Evaluation of

the Modernising
Volunteering
National Support
Services Programme
Prepared by David Payne and Mick Feloy,
Local Economy Solutions Ltd
About Volunteering England

Volunteering England is an independent charity and membership organisation, committed

to supporting, enabling and celebrating volunteering in all its diversity.
Our work links policy, research, innovation, good practice and programme management in the
involvement of volunteers. We have a diverse membership drawn from the public, private and
voluntary and community sectors. These include national charities, further and higher education,
NHS Trusts, arts and sports organisations, Volunteer Centres and local community projects. On behalf
of our members and the wider volunteering movement, we work with local and central Government,
national agencies and infrastructure partnerships.
Volunteering England is at the centre, bringing ideas and people together, developing better networks
and structures, and initiating projects to support volunteering in a wide range of fields, such as health
and social care, sport and employer-supported volunteering.

Author: Local Economy Solutions Ltd

Publisher: Volunteering England
Place of publication: London
Date of publication: October 2010

Although all possible care has been taken, and the publisher believes the content to be correct, no guarantee can be given.

2
About Modernising Volunteering

Working at a national level, the Modernising Volunteering workstream is funded by Capacitybuilders

through the National Support Services programme.
It aims to develop the skills and performance of people and organisations supporting locally based
social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups.
Resources, information and learning gathered and developed by the Modernising Volunteering
workstream are shared with support providers through the Improving Support website, magazine
and e-bulletin.
To find out more, visit: www.improvingsupport.org.uk

The authors

Local Economy Solutions provides a range of research activities to underpin practical action including
voluntary and community sector research and support, business support and enterprise (including
social enterprise), monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment, local area regeneration and
tackling disadvantage and community consultation.
To find out more about Local Economy Solutions, visit: www.localeconomysolutions.co.uk

3
Contents

Foreword 5

1. Introduction 8

2. The approach adopted by Volunteering England 11

3. Skills-based employer supported volunteering 15

4. Faith-based volunteering 21

5. New forms of volunteering and management 28

6. Overcoming barriers to volunteering 35

7. Online survey results 40

8. Financial income and expenditure 43

9. Overall conclusions 46

Appendix one 49

Appendix two 51

4
Foreword
Welcome to a journey into the heart of
Modernising Volunteering; I have been
impressed by the rigour, independent
thought and analysis that Local Economy
Solutions have brought to bear. Their desk
research ran through hundreds of pages of
first year research findings, management
reports, plans and an array of good practice
resources. They talked in depth to all key
management personnel involved in the work
and dozens of direct beneficiaries. Their
research engendered a range of findings and
subsequently they have sifted through these
to form a clear view on the work undertaken.
Of course all views – those of Local Economy
Solutions included – are subjective to some
extent, and neither Volunteering England nor
our partners necessarily agree with everything
presented here. But as a viewpoint outside the
day-to-day work of the Modernising Volunteering
programme – and therefore one well placed to
see the wood as well as the trees – theirs is one
that should be taken seriously.
Did we achieve everything exactly as planned at
the beginning? Clearly not. For example, in the
skills-based employer supported volunteering
strand, after recruiting three full-time
coordinators, providing comprehensive induction
training, running project launch events, mapping
local needs and delivering effective consultancy
services for employers who had paid money
in return for their employees being placed in
volunteering roles, reaching the demanding
target of securing 30 paid for brokerage
partnerships by September 2010 proved a step
too far (see pages 17 and 18).
5
Yet when I read through the evaluation and
reflect back I’m reminded of the words of the
renowned 16th Century artist Michelangelo: ‘The
greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim
is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low
and we reach it’.
If aspirations and ambitions were at times
demanding, we make no apology; during these
challenging times, the aspirations and ambitions
of all organisations will need to be higher than
ever. In light of the seismic public deficit, the
volunteering movement has a critical role to
play in meeting social needs which will be
higher than ever, but one made more
challenging by funding cuts. Sharing learning
effectively and making the most of precious
resources will be fundamental over the coming
years. Our hope is that, in its own way, this
evaluation will contribute to meeting this sector
necessity through sharing learning and key
evaluation findings in four key areas: skills-
based employer supported volunteering;
new forms of volunteer involvement and
management; overcoming barriers to
volunteering; and faith-based volunteering.
The findings make interesting reading.
Volunteering England’s overall approach
was one of partnership (see page 11) and
engendered a range of reactions initially. There
are certainly arguments against a partnership
approach – it can make accountability more
challenging, it increases work, particularly in
the early stages, and managing relationships
can at times be tricky. But get partnership work
right and it can bring significant benefits. The
approach taken enabled Volunteering England
not only to leverage in additional funding for the
programme, but to access new groups whose
non-financial contribution added immense
value – the volunteer contribution of Policy
Action Community Team members (see page 35
onwards) being but one example.
When we began our employer supported
volunteering (ESV) work (see page 15), there
was often agreement that Volunteer Centres
and other organisations delivering brokerage
to employers needed to be less reliant on grant
funding, but considerable scepticism that a
charged for brokerage model could take off in a
wide range of locations. When we pointed to the
success of Westminster Volunteer Centre’s ESV
offering, for instance, which had over the years
grown to be sustainable through employers’
membership fees alone, an audible groan
often came back: ‘but that’s London’. Whilst we
needed to make significant departures from the
Westminster model and learn from a wide range
of ESV schemes, the three pilots in Oxford,
Darlington and Exeter have demonstrated that
a charged for ESV brokerage model can work
outside London. Between them, they have
recruited a range of employers, including small
and medium sized enterprises.
Paradoxically, in a climate where cash provided
to support volunteering by government and the
public sector is inevitably squeezed, investment
in ESV may well become even more attractive
as a way for employers across all sectors to
maintain a foothold in the community; there
is also an opportunity here for Volunteer
Centres and others to build the capacity of their
brokerage as core funds are reduced.
A hands-on approach was critical to moving
our ESV work forward (weekly conference
calls with pilot projects, for example). This
approach was similar in some respects to our
work with six innovative faith pilots (see page
21). At the beginning of the work, we committed
to providing a strong support structure of impact
assessment training when the faith pilots were
initially commissioned, followed by regular
Action Learning Workshops to address key
challenges collectively.
The support structure was a surprise for pilots
who had been used to receiving a grant, getting
down to delivery, and then producing a final
report. But it enabled challenges and learning to
be collectively shared; the hands-on approach
also meant that Volunteering England was able
to develop significant insight into a diverse
projects, spanning a number of faiths, and
share that learning with the wider volunteering
movement. Whatever the challenges of bringing
different faith groups together, the results have
made investment worthwhile; for instance,
between them the pilots have created to date
over a thousand new volunteering opportunities.
On a personal note, it has been a pleasure to
see such interesting projects funded – take the
Engage project, for example, which seeks to
involve female as well as male youth volunteers
in how their Mosque operates so that local
community needs are met.
The new forms of volunteer involvement and
management strand comprises one of the most
innovative areas of the whole Modernising
Volunteering initiative, spanning social
networking and a public sector Volunteering
Champions scheme (see page 28). When the
work began, I was full of confidence about
6
the potential and benefits of public sector
volunteering which the Warwickshire County
Council Volunteering Champions pilot has
confirmed; an audit they undertook, for example,
identified 6,000 volunteers involved in council
services (see page 33).
In contrast, I started out being sceptical about
the benefits of social networking to volunteering
(partly because of, it has to be acknowledged,
my aversion to new technology in general). But
over the programme’s course I have grown into
a convert. Social networking can never replace
face-to-face conversation, but examples like
Barack Obama’s use of social networking to
help mobilise thousands of volunteers to aid
his 2008 Presidential victory shows that it can
be a powerful force. With millions of people in
the UK now using social networking, there is an
opportunity for organisations to get to grips with
it and then use it to both promote volunteering
to a wider base of people and support delivery
in key sector work. Red Foundation’s training
in setting up and using social networks has
touched every region, reached hundreds of
people and has gone a long way to ensuring that
we make the most of the opportunities social
networking affords in this country.
Last, but by no means least, we come to
the Network of National Volunteer-Involving
Agencies’ (NNVIA’s) work on overcoming
barriers (see page 35). Their work through
the Policy Action Community Teams has
shown that there is considerable appetite for
overcoming barriers to volunteering in a range of
organisations, both infrastructure and frontline.
Whilst increasing the diversity of volunteers
within NNVIA organisations remains a constant
challenge requiring ongoing work, the impact
7
of the PACT work to its members and wider
stakeholders has been impressive.
The shortest case study presented in this
report relating to overcoming barriers is also
one of the most powerful. Leonard’s realisation
through involvement with the Refugee and
Asylum Seekers PACT that volunteering is seen
as a worthwhile and indeed legal activity in
this country demonstrates the difference
that can be made to individuals (‘it is only
today I realised that I am not doing anything
illegal [by volunteering’]).
One thing that we realise today is that as our
journey to modernise volunteering in this three-
year partnership initiative nears its end, across
the volunteering movement there will be many
new vital journeys beginning. If this evaluation
can at times act as something of a compass or
guide for some of those new journeys it will have
served its purpose.
Finally, for those wanting to focus on any one
area of the evaluation in more detail there are
detailed strand reports (as well a range of good
practice resources produced throughout the
programme) which can be downloaded from
www.volunteering.org.uk/improvingsupport.
Here’s to tomorrow’s ventures and good luck
on your travels.
Patrick Scott
Modernising Volunteering
Implementation Manager
1. Introduction
1.1 Background and context
The purpose of this report is to summarise
the results of a comprehensive evaluation
of the Modernising Volunteering National
Support Services (subsequently referred
to as Modernising Volunteering), a three-
year programme that aims to modernise
volunteering in a number of key priority areas.
Modernising Volunteering is one of nine national
workstreams funded by Capacitybuilders’
National Support Services programme. The
aims of the national workstreams are to:
Improve the effectiveness of those who
support the third sector1 by increasing their
confidence, knowledge, skills, collaboration
and practice
Exert influence on policies, programmes and
funding to the third sector that will enhance
its effectiveness.
The overall aim is to ensure that support
providers are better equipped to support the
frontline by 2011.
Volunteering England, as lead partner of the
Modernising Volunteering workstream, is
working with Capacitybuilders and a number
of partners to improve volunteering support in
innovative ways. This includes the following four
key strands of activity:
Skills-based employer supported
volunteering (SBESV), in partnership
with the Nationwide Foundation
SBESV involves employers supporting
their staff to volunteer and donate their
professional skills to support the operation
and growth of voluntary and community
organisations. This strand involved the
1
The term ‘support’ is used throughout this document (and can be used interchangeably with the term ‘infrastructure’, which is also used
within the voluntary sector) and is defined as any organisation or network that provides a service to the frontline.
8
development and piloting of a new model
through three Volunteer Centres in different
locations in England. The goal of the pilots
was to work towards operating the SBESV
schemes on a self-sustaining basis through
membership fees raised from employers
participating in the schemes and other
sources.
Faith-based volunteering, in partnership
with v and the Multi-faith Centre Derby
This strand centred around six different and
innovative pilot projects that all involved
young people and came together through
the use of a faith-based volunteering support
model. This revolved around a series of
Action Learning Workshops undertaken
during the course of the pilot programme,
which sought to build the capacity of key
project members and improve project
outcomes. The aims of all of the pilot projects
were to develop leadership skills amongst
young people, increase engagement and
volunteering by young people from faith-
based communities and promote community
and cross-faith cohesion.
New forms of volunteer involvement
and management, in partnership with
Red Foundation
The evaluation work covered two of the three
work areas undertaken as part of this strand:
- The role of social network services in
supporting volunteering, which
included a programme of training
seminars and a social networking
pilot at Volunteer Centre Brighton
and Hove

- Developing the role of Volunteering
Champions, which included a
pilot scheme at Warwickshire County survey was developed and sent to all support
Council that also sought to embed
good volunteering practice within
the organisation
Overcoming barriers to volunteering for
socially excluded groups, in partnership
with the Network of National Volunteer -
Involving Agencies (NNVIA)
This strand involved the establishment of
five Policy Action Community Teams (PACTS)
that brought together expertise from national
and local organisations to develop policy
and practice that would result in more people
from under-represented groups participating
in volunteering.
The Modernising Volunteering programme
covered the three-year period from April 2008
– March 2011. Throughout this report reference
is made to the year in which activity undertaken
on the programme actually took place – Year
One (April 2008 – March 2009), Year Two (April
2009 – March 2010) and Year Three (April 2010
– March 2011).
2
Capacitybuilders developed a number of shared outcomes and associated indicators in order to ensure a consistent approach to
evaluation across all national workstreams and priority areas.
9
1.2 Evaluation methods
Online survey
A bespoke web-based customer satisfaction
beneficiaries in each strand of activity. The
design of the survey was based on the specific
outcome requirements of Capacitybuilders
that were included within the tender brief2.
The opportunity was also taken to include
open-ended questions so that qualitative
data could also be obtained. The survey
questionnaire, which was specifically tailored
to each strand of activity, was thoroughly piloted
prior to implementation.
Face-to-face interviews
A total of 25 face-to-face interviews were
undertaken with 27 individuals, including key
strand representatives and activity / pilot leads.
This formed an extremely important component
of the evaluation and involved site visits to all
pilot projects. Appendix one provides a listing
of those key strand representatives and strand
activity leads who were interviewed as part of
the evaluation. Interviews were digitally recorded
and, in nearly all cases, notes were written
up and sent back to the interviewee for their
comments and agreement.
Telephone interviews
30 telephone interviews were undertaken
with programme beneficiaries in the following
strands:
Overcoming barriers to volunteering (ten)
Faith-based projects (ten)
SBESV (ten, including partner organisations
and volunteering organisations).
Appendix two provides a listing of those
beneficiaries who were interviewed as part
of the evaluation.
Telephone discussions were also held with
Dr Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of
Volunteering England and Rob Jackson, Director
of Development and Innovation at Volunteering
England. They were involved in setting the
programme up initially and appointing the
Implementation Manager.
Desk-based research
This involved examination of Year One research
reports, associated strand documentation and
analysis of fieldwork outcomes.
A desk-based review of all relevant financial
information relating to each area of activity
was also undertaken.
It was recognised that an important aspect of
the evaluation approach was to ensure that all
individuals who participated within an activity
should be given the opportunity to respond
as part of the evaluation process. We believe
that the methods outlined above satisfactorily
achieved this goal.
Evaluation challenge
The evaluation was commissioned halfway
through the final year of Year Three and
this had an important bearing on impact
assessment. Whilst it was possible to discuss
and review project outputs and outcomes,
the timing of the evaluation meant that it was
not possible to undertake a comprehensive
impact assessment3.
This overall summary report is based on detailed
reports on each of the strands, along with a full
report on the online evaluation. For readers
interested in reading about any area in more
detail, all reports can be accessed from
www.volunteering.org.uk/improvingsupport

3
Whereas an outcome is the change occurring as a direct result of project outputs, impact is the effect of a project at a higher or broader
level, in the longer term, after a range of outcomes has been achieved. It seeks to assess all changes resulting from an activity, project, or
organisation and it is clearly more difficult to assess this level of change, particularly within the lifetime of a short project.

10
2. The approach adopted
by Volunteering England
2.1 Introduction
A number of factors appear to have driven the
approach adopted by Volunteering England in
managing Modernising Volunteering, notably:
Establishing effective partnerships
Setting out clear strands
of programme activity
Putting forward a clear delivery model
Developing effective management controls
and arrangements.
2.2 Partnership
Although Volunteering England considered
that it was in quite a strong position to run
the programme itself, it was nevertheless
felt that partnership working was the way
forward and that the sector needed to
undertake more partnership working. The
National Support Services programme was
therefore seen by Volunteering England as
a good opportunity to bring together a
consortium of partners to really add value
and maximise the opportunities available.
Volunteering England was successful in not
only bringing together a partnership that has
subsequently delivered very effectively over the
three-year programme to date, but also ensured
a relevant and appropriate mix of partners in
terms of track record, good networks and/or
capacity to bring in additional resources:
Nationwide Foundation has been interested
in the issue of skills exchange within ESV
over a long period of time and was able to
provide £100,000 in support of the SBESV
pilot activity
11
v had a long standing interest in faith issues
around young people and had considerable
expertise in the area. v was also able to
provide £100,000 in support of the faith
strand pilots
Volunteering England was keen to work
with Community Service Volunteers (CSV),
which had a long standing interest in barriers
to and inequality in volunteering, and
also provided secretariat services to NNVIA,
which was also keen to be involved in the
Modernising Volunteering programme
The fourth strand partnership arrangements
were initially seen as difficult in some
respects because it was such a new area of
work to explore and not many organisations
had a substantive track record around new
forms of volunteering. In this regard, Red
Foundation was seen as one of the few and
was considered to be the right organisation
with which to undertake joint working.
It is apparent that the partners have worked
through the inevitable teething troubles
associated with a partnership programme of
this nature very successfully, particularly as the
partnerships were put together at quite short
notice. Overall the process of establishing an
effective strategic partnership and producing
various iterations of the business plan over the
period January – July 2008 appears to have
been well managed.
The partnership approach appears to have been
open with effective dialogue, even in areas of
considerable disagreement between partners.
There is also evidence of a clear willingness of
partners to adapt, change and develop as the
programme took its course. Regular partnership
meetings took place throughout the programme
through an overarching steering group.
“If the partnership was going to work then
it wasn’t just a case of us sub-contracting
and then managing very tightly and rigidly
those pieces of work. It was (in the language
of the day) about co-producing some of
the products.”
Dr Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive,
Volunteering England
Volunteering England still feels that the
benefits of partnership working on Modernising
Volunteering continue to far outweigh any
potential disadvantages. Clearly the partnership
arrangements that were put in place crucially
enabled Volunteering England to reach different
audiences (such as NNVIA) and undertake pilot
activity in areas that it did not have particular
expertise, but which were new and emerging
areas of volunteering activity (such as Red
Foundation and social networking).
4
A predecessor of Modernising Volunteering National Support Services
12
CSV, Red Foundation, and most of the pilots
at some stage in the process, all expressed
some concerns about Volunteering England
being overly formal, particularly in relation to
the accountability arrangements that were put
in place during Year Two of the programme.
However, it was also recognised that
Volunteering England had responsibilities
for significant sums of public money and therefore
there was a need to ensure that this money was
spent wisely and properly accounted for.
Achieving a balance between the development
of effective partnership arrangements on the
one hand, and ensuring proper accountability
on the other, is a difficult balance to strike.
However, Volunteering England appears to have
achieved a good balance in the management of
partnership arrangements, which has enabled
very successful partnership outcomes.
2.3 Strand based working
Whilst it was recognised that there were
many potential themes, it was felt that the
four strands actually chosen to form the basis
of the Modernising Volunteering programme
were particularly important areas for
Volunteering England to explore. The four
themes that were eventually agreed upon
arose partly because of the need to build on
the success of the work of the Volunteering
Hub4, partly because of the priorities of
Capacitybuilders and partly because of
Volunteering England’s awareness of gaps
and needs through the Institute for
Volunteering Research.
2.4 Delivery model
A three-stage delivery model was agreed
by all partners, which formed the basis of
all strand activity:
Year One research – to understand what was
already known in each area of strand activity,
establish baseline positions and examine
options on the way forward in Year Two
Year Two pilot activity – enabling a
range of organisations, including grassroots
organisations, to set up and run exciting and
innovative projects
Year Three dissemination – capture the
lessons and determine how they could best
be disseminated using a wide variety of
methods and networks.
It was felt to be particularly important for
Volunteering England to act as much more
than a funding intermediary and seek to add
real value through learning the lessons,
translating them and making them much
more widely available within all three sectors
and government.
“I actually think that…the programme…was
not just about getting money down to the
grassroots, although [that was] clearly part
of the ambition…it was much more about
running some pilot projects and helping the
sector, the [volunteering] movement to learn
from what [other] organisations were doing.”
Dr Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive,
Volunteering England
5
National Support Services (2008), Modernising Volunteering Business Plan
13
2.5 Management controls
and arrangements
An inherent challenge of a partnership
approach is in ensuring effective
accountability, management and controls
without formal contractual arrangements.
“The approach that we wanted to take
was one where we were effectively sub-
contracting the work, but that we wanted it to
look and feel much more like a partnership.
And of course the two different approaches
are not always easy to marry together.”
Rob Jackson, Director of Development
and Innovation, Volunteering England
Programme activity in Year One was managed
through the agreed business plan5. In particular,
Year One activity included commissioning
research across all four strands of activity.
Three of the four Year One strand research
projects were subject to competitive tender and
the fourth was undertaken by one of the partners
(Red Foundation).
In this latter instance, Volunteering England
put accountability criteria in place, so that it
could be satisfied about the process, control
the release of funding and be in a position to
satisfy Capacitybuilders.
During Year One, more formal accountability
arrangements were developed in order to
provide a foundation for the planning of
project and pilot work undertaken in Years
Two and Three of the programme. Monitoring
arrangements were also developed and put in
place so that the delivery outcomes from agreed
workplans could be assessed.
A three-level planning system and process was
established as a basis for managing all activities
undertaken within the programme, which had
‘key deliverables’ at its heart.
At a strand level, annual workplans formed
the basis of planning activity and a foundation
of the accountability structure established
by Volunteering England. These workplans
detailed the outcomes, outputs and targets
for all strand activity. They also included
baselines, indicators and a section on whether
material collected could form the basis of case
studies. These plans often took at least two
or three meetings to reach agreement with
relevant partners. In the case of CSV and Red
Foundation these workplans formed the basis
of grant agreements/contacts.
The agreed strand level workplans then formed
the basis of an overall workplan, which was used
as an accountability document that governed the
relationship between Volunteering England and
Capacitybuilders. The workplans also provided
a clear process for managing and agreeing
changes in programme activity between
Volunteering England and Capacitybuilders
(for example, in relation to variations from the
original business plan). Such changes, inevitable
on an iterative programme of this nature, appear
to have been managed very well through the use
of workplans.
At an individual project or pilot level, different
types of work planning documents were also
produced across the different strands of activity.
For example, within the Policy Action Community
Teams – in the overcoming barriers strand –
Model Engagement Plans were used as a basis
for work planning.
14
In relation to monitoring outcomes of projects,
a number of different mechanisms were used,
which were tailored to each area of strand
activity. For CSV and Red Foundation, monthly
management reports were completed detailing
progress on key deliverables in the annual
workplan. For the faith strand, a quarterly report
was submitted and an external consultant was
employed to assist with the collation of these
reports. For the SBESV strand, which was
managed by Volunteering England, weekly
reporting was undertaken.
The focus of outcome monitoring was on
the key deliverables included within the
annual workplans. Payments were made by
Volunteering England against such deliverables.
In addition, the Modernising Volunteering
Implementation Manager undertook a number
of site visits across all strands of activity in order
to better understand what was being delivered
and obtain a clearer insight into the nature of
project activity being undertaken.
From the evaluation fieldwork undertaken it is
clear that some of the partners and individual
pilot projects found the outcome monitoring
and reporting arrangements put in place by
Volunteering England testing. For example,
a number of pilot projects did not receive
funding until they had achieved specified
outputs/outcomes. However, we consider that
clear, appropriate and effective management
arrangements have been put in place by
Volunteering England to both plan and monitor
project activity, which are felt to be necessary
for proper accountability.
3. Skills-based employer supported
volunteering (SBESV)
3.1 Introduction
SBESV is a term used by Volunteering
England to describe a programme through
which employers support their staff
to volunteer and donate their time and
professional skills, or their wider employment /
life skills, to support the operation and growth
of voluntary and community organisations.
Westminster Volunteer Centre had run an
employer supported volunteering offer for
over a decade that had grown to be self-
sustaining through membership fees charged
to employers for brokering their employees
into volunteer-involving organisations.
However, there was scepticism that Volunteer
Centres outside of London could create offers
that would generate income in the same
way. In this sense Volunteering England was
entering unchartered territory at the start of
the programme.
“…the truth about pilots is you do all the
research you can, you make evidence based
decisions as much as possible, but you never
quite know what’s going to happen – it’s a
mixture of weighing up evidence, making
educated guesses, managing political
realities and taking some calculated risks.”
Patrick Scott, Modernising Volunteering
Implementation Manager
The driver for this approach to SBESV was
a clear recognition on the part of Volunteering
England that Volunteer Centres could no longer
be so reliant on grants and government funding;
they would have to earn income from services
provided if they were to be sustainable in
the future.
6
Employer supported volunteering (ESV) is the term used by Volunteering England to describe all forms of volunteering carried out by
employees that are supported by their employer and includes activities such as ‘team challenges’.
7
A. Braybrooks and L. Carter (2009), Forging Sustainable Partnerships between Businesses and Communities, A Modernising Volunteering
Workstream Report, Volunteering England
15
3.2 Year One research
The Year One research on employer
supported volunteering (ESV)6 undertaken
by Corporate Citizenship7 was conducted
to gather feedback on the process and
practice of skills-based volunteering,
informing the pilot recommendations
for Year Two and beyond.
An important conclusion of the research was
that skills-based volunteering could benefit a
much wider range of companies and voluntary
and community organisations across the UK,
but currently lacks the local leadership and
infrastructure to make it happen.
The report outlined the rationale for distributing
the Year Two Modernising Volunteering budget
to pilot projects run by local / regional
infrastructure brokers to increase capacity for
skills-based volunteering. It was felt that this
funding would not only pay for a dedicated broker
to establish a scheme for skills-based matching,
but would also pay for a support structure to
provide all the pilots with expert consultancy
on how to develop the scheme.
The Year One research therefore laid the
groundwork for the establishment and running
of three SBESV pilots over the period April 2009
to August 2010 (all of Year Two and half of Year
Three of Modernising Volunteering).
3.3 Skills-based employer supported volunteering
pilot activity
It is apparent that in the pilot phase of the
programme, Volunteering England was
keen to pilot a SBESV brokerage scheme in
different locations using a single model, for
a number of interrelated reasons:
It was recognised that there was a need to
develop a new model and approach rather
than try to replicate other schemes. The basic
idea was to pull learning from a variety of
different models, instil best practice and apply
this in an original way
Given limited funding, it was felt to be
important to pilot the same model in three
different places to try to establish whether
the model worked in a robust and
comprehensive way
Volunteering England was also keen to
leverage in business funds and move towards
a culture where Volunteer Centres are selling
services rather than relying on one grant after
another. The thinking was that this goal would
be best served by using a new bespoke
SBESV model. Nationwide, as an important
funder of the scheme, also liked the idea
of leveraging in business money through
their investment.
Although not explicitly stated in documentation
or interviews undertaken as part of the evaluation
programme, it does appear that the decision
to test only one ESV model through the local
Volunteer Centre infrastructure was inextricably
linked to a vision to create a self-sustaining
ESV network of Volunteer Centres across the
country. In this regard the pilots formed part of a
16
wider strategy for the development of a SBESV
infrastructure based within Volunteer Centres
throughout England.
Tenders for the pilots included a requirement
to employ a full-time Local Business Partnership
Coordinator (LBPC) and the tender included a
job description, so that Volunteer Centres knew
exactly what they were applying for. A budget
of £35k per pilot was available and funding was
offered to the successful pilots in July 2009; they
then had until September to recruit an LBPC.
They would then operate for 12 months with full-
time LBPCs in post and pilot funding ceased at
the end of September 2010.
Shortlisting and interviews were undertaken by
the Modernising Volunteering Implementation
Manager, ESV consultant and the CEO of
Westminster Volunteer Centre. It is evident that
the selection process was both rigorous and
fair. Volunteering England wanted applicants
to demonstrate that they had considered the
commercial prospect and potential in their area
(employer base), how SBESV (particularly the
Coordinator) would fit into the infrastructure of
the Volunteer Centre and how they would look
at sustainability moving forward.
Darlington, Exeter, and Oxfordshire Volunteer
Centres were subsequently selected, who
went on to recruit LBPCs by the end of the
September 2009.
One of the main initial targets that LBPCs were
working towards was a launch event for the pilots.
This was achieved for all three areas during
October / November 2009.
The membership pricing structure was agreed
when all LBPCs were in post and Volunteering
England went to considerable lengths to secure
the agreement of all pilots on the pricing structure.
From a Volunteering England perspective, it was
felt that a shared and consistent approach to
pricing was critical to any future network roll out.
A difficult balance had to be struck in terms of
developing a pricing structure that was as high as
possible in terms of generating income, but also
one that the three pilots could actually deliver on
(i.e. that businesses would sign up to).
As of October 2010, there are 18 partners across
the three ESV pilot locations, with the majority
being small to medium sized enterprises. The
pilots have proven that the SBESV model works
in a range of locations outside London.
All pilots revealed that very few employers have
turned down the opportunity to become involved
in SBESV because of any kind of objection
in principle. In fact the position appears to be
the contrary, with employers being extremely
supportive of the scheme. It is felt to be
particularly significant in this context that the three
pilot schemes have been able to attract a wide
range of businesses of different sizes across very
different sectors of activity.

Case study: Morgan Cole Solicitors

The company had a staff volunteering policy which was not used in a widespread way and, where
it was used, it was not aligned with the business interests of the company. A decision was made to
promote the scheme within the company and align it to the sectors in which the company works,
mainly: health, education, energy and insurance. The company wanted to use their volunteering to
support gaining a reputation and knowledge in these sectors.
The company has a client that provides support for people with learning disabilities and has come
up with a list of opportunities for staff to volunteer for that client. But the company also wants to
work with businesses and other charities in other sectors that are not existing clients. “Our staff
put something into the sector and gain sector knowledge and hopefully are better able to serve the
clients that we then have.”
Morgan Cole has been working with the Local Business Partnership Coordinator in Oxfordshire
Volunteer Centre since April 2010 to re-launch the volunteering programme in the company. They
have now created a skills bank of those employees that are interested. The company identified that
it was early days in the project and, whilst the Local Business Partnership Coordinator had great
connections, due to their specific brief, most of the volunteer opportunities so far have been gained
from him working with Morgan Cole and their existing clients.
By the end of the year the company would want to know: how many hours their staff had
volunteered, that they had cemented their relationship with clients by gaining sector knowledge
and that they had motivated their staff.

17
The prospects for sustainability in the short term
appear to rest on two main factors:
Conversion of the ‘pipeline’ of employers
interested in the scheme into fee
paying members
However, whilst this position represents a real
challenge to the SBESV team, it should not
detract from the achievements of what we
consider to be an exemplar in pilot activity.
In particular:

The use of other opportunities in each area
to supplement income.
What is clear from the interviews with all
three LBPCs is a determination to find a way
that each ESV pilot can be sustainable in some
shape or form8.
The purpose of the pilot activity and what
it was trying to achieve was clear and
well documented
The support provided to all three Local
Business Partnership Coordinators throughout
the pilot has been first class

With respect to Darlington and Exeter, it appears The overall strand activity was extremely
that more fundamental change – particularly the well managed
possibility of extending the catchment area – may Communication and networking amongst
be needed before financial sustainability could the SBESV team has been excellent
be achieved. In this regard we consider that There has been a high level of
Oxfordshire probably represents the lowest level professionalism, commitment and dedication
at which a financially self-sustaining purely ESV to making the SBESV pilots a success
brokerage scheme could be established in terms
of the number of employers within a catchment The activity has generated added value to the
area. Larger catchment areas may also need to operation of the Volunteer Centres. The
involve a number of Volunteer Centres working evidence indicates that the introduction
together. of SBESV has had a very positive impact
on Volunteer Centres in terms of profile and
There is also a potentially significant capacity relations with the business community
issue associated with the future viability of the generally and linkages with other work
SBESV schemes in each pilot area, which up undertaken through Volunteer Centres
to the present time has largely been untested.
This capacity issue essentially revolves around The generation of independently earned
the ability of the infrastructure to cope with a income which is not tied to government or
significant increase in demand for volunteering funding organisations. This is regarded as
opportunities brought about by an increase in being fundamentally important and relates to
membership of between 20 and 30 partners9. As Volunteering England’s primary driver behind
more members join, more services need to be the SBESV model, which was to effect a
provided, thus reducing the time the LBPC has to cultural change amongst Volunteer Centres
sell the scheme to new members. to one where they are selling services
and reducing reliance on grants and
government funding
8
Sustainability in this sense does not mean financial self-sustainability for an SBESV scheme, but rather looking at other complementary
income sources and activities that would enable such a scheme to continue.
9
Based on the evidence from pilots, between 20 and 30 partners would be required to enable the three pilot schemes to be financially
self-sufficient. Each Volunteer Centre pursued a stretch target of securing ten new paying partners by September 2010 to support the move
away from reliance on grant funding.
18
 The pricing structure adopted by the three
pilots has clearly worked across all three pilot
areas in that different sized employers in
different sectors of activity have been prepared
to pay the appropriate membership fee.
However, there may need to be more flexibility
around the edges to accommodate different
circumstances without prejudicing the integrity
of the scheme
It is generating capacity as far as volunteers
are concerned and enhancing skills in the
voluntary sector
Pilots have been able to attract small to
medium enterprises, particularly in Exeter
and Oxford.
All three pilots and Westminster are now members
of what is branded the ‘Time & Talents Network’.
This represents a considerable achievement of
the pilot scheme. Clearly the development of such
a network would have been virtually impossible
if Volunteering England decided to pilot different
ESV models.
Volunteering England, in partnership with pilots,
identified a number of benefits in creating a
national network:
Presenting a stronger business offer
Providing a wider core of good practice
and resources
Enabling Volunteer Centres that are struggling
with capacity and under-resourced ESV
brokerage activity to be able to connect up
with each other
Providing consistent support for large
national employers.
19
The Time & Talents Network appears to be key
to the future development of SBESV. Whilst there
is unlikely to be the funding available to provide
the kind of support received by the pilots under
Modernising Volunteering in the future, there
is clearly a need for Volunteering England to
coordinate, manage, market and be the face of
what would hopefully be a developing network.
The pilot activity has undoubtedly generated
valuable Intellectual Property, which Volunteering
England intends to encapsulate and license under
a social enterprise ‘franchising’ approach. This
would recreate all aspects of the ESV model and
associated resources for successful applicants to
use, subject to a thorough assessment of viability
and preconditions.
However, further research may be needed to
examine whether criteria could be established
in relation to the size and profile of the employer
base in any potential SBESV area. The other
factor that would also need to be considered
is competition. Whilst there is little evidence
of ESV competition in the pilot areas this may
not be the case in larger cities. This is an
important consideration in relation to the next
roll out of SBESV.
3.4 Conclusions
Within the ‘Big Society’, SBESV is potentially
considered to be a massively important area
of work and the model developed as a result
of this pilot activity is one that is clearly
capable of bringing in private sector support
for volunteering.
From a standing start, Volunteering England
has successfully piloted three SBESV schemes
through Volunteer Centres in different locations
in England using a single model. This was
developed and refined during the period of the
pilot activity into valuable Intellectual Property.
In doing this, there is now a much more robust
SBESV model that can be replicated in other
areas, which could enable other Volunteer
Centres to ‘hit the ground running’. In particular,
the outcomes of the pilots hold out a realistic
prospect that Volunteer Centres will be able to
operate SBESV schemes on a self-sustaining
basis by income generated through membership
of the Time & Talents network.

20
4. Faith-based volunteering
4.1 Introduction
The overall goal of this strand of Modernising
Volunteering was to pilot six innovative
projects involving young people using a
faith-based volunteering and support model.
The model revolved around a series of Action
Learning Workshops (ALWs), the aim of
which was to draw on the principles of action
learning to:
Support key project members to deliver
better project outcomes through the provision
of ‘live’ personal and professional
development opportunities
Build key project members’ capacity by
sharing experiences and drawing on the
support of colleagues in order to be able to
think and act with new insights
Provide an opportunity to build networks that
will be useful over the year and beyond
Integrate the learning into the mainstream
work of the organisations involved.
Volunteering England was also keen to
ensure that projects delivered value for
money and maximised opportunities for
sustaining good practice once funding for
specific projects finished.
The faith-based volunteering and support
model comprised a network of the following
pilot projects:
Derby Inter-Faith Youth Forum, led by
Multi-Faith Centre Derby
The aim of the project was to establish a
youth forum, based at Multi-Faith Centre
Derby, engaging students and the local
community of Derby. The project sought to
create a sustainable Inter-faith Youth Forum
21
as a catalyst to volunteering among young
people of faith in Derby.
Engage, led by the UK Islamic
Mission, Bradford
The aim of the project was to develop
leadership skills in young people, male
and female, aged 16 – 25 from Pakistani
Muslim backgrounds, in order to carry out
volunteering that met needs within the local
community. The project sought to see how
the partnership between a voluntary and
community sector organisation and a mosque
would work. This was identified as a new
departure for mosques.
Interfaith Leadership Initiative (ILI), led by
the Jewish Volunteer Network, London
The pilot project was developed by the Jewish
Volunteer Network, Interfaith Action and the
Three Faiths Forum as a regional partnership
project for London. The aim of the project
was to empower and support 12 young
people from Christian, Jewish and Muslim
faith backgrounds to come together through
an inter-faith youth committee responsible
for designing, organising and leading three
volunteer events/programmes for their peers
(aged 16-25).
Passion, based in Shepshed, Leicestershire
The aim of the project was to work with young
people and young parents between the ages
of 16 and 25 and undertake volunteering
activities, thereby developing community
cohesion through shared experience.
 Y4U, led by the Ash-Shifa Trust, Oxfordshire
This project targeted young people
from Muslim Pakistani heritage in the
Banbury area in Oxfordshire and provided
them with a weekly youth club service
together with participation in the UK Youth
Awards programme.
Faithful Volunteers, led by the Volunteer
Network Centre, Newham in London
The aim of the project was to work in
partnership with three faith organisations in
order to develop and implement a programme
of support that can be used as a model for
others in the sector. This work included the
production of a good practice guide and
the organisation of a conference aimed at
bringing faith groups and wider third sector
organisations together.
The projects funded as pilots therefore
comprised a varied mix of different types of faith-
based organisations, different faith and inter-faith
projects and, in the case of Passion, an example
of a faith-based organisation implementing non
faith-based youth outreach and engagement
activities. The first five of the above projects
were led by faith-based organisations with
the sixth led by Volunteer Network Centre in
Newham, an infrastructure agency.
22
The main aims of all the projects were to:
Develop leadership amongst young people
aged 16 – 25
Increase the quantity and quality of youth
engagement from faith-based communities –
specifically to create over 800 new
volunteering opportunities
Tackle division and promote community
and cross-faith cohesion.
4.2 Year One research
One of the key motivations for
commissioning the Year One research
undertaken by De Montfort University was
to gain a much better understanding of
what was going on in terms of faith groups
and volunteering. In this respect, Year
One was about building knowledge of the
faith landscape, making connections with
different faith groups through the research
and identifying key recommendations in the
faith-based volunteering area, some of which
could then be tackled in Year Two.
In terms of providing a much clearer
understanding of the faith landscape and faith
volunteering, it clearly achieved this goal.
It is also clear that a number of the pilot
projects sought to address some of the key
recommendations of the report.
4.3 Faith-based volunteering pilot activity
As part of the Volunteering England support
model for faith-based projects, ALWs were
provided for key members of the faith
pilots. In relation to the support provided
to the strand, the Modernising Volunteering
Implementation Manager commented:
“Building in a support structure around initial
impact assessment training and Action
Learning Workshops at first sight can seem
potentially problematic – it involves an
investment of time and is more costly than
simply funding six pilots. But the overall value
of a programme of work with such a support
structure is, we would argue, much higher and
well worth the investment. When problems
occur they can be tackled head on and
action taken early on – as opposed to seeing
problems emerge in a final evaluation only
find it’s too late to do anything about them.”
Patrick Scott, Modernising Volunteering
Implementation Manager
Dare to Change were tasked with overseeing the
development and implementation of ALWs during
the pilot phase of the project. Generally, feedback
on the ALWs has been very positive, with these
workshops identified as being well structured,
organised and useful. It is clear from feedback
that a number of participants acknowledged
the benefits of these workshops in relation to
enhancing their own skills base.
23
In some cases the workshops were clearly critical
in terms of supporting a change in direction,
or addressing key issues confronted by pilot
projects. The project lead for the Passion
project underlined the benefits of learning and
sharing experiences with others within the faith
strand as part of the workshops. The project
leader commented:
“With the stuff with young parents I knew
that I was going to have the opportunity to
get together with people and say that ‘I’m
really having trouble...’ To actually sit down
with people; that was very useful, sharing
experiences and we went for a re-launch
that came from one of the Action Learning
Workshops. I basically took up a couple of
hours of that learning workshop and they
were all happy to commit that time...and I
came away and put together a re-launch.
I didn’t feel as isolated…”
It was commented further:
“That’s what I gained the most from the Action
Learning Workshops, it was just the ability
to step back, be encouraged and hear about
what was going on in other people’s projects.”
Mads Morgan, Project Leader, Passion
It is clear that the ALWs were an integral aspect
of the capacity building of pilot projects and
this also included a specific focus on impact
assessment which was led by the Institute for
Volunteering Research. The emphasis placed on
impact assessment at the ALWs was geared to a
recognised need to develop capacity in relation to
these skills within each participating project.
Overall, the support provided to the pilot projects
was identified as good and useful.
ALWs were also integral to the ‘Share it Forward’
concept developed during the programme,
which sought to ensure that other organisations
benefited from their knowledge and expertise
developing over time10. The Multi-Faith Centre
Derby took responsibility for the delivery of the
Year Three workplan for the faith strand and the
overall aim is to develop ‘Share it Forward’ as a
method for volunteering within the faith strand,
becoming a model for future developments and
creating a sustainable strategy in the process.

Case study: Phil Brind-Surch, project volunteer

Phil had been undertaking some charity work over the summer of 2009 and wanted to start
getting more seriously involved in youth work. He started looking at relevant qualifications and
became aware of an NVQ in Youth Work that was running in Nottingham, which he subsequently
enrolled on. Phil was aware of the work that Mads Morgan (Project Leader, Passion) was
undertaking and requested that he work with Passion as a volunteer, partly because Phil needed
a placement associated with his college course, but also because he wanted to gain more
experience in youth work.
Phil became involved in the faith strand activity at the beginning in October 2009 at an introductory
session on impact assessment in Birmingham and has subsequently been involved in every Action
Learning Workshop.
“In my previous job role I was working under someone and I was told you need to do x,y and z
and I would go off and do them...Because I, with Amanda, have really opened this Youth Forum
project, it’s been an eye opener for me. When I stepped into the Youth Forum project I thought I
would phone a couple of young people, organise a meeting and I genuinely did think that was how
easy it would be. It’s been a massive eye opener and I feel I have gained a whole host of skills
directly through this project – communicating with young people, both in a group and one-to-one
situation, people skills and administrative skills.”
Working with Passion has really helped Phil with his course. It has provided him with a wealth
of experience, knowledge and skills in working with young people. It has also provided him with
a huge range of material for case studies. Phil believes the Youth Forum has travelled a huge
distance in a relatively short space of time.
In terms of what Phil has gained from his experience working with the Forum he commented:
“The progression through this [Passion] has been massive and it’s through projects like the Youth
Forum and in seeking and finding funding for the recording studios have given me real help... a
great and wholesome experience really.”
As a result of participation in the Passion project Phil is being funded to undertake a degree in
youth work at Nottingham University, but will continue his involvement with Passion.

10
The concept of ‘Share it Forward’ was being developed at the time the fieldwork for the evaluation was being undertaken and is
scheduled to be implemented during the last six months of Year Three. Multi-Faith Centre Derby is currently in the process of identifying a
national host organisation and other key partners who will resource this initiative.

24
The four in-depth evaluations undertaken on
the faith and volunteering pilots – on the Interfaith
Leadership Initiative, Engage, Passion and
Faithful Volunteers – reflect that a range of project
aims have been achieved, particularly
in relation to leadership and engagement.
Four of the original 12 participants in the
Interfaith Leadership Initiative project are now
fully engaged in the inter-faith and volunteering
worlds and are also encouraging others from
their communities to follow the example that they
have set. One is the Executive Director of an
International development organisation, working
specifically in the field; another group of four
students and young professionals had heavy
involvement with various aspects of the running
of the project and are now currently working
within the inter-faith sector.
The Engage project has successfully established
two youth committees within a mosque – one
male and one female. These committees have
successfully planned and implemented a number
of projects/events. One of the key achievements
of the project was identified as the involvement
of female participants as volunteers, which
exceeded all expectations. Previously there
was little participation by females in mosque
structures. The project target to empower females
through participation within the mosque structures
has proved successful.
In terms of tangible outcomes, the Passion
project has had mixed successes. While the
establishment of a young parents’ group has
proved problematic, the Youth Forum has been a
significant success. The Forum currently consists
of quite a large group (20-25 people), including
25
“That, I am proud to say, is probably the
greatest achievement of this project...to be
able to convince the elders that not only
do young people have a lot to bring to the
table when it comes to managing or running
an organisation of this type, but female
participants also have great added value that
they can bring.”
Faisal Riaz, Project Leader, Engage
a high percentage of NEETs (people not in
education, employment or training) and meets
regularly with the local police, council and other
agencies to pass on a range of information about
what young people want. Forum meetings are
minuted and sent round to schools and people
involved in local community groups.
The Forum has already achieved positive
outcomes with the Town Council, and is seeing
tangible outcomes from its work. For example,
the Council has now committed money to the
purchase of outdoor play equipment for young
people (not children) and Passion has also been
able to secure match funding for this.
Volunteer Network Centre Newham completed
Faithful Volunteers at the end of March 2010.
In relation to the three strands of activity
undertaken by the Faithful Volunteers project:
The ‘Let’s Connect’ conference was
implemented, exceeding its target of fifty
delegates attending
A Let’s Connect with Faith resource guide
for Volunteer Centres addressing how they
can connect with faith organisations was
successfully produced
 The outcomes of the work undertaken to help
support three partner organisations was
identified as less successful. Because the
organisations did not know each other well
enough at the outset of the project, developing
partnerships proved time-consuming and the
capacity of the three small charities to take on
a management role was limited. These issues
were also compounded by staff changes.
A number of projects identified the progression
of participating volunteers on to new opportunities
as beneficial. For example, as a result of
participation on the Engage project, one
volunteer now wants to pursue a degree course
to become a youth worker, one young person
wants to enrol to become a police officer and
another volunteer has gone on to work for
social services.
It is also clear that the faith strand has resulted
in significant levels of successful inter-faith
working. For example, in relation to the Interfaith
Leadership Initiative, 17 major inter-faith
organisations were brought together as part of the
Summer Interfaith Volunteering Fair.
A number of steps were taken by some projects
to ensure volunteer recognition for the work
undertaken as part of the project. For example,
the Engage project appears to have been
particularly effective in enabling volunteers to get
references through appropriate bodies relating
to work undertaken (such as West Yorkshire
Police) and recognition through vfifty awards via a
structured link up with Volunteer Centre Bradford.
A number of lessons from the pilot projects
have direct implications for the implementation
of the ‘Share it Forward’ model. Although the
detailed approaches to sustaining future activity
26
“...I felt that not only was there a real sense
of purpose and excitement of what they
were achieving, there was also a sensitive
passion for learning about each other that
also took place. This specific and possibly
unique networking event brought together
many young volunteers working for inter-faith
agencies and their reward and ours from their
efforts will be substantial.”
Edmund Rosen, Regional Development
Manager, Jewish Volunteering Network
vary between projects, one of the critical factors
common to a number of these projects is the
development of a ‘core group’ of committed
young volunteers as part of the pilot project.
For instance, in relation to the Engage project,
there are six or seven young males and six
or seven young females drawn from the two
volunteer cohorts that will carry on over the next
year, forming a critical part of the ‘sustainability’
element of the project.
The involvement of groups of volunteers that
require commitment over an extended period
is always likely to be a challenge. It is therefore
essential to carefully plan volunteering roles
that take account of personal circumstances
and commitments and, where possible,
tailor volunteer roles to accommodate such
commitments. Models for volunteering that
are flexible enough to allow for a turnover
of volunteers are likely to be much easier to
manage. The Interfaith Leadership Initiative,
for example, experienced difficulties in keeping
the commitment of 12 volunteers over the course
of the project, with those that ‘stuck with it’ being
identified as a very coherent group and critical to
sustaining future activity.
4.4 Conclusions
ALWs represent an innovative approach to
‘live’ capacity building during the faith-based
pilot project implementation phase that is
particularly appropriate to the development
of leadership roles amongst young people.
There is evidence that ALWs have enhanced
the skills base of those participating,
especially in relation to impact assessment,
and that the ALWS have also enabled
participants to address key issues during the
pilot programme.
Outcomes from the in-depth reviews of four
pilot projects indicate that a range of project
aims have been achieved, notably in relation to
leadership, inter-faith working and engagement.
All of the faith projects exhibited a high degree
of involvement of young people in leadership
roles and it is also clear that projects have been
successful in engaging young people through the
development of volunteering opportunities.
The recruitment of new volunteers has been
good. Together, all pilots have created 1,072
new volunteering opportunities – exceeding
their 800 target.
All pilot projects have developed a plan for
sustaining activity in Year Three as part of the
‘Share it Forward’ model. Good progress appears
to have been made in the development and
implementation of the ‘Share it Forward’ concept
by Multi-Faith Centre Derby, which included
a positive response from a meeting of ten
potential national partners in September 2010.
The success of these developments appears to
be crucial to the sustainability of these faith-based
activities and the new concepts that have been
developed as part of the programme.

27
5. New forms of volunteering
and management
5.1 Introduction
This section of the report details the
outcomes of evaluation work undertaken
in relation to two of the three work areas
covered under the new forms of volunteering
and management strand, namely:
The role of social network services in
supporting volunteering, which included:
- Delivery of nine training seminars in
2009 and nine training seminars in 2010
across England for staff of volunteering
support services and volunteer managers
on the use of social network services to
support volunteering
- A social networking pilot at Volunteer
Centre Brighton and Hove using a
variety of social network platforms to
communicate with volunteers and
volunteer managers
- The production of Guidance Notes on
social networking with information,
advice, specific tips and considerations
for volunteering support services
Developing the role of Volunteering
Champions, which involved a pilot scheme
at Warwickshire County Council that included
the process of recruiting, inducting and
training Volunteering Champions, along with
the production of resources for future rollout.
The third work area, which related to improving
the support of volunteer-led volunteering, was
not included within the terms of reference of the
evaluation exercise.
11
Red Foundation (2009), fresh thinking: An exploration of: the role of social network services in supporting volunteering; improving the
support for volunteer led volunteering; developing the role of Volunteering Champions
28
5.2 The role of social
network services in
supporting volunteering
5.2.1 Year One research
fresh thinking was produced by Red
Foundation as part of the Year One
Modernising Volunteering research and sought
to explore new forms of volunteer engagement
and support for those that work with
volunteers11. Part of the fresh thinking report
specifically focussed on the role of social
network services in supporting volunteering.
The report, which was well written and
structured, covered a dynamic area of social
activity and related this back to volunteering in a
relevant and meaningful way in order to highlight
its potential for use and development within the
sector. In this context, the report stated that:
“The sheer numbers of people that actively
engage with these [social] networks on a
daily basis offer significant opportunities for
recruitment and their apparent ease of use
offers opportunities for volunteer managers
and other staff to easily network with each
other and provide peer support.”
In many ways, the report is pioneering and
provided a convincing case for investment
in further pilot work, not least because it
concluded that the voluntary and community
sector and volunteering movement were not
currently capitalising on the potential interactive
communication opportunities available. In
addition, the report also highlighted the lack
of knowledge about the use of social network
services within the volunteering movement. In
this regard the report laid firm foundations for
the Year Two and Three pilot activities.
5.2.2 Pilot activity – social
networking training
The social networking training delivered to
over 340 delegates across all nine regions
of England as part of the Year Two and Year
Three Modernising Volunteering programme
has gone a long way in raising awareness
about the use of social networks to support
volunteering activity.
All of the available evidence indicates that the
training has been effective and well received.
97 per cent of attendees in Year Three
thought that the trainer’s / facilitator’s style and
performance was either good or excellent. 93
per cent of attendees also felt that their learning
objectives were either mostly or fully met. Given
that most attendees were seeking to increase
their understanding of social media it is clear
that the training has been successful in meeting
its objectives.
“I attended the training in order to gain an
insight into how they [social networking]
could be applied to my organisation – which
I certainly did. I am currently continuing
my research into the use of this media and
preparing a set of recommendations for my
organisation to start using Facebook, Twitter
and blogging. This looks set to be heavily
informed by the Fresh Training seminar.”
Attendee from Sustain
29
There is also evidence that behaviour in relation
to the use of social networking has changed as
a result of attendance at the workshop events.
The follow-up survey to the Year Two training
indicated an increase in social networking one
month after the training event, although sample
sizes were relatively small. The delegates
attending Year Three indicated that they felt much
more confident that they would be able to use
social networks in their organisations as a result
of attending the training.
However, it is difficult at this stage to assess the
actual impact of the social networking training
activity undertaken, either in encouraging the use
of social networking within volunteer-involving
organisations, or more specifically in relation to
the recruitment of volunteers.
Red Foundation recognises that it is the extent to
which those who have been trained then go on
to use social networking that is the key aspect of
any overall impact assessment and that there is a
need for further research in this area. At present,
evidence around the extent to which individuals
attending social networking training have then
gone onto actively establish social networks
is limited. In this regard, Red Foundation is
taking part in the overall dissemination tour as
part of Year Three, which will seek to involve
the same organisations that participated in the
social networking training. It is hoped that this
will provide a means to more effectively assess
whether these organisations have subsequently
gone on to undertake social networking activities
at work as a result of the training undertaken.
Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove pilot
The Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove pilot,
which took place over a six-month period
to March 2010, was well-run and produced
worthwhile outputs in the form of a detailed case
study and toolkit. However, it is difficult at this
stage to determine what impact these outputs
have had on the wider volunteering support
sector. In other Volunteer Centres, resources are
required to undertake social networking activity
and finding the time to get involved is likely to be
a challenge, particularly for small organisations.
Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove was
undoubtedly fortunate in having a volunteer who
could be relied on to effectively deliver the pilot
over a six-month period. Not all volunteering
support organisations will have access to such
a valuable resource and in this regard, the
capacity of other Volunteer Centres – without
a valuable volunteer resource at hand – to
establish and maintain different social network
pilots merits further research.
The impact of the pilot locally is clear. Sceptical
attitudes of staff in relation to the benefits of social
networking have been altered. Volunteer Centre
Brighton and Hove is now using social networking
as a tool and able to be much more responsive
to organisations than it was previously. The
organisation can get information out about events
and opportunities, immediately in an efficient way.
“It’s really opened my eyes up to social
networking...It’s fair to say that I have been
converted...I just feel a lot more comfortable
now about using the social networking.”
Alison Marino, Manager,
Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove
30
It has also changed the way that Volunteer
Centre Brighton and Hove now works and it
will continue to maintain and develop social
networks as an integral part of organisational
activity and infrastructure. It is also going to
be integral to the review of Volunteer Centre
Brighton and Hove and written into its business
plan for sustaining the work of the Centre. In
addition, Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove
is looking to increasingly build the brokerage
element – matching volunteering opportunities
with potential volunteers – into what it is doing.
The pilot has also revealed the potential of
social networking in terms of reaching different
audiences, networking and being responsive
to both individuals and organisations for the
wider sector.
“We are reaching more people now and
we are enabling people to volunteer with a
much swifter turnaround than we ever were
before. What I can’t tell you is how many
people who would never have volunteered
before are now volunteering because of the
social networking.”
Dave Adams, Pilot Worker and Volunteer,
Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove
Whilst there are certainly clear signs that the
social networking undertaken by Volunteer
Centre Brighton and Hove is starting to have
an impact on reaching a different audience
and in terms of brokerage activity, there is still
some way to go before a business case could
be made.

5.2.3 Conclusions on social networking
All project activity has been well managed,
delivered effectively and has been well
received. Overall, the activity undertaken
on the role of social network services in
supporting volunteering represents ground-
breaking work and paves the way for the
further development of these activities within
the volunteering support community.
With increased awareness of the benefits
of social networking amongst volunteering
support providers and the development of
i-volunteer12, it is considered that volunteering
support organisations will increasingly turn
to social networking as a means of more
effectively communicating with volunteers
and potential volunteers.
The speed at which these developments
take place is dependent on effective impact
assessment and the development of a more
robust business case for the use of social
networking within volunteering support.
However, there is clearly an opportunity for the
sector to grasp the potential of social networking
and really embed its use within the sector,
thereby keeping volunteering at the forefront
of emerging interactive communication.
12
i-volunteer was established by Red Foundation as a bespoke website exclusively for those interested in volunteering in December 2009.
13
The Commission on the Future of Volunteering (2008), Report of the Commission on the Future of Volunteering - Manifesto for Change.
The Commission on the Future of Volunteering was an independent body set up to develop a long-term vision for volunteering in England.
The Commission reported in January 2008.
31
5.3 Developing the role of
Volunteering Champions
One of the recommendations of the
Commission on the Future of Volunteering
in the Manifesto for Change13 was that
local ‘volunteer champions’ could play a
potentially powerful role in raising the profile
of volunteering at a strategic level (such as
with local authorities). However, although
the role does exist in the sector there is no
consensus about what it is set up to do, who
does it and what support is needed.
The purpose of this area of activity was to
explore the Volunteering Champion concept
through the Year One research and then use
pilot activity in Year Two to examine a range
of issues around Volunteering Champions in a
practical work-based setting, creating a range
of good practice resources that could be applied
by other stakeholders interested in developing
Volunteering Champion schemes.
5.3.1 Year One research
The fresh thinking report explored the
Volunteering Champion concept and the
development of the role of Volunteering
Champions with examples of some schemes
currently in operation. Examples included: peer-
led recruitment and support for organisations;
championing volunteering at senior and
governance levels within organisations; and
championing volunteering at a strategic level.
However, the report indicates that there is little
evidence of widespread adoption of any of
these. It went on to look at what the volunteering
movement would want from Volunteering
Champion schemes and raised areas that need
further consideration.
5.3.2 Pilot activity –
Volunteering Champions
An open tender was undertaken for the selection
of the pilots and Warwickshire County Council
was chosen through a proper selection process
as the strongest candidate. It was chosen as
a pilot because of the powerful role it performs
as a public body at a strategic level within
Warwickshire. It was also felt that there is a
need to think radically about the involvement of
citizens in the public service (active citizens /
volunteers / paid employees and their respective
roles and responsibilities) and that the pilot
would provide an opportunity to explore some of
the boundaries in relation to these roles in what
is still a grey area. The reasons for the selection
of Warwickshire County Council as a pilot are
especially relevant now that the ‘Big Society’ is
currently high on the political agenda.
The overall goal of the pilot was to create a
sustainable network of Volunteering Champions
beyond the life of the project.
As a result of the pilot, a Volunteer Champion
Network involving 22 Volunteering Champions
has now been established within Warwickshire
County Council that includes the County
Council, Borough Councils, voluntary and
community sector, Ambulance Service (First
Responders), Health Service, and a County
Councillor. The role of Volunteering Champions
attending Volunteer Champion Network is to
share good practice and give advice in relation
to volunteering, either within their own service
area or elsewhere within the council.

“In the current climate with this notion of

the ‘Big Society’ I think a lot of people in
the public services are going to have to
think quite radically about the involvement of
citizens in the delivery of public services and
looking at how volunteering is championed
within policy making arenas, I think is
absolutely crucial right now. I think paid and
volunteer deliverers of public service need
protection and we need to be quite clear
where the differences are, or whether you are
an active citizen occupying an unpaid post.
It’s a really grey area at the moment.”
Georgina Watts, Associate Director,
Red Foundation

32
Case study: Angie, Volunteering Champion
Angie is the Warwickshire County Council Adult Health and Community Services and Children,
Families and Young People Integrated Disabilities Services Volunteer Development Officer.
Angie works with staff members with a volunteer supervisory responsibility in order to develop
their volunteer management skills. Angie’s role is to encourage volunteers into County Council
services, such as care homes, day care support services, libraries, museums, the County Record
Office and Adult Community Learning. Angie identifies one of the positive outcomes as building
bridges between the County Council and the voluntary and community sector. She commented:
“The benefits of this far outweigh any costs.”
The rationale for creating Angie’s post was that Warwickshire County Council recognised that
volunteering was going to have to play a big part in health and social care services.
An audit was undertaken of the number of volunteers involved within Warwickshire County Council
services. A figure of about 6,000 people was identified. The extent of volunteering within these
services was a surprise to many people. This was the equivalent of 22-23 full-time members of
staff, a figure that has since increased significantly. At the time of the audit, within Adult Services
there was minimal volunteer input. There are now more than 200 registered volunteers with
the service. On average, volunteers within Adult Services are now estimated to be contributing
between 240 and 250 hours per week.
Angie identifies her role as a Volunteering Champion as working with volunteers to make sure they
feel valued and supported and also feeding this up through the management system to make sure
that everyone knows the benefits of volunteering.

33
The support provided to the pilot project both
from the consultant appointed by Warwickshire
County Council and Red Foundation appears to
have been effective and well received.
It is possible to point to a number of clear
outcomes and changing practices with respect
to volunteering that represent real added value
from the pilot project:
The development of a consistent approach
to volunteering within the whole of
Warwickshire County Council is a major
achievement. Formal council-wide policies
relating to volunteering within Warwickshire
County Council have now been adopted,
which include coverage of expenses for
volunteers and practices in relation to safety
and supervision. This is accompanied by an
agreed budget
Warwickshire County Council adheres to
the Volunteering England and Trades Union
Congress Good Practice Guidelines in terms
of involving volunteers. Every volunteer now
has a role description with identified
boundaries. The Volunteering Champions
scheme at Warwickshire County Council has
shown that it is essential that these
demarcation lines between paid staff
and volunteer roles remain clear. The
adoption of formal policies on volunteering
has therefore also helped to clarify concerns
about respective volunteer and paid
staff roles
34
It is clear that encouraging greater levels
of volunteering within services provided by
Warwickshire County Council has also led
to significant wider community benefits.
These include strengthening links between
Volunteer Centres and Warwickshire County
Council in relation to volunteering and the
development of a shared approach towards
volunteering policy between Warwickshire
County Council and District Councils.
5.3.3 Conclusions on
Volunteering Champions
As a result of the Volunteering Champions
project, volunteering within Warwickshire
County Council now has a high strategic
profile. A number of challenges face the pilot
project, not least those posed by restructuring
of the public sector. This may require further
consideration and work on the demarcation lines
between volunteers and paid workers. However,
the overall goal of the project in creating a
sustainable network of Volunteering Champions
beyond the life of the project appears is very
likely to be achieved.
6. Overcoming barriers to volunteering
6.1 Introduction
The Network of National Volunteer-Involving
Agencies (NNVIA)14, in partnership with
Volunteering England, is leading work on the
overcoming barriers to volunteering (OBV)
strand, which is primarily concerned with
targeting, recruiting and supporting socially
excluded groups in volunteering.
Community Service Volunteers (CSV) provides
the secretariat for NNVIA and was also
responsible for the provision of support to the
work undertaken within the strand.
NNVIA’s primary goal in being involved in the
OBV strand is to advance its work around
equalities, to develop and lead work on inclusion
and look at its links to local infrastructure. Three
interrelated aims are driving NNVIA’s leadership
of the OBV strand:
To make volunteering more accessible to
marginalised and socially excluded groups
through the development of best practice
policies and strategies
To improve the performance of volunteer-
involving organisations in involving volunteers
from socially excluded groups
To make and present a strong case to the
wider sector for doing more to make
volunteering accessible to all.
14
NNVIA currently has 55 members and was established in 2003 to ensure that the views of national volunteer-involving agencies
(which include organisations such Barnardo’s, British Red Cross and Citizens Advice Bureau) were formulated and heard in government
policy consultations.
15
NNVIA (2009), Overcoming Barriers to Volunteering, A Modernising Volunteering Workstream Report
35
6.2 Year One research
The Year One research report15 was
well written, easy to read and contained
particularly good case studies in overcoming
barriers to volunteering with groups that are
often excluded.
Despite a disappointing response from NNVIA
members to the Year One research survey, some
important findings did emerge. Overall, the survey
findings suggest that there is work to be done to
develop policies and strategies that specifically
target socially excluded groups and to establish
systems for monitoring outcomes and measuring
the impact of implementing such strategies.
A range of recommendations were made to
NNVIA, which, if acted upon, would provide a
sound basis for addressing the key issues arising
from the Year One research. The findings and
recommendations were agreed by NNVIA and
were taken into account in formulating the Year
Two work programme.
The report also clearly outlined the way forward
in Year Two through the establishment of a
number of Policy Action Community Teams
(PACTs). The report indicated that the aim of each
PACT would be to take forward a programme of
policy and practice development which results
in more people from under-represented groups
participating in volunteering.
6.3 Pilot activity
PACTs are an innovative concept developed
by NNVIA, which effectively brought
together expertise from national and local
organisations to focus on developing
policy and practice for promoting equality
and removing the barriers to volunteering
for under-represented groups. The NNVIA
definition of a PACT is ‘a group of people
who share common knowledge or vision
that come together to influence policy and
practice development’.
Membership of the PACTs reflected the
intention to engage a mix of volunteer-involving
organisations, infrastructure agencies,
volunteers and others.
“The whole idea of the PACT was to get a
whole range of knowledge and experience
in the room and work out how best to better
involve people from those (disadvantaged)
groups. I think what the PACT leads did really
well was to get together a really interesting
group of people that were able to do that.”
Emma Thomas-Hancock, Consulting
Projects Director, CSV
Although the concept of the PACTs was clear,
there was a considerable amount of work
undertaken by CSV in defining each PACT; what
they would look like, leadership, organising
membership and what their aims and objectives
should be. This resulted in a standardised
approach and process to each area of PACT
activity being developed in terms of:
Identifying and appointing a PACT lead
Supporting the PACT lead in recruiting
a PACT membership
36
Timetabling six meetings in which PACT
work would be undertaken
Determining what each PACT would actually
do. This resulted in a requirement for each
PACT to complete the production of a Model
Engagement Plan. This contained key
objectives for Year Two work and detailed
what each PACT was aiming to achieve at
the end of six planned meetings.
Five PACTs were established. Each was set up
and led by a NNVIA member; there were four
regional PACTs – covering learning disabilities,
refugee and asylum seekers, mental health and
physical and sensory impairment – and one
national PACT, which focused on governance
and learning exchange.
Each PACT had an average of around ten
members and attracted a good mix of volunteer-
involving organisations, infrastructure agencies,
volunteers and others. However, the statutory
sector did not appear to be well represented.
PACT members gave their time because of an
interest in and commitment to the area of work
covered by the individual PACTs.
Some difficulties were experienced by several
PACTs in recruiting members, but this appeared
to be in regions where there was no previous
history of partnership working or networking
(such as Governance PACTs). In other regions
there was a strong commitment to the nature
of the work and also a lot of relevant experience
in the area of PACT activity. This points to
the importance of pre-existing regional
infrastructure / networks in the establishment
of successful PACTs.
All PACTs had six meetings, with the exception
of the Physical Disabilities PACT, which only
held two. PACT meetings were generally well
organised, with agendas and minutes, and
well attended; they were also considered to be
generally useful by attendees. However, some
concerns were expressed about the ‘process
driven’ nature of PACT work, which in one
instance was felt to prejudice the actual work of
the PACT. Clearly this can be a difficult balance
to strike on a funded programme that necessarily
has an outcome focus, but overall it is considered
that PACTs were able to successfully:
Involve a wide range of stakeholders
Develop or strengthen partnership working.
This has been a particular benefit for a number
of PACTs
Develop a good and unique perspective on
the barriers to involving volunteers from
different socially excluded groups
Undertake wider networking. This was
also generally felt to be a positive aspect
of PACT work with good links and contacts
being developed.
An important finding from the work undertaken
independently by PACTs was that many of the
volunteer management issues discussed by
each of the teams were very similar for all hard
to reach groups. With the benefit of hindsight it
was felt that this aspect could have been dealt
with differently, so that each PACT could have
exclusively concentrated on the particular barriers
to volunteering faced by each group.
37
“What all the PACT leads seemed to find was
that actually the volunteer management issue
was the same for all hard to reach groups.
It’s about volunteer management, listening
to people and articulating, being honest and
open – all those kind of things.”
Ruth Buchanan, Volunteer Manager,
Samaritans (Mental Health PACT lead)
In March 2010, each PACT held a Model Action
Day with a collective total of 190 participants from
a range of NNVIA organisations, infrastructure
organisations and frontline (direct delivery)
organisations. All PACTs arranged for a variety
of speakers to attend and make presentations
that were of relevance to each area of PACT
work. Most of the PACTs undertook evaluation
of the Model Action Days and the feedback was
generally very positive.
Case study: Refugee and Asylum
Seekers PACT – led by Newcastle
Volunteer Centre (CSV)
The first Model Action Day involved about
50 people – about 35 were representatives
of organisations, such as the local authority,
Primary Care Trust, Local Housing
Associations, local volunteer-involving
organisations and so on. An evaluation was
completed by those people that attended,
which reflected very well on the event with
a lot of positive feedback.
A volunteer’s comments (Leonard) at the
Model Action Day were remembered by the
PACT lead:
“I have been volunteering for six or seven
months now, and it is only today that I
realised that I am not doing anything illegal.”
A number of other positive outcomes also
resulted from the Model Action Days including
further PACT recruitment, evidence of impact on
the volunteer recruitment practices of national
organisations and networking.
Overall, the support provided to the PACTs was
considered to be extremely good. An effective
and clear model was established for the operation
of each PACT, which appears to have worked
extremely well in focussing the work of each team
and in ensuring a consistent approach.
The Year Two workplan ended on 1st June 2010
with a National Conference and the start of the
Year Three workplan. The Conference brought
together key voices across the charity sector to
share how organisations can overcome barriers
to volunteering and give proper recognition to
the positive impact of volunteers. Four PACTs
attended the Conference and presented some of
the learning from their work.
NNVIA analysed the feedback from the 150
delegates that attended the Conference, which
were positive. Views on the main barriers to
volunteering given by those completing the
evaluation forms were considered to be:
Funding / costs
Attitude
Lack of resources
Lack of support
Existing volunteers / workers (perception,
attitude, treatment).
38
The outcomes of the work undertaken by most of
the PACTs appear to be very good, particularly
in terms of producing valuable materials on the
barriers to volunteering for the groups covered by
each of the PACTs. The work of the PACTs also
included a range of more specific outcomes:
A good practice guide for volunteer managers
and coordinators working with people who
are refugees or seeking asylum, which
included new and relevant work in relation to
CRB checks
Training sessions. For example, the Learning
Disability PACT organised a one-day training
session which involved 40 volunteer-involving
organisations, with a further session booked
Personal development. It is clear that the
PACT lead role has provided personal
development opportunities in a number of
instances. For example, one PACT lead
used the opportunity to gain more experience
in partnership working
Leading the PACTs has also provided
individuals with a significant opportunity to
further develop leadership skills. For one
lead, the PACT represented an opportunity to
gain actual leadership experience and develop
confidence in undertaking the role.
However, there appear to be few outcomes
relating specifically to increases in volunteering
from the different groups covered by the PACT
and no real evidence that this aspect was really
part of PACT work.
Where PACTs have been successful is in terms
of improving networking and partnership working
amongst those participating in team meetings.

“For me that has been one of the real benefits.
Although I attended the NNVIA meetings, I
didn’t really know anybody and I had been
going for about a year before I went on
maternity leave. I’d literally go along, listen,
take notes and leave again whereas being
involved in this (the PACT) I have actually
met good colleagues and allies and people
who I can communicate with outside the
NNVIA context, so it’s…really beneficial.”
Karen Sparkes, Volunteer Manager, Family
Action (Governance PACT lead)
The main challenges highlighted by PACT leads
were in relation to lack of financial resources,
time and commitment required to undertake the
lead role and recruiting team members.
6.4 Conclusions
The evaluation has highlighted a number of
critical success factors of the PACTs:
Leadership (the role undertaken by the PACT
lead is crucial to the success of a PACT)
Involving a wide range of stakeholders
The commitment of the PACT lead
and members
Pre-existing regional infrastructure /
support network.
The resources, commitment and goodwill devoted
to PACT activity appears to be considerably over
and above any financial remuneration paid by
CSV or partner organisations. Without doubt this
can be used to exemplify the added value of the
programme delivered by NNVIA and Volunteering
39
England. However, beyond the conferences
planned for early 2011, the continuation of the
PACTs is going to represent a considerable
challenge without further funding. A concern of
PACT leads relates to the legacy of the PACTs
and the need to ensure that the work is capable
of being built on rather than the exercise being
repeated in another three or four years’ time.
In relation to the stated aims of the OBV strand,
it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions at this
stage because of the timing of the evaluation
work and the fact that considerable evaluation
and impact assessment activity is planned for the
last six months of the Modernising Volunteering
programme (September 2010 – March 2011).
There is currently no real evidence of a change
in the practice of organisations as a result of Year
One research or PACT activity. Nor is it clear
from the remainder of the Year Three activity
how any measurement of the impact of the
programme on involving volunteers from socially
excluded groups will be undertaken (a specific
recommendation of the Year One research).
Overall, the OBV programme has been a
good and worthwhile initiative, but persuading
leaders within NNVIA organisations to change
their practice and increase the diversity of their
volunteers remains a considerable challenge.
Mechanisms for effective monitoring and
evaluation will need to be revisited to determine
the extent to which this challenge is being met
over time.
7. Online survey results
This section of the report sets out the results
of the Modernising Volunteering evaluation
online survey, which was primarily targeted
at the direct beneficiaries of support provided
throughout the Modernising Volunteering
Year Two pilot programme. A total of 59
respondents completed the survey, a
reflection of the programme focusing on
fewer numbers of beneficiaries in depth – for
example, the SBESV strand worked with three
full-time direct beneficiaries via the Local
Business Partnership Coordinators. The
results of the survey provide a reasonably
robust basis for assessing different aspects
of the support provided for the programme
as a whole, particularly when added to the
desk research, telephone and face-to-face
interviews undertaken. The survey assessed:
Satisfaction with workstream activities
and delivery
Relevance and usefulness to
capacity building
Projected impact on frontline organisations.
We have used the concept of ‘the net balance
of change’ in order to summarise the results of
the 16 survey questions asked under the above
headings. Each question asked in the survey had
two positive response ranges (such as ‘high’ or
‘very high’) and two negative response ranges
(such as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’) either side of a
‘mixed feelings / not sure’ response option. The
net balance of change simply involves subtracting
the total percentage of respondents included
in the negative response range from the total
percentage of respondents included in the
positive response range. We consider that this
40
provides an effective method of examining the
overall balance of opinion on any particular topic.
Tables 7.2 to 7.4 set out the results of this
analysis, which indicate very positive overall
satisfaction outcomes for the Modernising
Volunteering programme across all areas of the
survey. Of particular note are the:
Very high levels of satisfaction with
workstream activities and delivery. 81 per
cent of respondents felt that the overall quality
of support provide was either ‘high’ or ‘very
high’ with no respondents rating it either ‘poor’
or ‘very poor’, providing a positive net balance
of change of 81 per cent (Table 7.2)
Increased levels of knowledge as a result of
respondents’ involvement in the workstream,
with a positive net balance of change of
86 per cent (Table 7.3)
Very positive indications that participation
within the workstream activity will benefit
frontline organisations, with a positive net
balance of change of 75 per cent (Table 7.4)
Very clear positive response that the impact of
the workstream will result in a greater diversity
of volunteers, with a positive net balance of
change of 59 per cent (Table 7.4).
Table 7.2: Satisfaction with workstream activities and delivery

Net balance

How would you rate the overall quality of support provided to you? 81%

How would you rate the overall quality of your participation in the workstream? 75%

How likely is it that you would recommend the workstream activity to sector
74%
colleagues with broadly similar needs?

Overall, how would you rate your satisfaction with the support you have received
76%
through the workstream?

Table 7.3: Relevance and usefulness to capacity building

Net balance

To what extent, if at all, has your confidence increased as a result of your

63%
involvement in the workstream?

To what extent, if at all, has your knowledge increased as a result of your

86%
involvement in the workstream?

To what extent, if at all, have your skills increased as a result of your involvement
53%
in the workstream?

To what extent, if at all, was the support you received under the workstream
63%
relevant to your work with frontline organisations?

41
Table 7.4: Projected impact on frontline

Net balance

To what extent, if at all, has your participation with the workstream

activity changed or influenced how you think about or plan your work 39%
with frontline organisations?

To what extent, if at all, has participation within the workstream activity impacted
63%
on your ability to put what was learnt into practice / action?

To what extent, if at all, participation within the workstream activity will benefit
75%
frontline organisations?

To what extent, if at all, do you think that your practice / behaviour has
been influenced or changed as a result of the support you received under 48%
the workstream?

How strongly do you think that the overall impact of the workstream will result in
47%
a greater number of volunteers being recruited?

How strongly do you think that the overall impact of the workstream will result in
59%
a greater diversity of volunteers?

How strongly do you think that the overall impact of the workstream will result in
46%
new ways of working that are sustainable?

How strongly do you think that the overall impact of the workstream will result in
40%
new ways of working that can be mainstreamed into core activities?

42
8. Financial income and expenditure

8.1 Introduction 8.2 Income

This section of the report provides a summary
of income and expenditure on the Modernising
Volunteering programme over the period April
2008 – March 2011. Costs for Years One and
Two are based on actual figures; costs for Year
Three are predicted at this stage given work is
ongoing until end of March 2011.
Table 1 indicates that Volunteering England
has been very successful in leveraging in
financial support to the Modernising Volunteering
programme. Both v and the Nationwide
Foundation have contributed £100,000 to
support pilot activities in the faith strand and
SBESV strands respectively. This added
a further 16.7 per cent to the £1.2 million
Capacitybuilders funded programme over three
years and enabled the funding of both faith and
SBESV strand pilot projects.

Table 1: Modernising Volunteering income

Income source Year One Year Two Year Three Total

Capacitybuilders £400,000 £400,000 £400,000 £1.2m

v – funding of faith pilot N/A £50,000 £50,000 £100,000
projects
Nationwide Foundation – N/A £50,000 £50,000 £100,000
funding of ESV
pilot projects
Total £400,000 £500,000 £500,000 £1.4m

43
8.3 Expenditure
Table 2 indicates that, excluding any
apportionment of Volunteering England
management and associated costs, project
delivery costs and overheads – which account
for about 36 per cent of programme expenditure
– the cost of each strand of activity over the
three-year period is as follows:
New forms of volunteer involvement and
management strand – £215,087 (15%)
Overcoming barriers to volunteering strand
– £231,128 (17%)
Faith strand – £257,211 (18%)
SBESV strand – £191,400 (14%).
It should be noted that any judgements about
value for money are not within the remit of the
evaluation exercise.

Table 2: Modernising Volunteering expenditure

Expenditure heading Year One Year Two Year Three Total

Central Volunteering England staffing

£55,000a £78,314b £99,748c £233,062
and associated costs
Commissioning of Red Foundation
to deliver new forms of volunteer £85,000d £74,279e £55,808f £215,087
involvement and management strand
Commissioning of Community
Service Volunteers / NNVIA to deliver £81,045g £74,279h £75,804i £231,128
overcoming barriers strand
Commissioning of consultancy
£65,000j £31,100k £30,500l £126,600
support to deliver faith strand
Commissioning of faith strand
N/Am £74,911n £55,700o £130,611
pilot projects
Commissioning of national
level consultancy support to £55,000p £17,000q £19,400q £91,400
deliver ESV strand
Commissioning of ESV pilot projects N/Ar £52,500s £52,500s £105,000
Project delivery costs £8,955t £47,617t £60,540t £117,112
Overheads £50,000 £50,000 £50,000 £150,000
Total £400,000 £500,000 £500,000 £1.4m

Further details of the items covered in each expenditure heading can be found opposite

44
a
Cost of NSS Implementation Manager and Administrative Support
b
Cost of NSS Implementation Manager, NSS Senior Operations Officer to lead the ESV work and
project communications and NSS Administrative Assistant
c
Cost of NSS Implementation Manager, NSS Senior Operations Officer and NSS Administrative
Assistant – the figure is higher in Year Three as in Year Two both the NSS Senior Operations Officer
and NSS Administrative Assistant were only employed for part of the year
d
Cost of Red Foundation delivering Year One research report and setting up Year Two work
e
Delivery of Year Two work – social networking workshops and three pilot projects in social networking,
volunteer champions and volunteer led volunteering
f
Delivery of Year Three work – social networking workshops and three pilot projects in social
networking, volunteer champions and volunteer led volunteering
g
Cost of CSV / NNVIA delivering Year One research report and setting up Year Two work
h
Cost of CSV / NNVIA delivering Year Two work – setting up PACT groups and running Model
Action Days
Cost of CSV / NNVIA delivering Year Three work – PACT groups, PACT support training,
i

‘Changing the Profile of Volunteering’ conference

Cost of commissioning De Montfort University to carry out Year One research and Dare to Change to
j

set up Year Two pilots and work

k
Cost of faith consultancy support – IVR’s impact assessment training and follow up one-to-one
support, Action Learning Workshops, strand project management
Cost of faith consultancy support – Multi-faith Centre Derby leadership of strand, Action Learning
l

Workshops, strand project management

m
Pilots were commissioned in Year Two on basis of Year One findings
n
Commissioning of six faith pilot projects in Year Two
o
Commissioning of six faith pilot projects in Year Three
p
Cost of commissioning Corporate Citizenship to carry out Year One research and appointment of ESV
Specialist to support Year Two set up
q
Cost of ESV specialist and Time and Talents Westminster mentoring support
r
See end note m
s
Commissioning of three Volunteer Centre pilot projects
t
Venues, travel and subsistence, publicity and advertising, postage etc.

45
9. Overall conclusions
The partnership approach adopted has been
hugely successful in enabling Volunteering
England to reach different audiences and carry
out pilot work in new and emerging areas of
volunteering activity. Within what are considered
to be relevant and appropriate accountability
frameworks, partners have been able to research
and develop new models for modernising
volunteering and secure outcomes that can
transform future volunteering practice. In this
regard it is considered that, overall, a good
balance has been struck by Volunteering England
in developing effective partnership arrangements
and in ensuring proper accountability.
Other aspects of the overall approach to the
Modernising Volunteering programme adopted by
Volunteering England at the outset also appear to
have worked exceptionally well:
The three-stage delivery model (research,
pilot activity and dissemination) appears to
have worked very well and provides a sensible
and useful model, particularly for new areas
of volunteering activity. The research activities
undertaken in Year One provided a knowledge
and evidence base which effectively laid the
groundwork for Year Two pilot activities. The
approach to properly piloting different activities
is one that has worked extremely well for
relatively small sums of funding. For most
pilot activity, a competitive tender process
was used for selection; whilst this can be a
burdensome process for relatively small sums
of money, there is little doubt that the process
has worked well in enabling the strongest
candidates to be selected. This is regarded as
being a good practice feature of the general
approach adopted by Volunteering England
46
The establishment of four discrete strands of
activity has enabled Volunteering England
and partners to really focus on and refine new
models for modernising volunteering. Whilst
there have been some mechanisms put in
place to look at cross strand awareness-raising
and activity, there has been little real attempt
to try and integrate activity across strands.
For some areas of strand activity – such as
social networking – this could be regarded
as a weakness in the approach. However,
we believe that this focussed approach has
been a real strength of the programme in
that Volunteering England and partners have
been able to engender remarkable levels
of commitment, energy and enthusiasm to
generally quite distinct and unique strands of
activity. It is our view that an increased focus
on integration of activities across strands
would have reduced the effectiveness of the
outcomes achieved within each strand
The management and accountability
arrangements that have been put in place
by Volunteering England have provided a
solid and sound foundation for all Year Two
and Year Three pilot and programme activity.
The use of workplans, in particular, provided
a sound basis for all planning activities.
Outcome monitoring against key deliverables
that were linked to payments also appears to
have worked well. There is little doubt that this
strong management approach is relevant and
appropriate to the current economic climate
and has undoubtedly led to capacity building
within some of the pilot projects that were
subject to this regime.
The approach adopted by Volunteering England
has, in our opinion, created an environment in
which pilot project activity could flourish.
Groundbreaking and exemplar pilot activity has
been undertaken in relation to:
SBESV, where:
- The outcomes of three pilots in Darlington,
Exeter and Oxfordshire hold out a
realistic prospect that Volunteer Centres
will be able to operate such schemes on
a self-sustaining basis
- Valuable Intellectual Property has been
created which can be licensed under a
social enterprise ‘franchising’ approach
to enable the expansion of a newly
created Time and Talents Network brand
Social networking, which has raised
awareness of the power and potential of social
networks to support volunteering activity and
provided a platform for the further development
of these activities within the volunteering
support community
Volunteering Champions, which has explored
a range of now very topical issues about
the involvement of citizens (active citizens
and volunteers) in public service provision and
their demarcation lines with paid staff. It has
also developed a successful and, in all
likelihood, a sustainable Volunteer Champions
Network within Warwickshire.
16
The survey questionnaire was based on the requirements of Capacitybuilders in assessing the quality of support provided
to programme beneficiaries.
47
The pilot projects have also resulted in the
development of innovative models to support
volunteering activity, which includes the use of:
A faith-based volunteering and support model
that revolved around the use of Action
Learning Workshops undertaken throughout
the delivery phase of the project to provide
‘live’ personal and professional development
and enable better project outcomes
Policy Action Community Teams (PACTs)
which effectively brought together
expertise from national and local
organisations to focus on developing policy
and practice for promoting equality and
removing the barriers to volunteering for
different under-represented groups.
All of the evidence from the fieldwork undertaken
in connection with the evaluation indicates
that all project activity has been extremely well
supported. The online survey undertaken also
reinforces this view by indicating very high levels
of satisfaction with workstream activities and
delivery. 81 per cent of respondents felt that the
overall quality of support provided was either
‘high’ or ‘very high’ with no respondents rating it
either ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. Overall satisfaction
levels in all areas of support activity surveyed
were relatively high16.
The added value created by Volunteering
England and partners through the Modernising
Volunteering programme has also been
noteworthy. Whilst it is beyond the scope of this
evaluation to actually calculate this value, the
evidence from individual pilot projects indicates
that the time, commitment and resources devoted
by the organisations involved in the programme
far outweighs any monetary benefits provided to
them through the programme.
This aspect was perhaps best exemplified by
the work of the PACTs, whose work was
effectively reliant on the goodwill of participating
individuals and organisations. The important
point from this is that, if government is seeking
to maximise the commitment and value from any
funding resources placed within the volunteering
sector, then it really should consider the benefits
of doing this through volunteering organisations
rather than the private or public sector.
The Modernising Volunteering programme
which has been developed and managed
by Volunteering England and partners has
demonstrated the capability of the volunteering
sector to effectively manage ground-breaking
and innovative programmes, which will enhance
capacity and influence activity in the sector for
many years to come.

48
Appendix one

Face-to-face interviewees
Activity leads

First name Surname Strand of activity Organisation

Gurdial Bhamra Faith strand lead Volunteer Network Centre

Leonie Lewis Faith strand lead Jewish Volunteering Network
Multi-Faith Centre c/o
Phil Henry Faith strand lead
The University of Derby
Mads Morgan Faith strand lead Youth Missioner, Passion
Zahid Bhatti Faith strand lead Chief Executive, Shifa Trust
Volunteer Coordinator,
Faisal Riaz Faith strand lead
UK Islamic Mission
Ruth Buchanan Mental Health PACT lead Samaritans
Karen Sparkes Governance PACT Lead Family Action
Learning Disability
Kate Salter Mencap
PACT Lead
Physical and Sensory
Dave Clough Impairment PACT Lead Vitalise
(2009/10)
Learning Disability
Lynne Whyley Midlands Mencap
PACT Lead
Refugee and Asylum Seeker Community Service
Kath Patton
PACT Lead Volunteers
Manager, Volunteer Centre
Alison Marino Social networking pilot lead
Brighton and Hove
Volunteer Centre
Dave Adams Social networking pilot
Brighton and Hove
Volunteering Champions
Nick Darwen Warwickshire County Council
pilot lead
SBESV – Local Business Oxfordshire Voluntary &
Grant Hayward
Partnership Co-ordinator Community Action
SBESV – Local Business Darlington Volunteer Centre
Mark Wilkes
Partnership Co-ordinator (eVOLution)
SBESV – Local Business
Paul Simmons Exeter Volunteer Centre
Partnership Co-ordinator

49
Key strand representatives

First name Surname Strand of activity Organisation

Barbara Regnier Overcoming barriers and Dare to Change

faith strands
Emma Thomas-Hancock Overcoming barriers Community Service
strand Volunteers
Tamara Flanagan Overcoming barriers Community Service
strand Volunteers

Edie Fassnidge SBESV strand Volunteering England

Jan Blackburn SBESV strand ESV and NSS Advisory

Consultant
Marie Broad SBESV strand Time and Talents,
Westminster
Fabia Bates New forms of Red Foundation
volunteering strand
Jamie Thomas New forms of Red Foundation
volunteering strand
Lee Robinson Faith strand Lee Robinson
Consultancy

50
Appendix two

Telephone interviewees
Faith strand Skills-based employer supported volunteering
Maggie Odisla, Volunteer Network Centre Employers
Iain Sawh, Volunteer Network Centre Kirsty Gilbride, Bottle PR, Oxford
Lucy Campion, Interfaith Action Gayle Curry, Morgan Cole, Oxford
Matti Fruhman, Jewish Volunteering Network Peter Barron, Northern Echo, Darlington
Joanna Thornewill, Multi-Faith Centre Peter Cowan, Royal Mail, Darlington
Luke Foddy, Multi-Faith Centre Volunteer-involving organisations
Phil Brind-Surch, Passion Stuart Reid, Oxfordshire Mind
Amrosia Rehman, Shifa Trust Christine Duff, Organic Arts, Exeter
Siama Ahmed, Shifa Trust Rob Wynn, Magic Carpet, Exeter
Anisa Haq, UK Islamic Mission Jason McNamara, St. Sidwell’s Community
Centre, Exeter
Policy Action Community Teams Alizon Robson, WRVS, Darlington
Mental Health Policy Action Community Team Scott Marshall, St. Theresa’s Hospice, Darlington
Rochelle Barton, Brent Mind
Aloyse Raptopoulos, Trainer
Refugee & Asylum Seeker Policy Action
Community Team
Nick Sinclair, Crisis
Ailsa Stothard, Red Cross (NNVIA)
Governance Policy Action Community Team
Mark Crosby, National Trust (NNVIA)
Laura Read, Princes Trust (NNVIA)
Clare Winstanley, Innisfree Housing Trust
Learning Disability Policy Action Community Team
Debbie Cope, Volunteer Midland Mencap
Alan Crawford, BVSC
Frances Flint, Mentoring and Befriending
Foundation (NNVIA)

51
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