58
per cent of all centres.
3. Eight case studies of Volunteer Centres demonstrating good practice in their work
around volunteering and employability. For each case study, interviews with Volunteer
Centre staff and partner agency staff were carried out, and discussions with
volunteers on employability programmes were conducted. The eight Volunteer
Centres were Cornwall, Birmingham, Broxbourne & East Herts, Kensington &
Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, Wandsworth, and Wirral.

The Institute for Volunteering Research

The Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR) is a specialist research and consultancy
agency focusing on volunteering. IVR is an initiative of Volunteering England and the
University of East London. It was set up in 1997 in response to the increased demand for
research on volunteering. Over the past twelve years IVR has carried out a wide variety of
research, consultancy and evaluation projects on many different aspects of volunteering.
It has completed four national surveys of volunteering.
www.ivr.org.uk

Volunteering England
Volunteering England is the national volunteer development agency for volunteering and
the accountable body for the network of Volunteer Centres. It promotes volunteering as a
powerful force for change, for those who volunteer, involve volunteers and make policies
that affect volunteers. Volunteering England works to support and increase in the quality,
quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering throughout England. It was formed in
April 2004 following a merger between The Consortium on Opportunities for Volunteering,
The National Centre for Volunteering and Volunteer Development England. Volunteering
England provides the secretariat and accountable body functions for the Commission on
the Future of Volunteering.
www.volunteering.org.uk

Published by the Institute for Volunteering Research and Volunteering England.

Volunteering England is a Registered Charity No. 1102770.
A company limited by guarantee Registered in England and Wales No. 4934814

A Gateway to Work 27
 An initiative of in association with
Regent’s Wharf
8 All Saints Street Volunteering England is a
London N1 9RL Registered Charity No. 1102770.
Tel: +44 (0)845 305 6979
Fax: +44 (0)20 7520 8910 A company limited by guarantee
Email: ivr@volunteeringengland.org.uk Registered in England and Wales
www.ivr.org.uk No. 4934814