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Volunteering
Welcome to the volunteering pages. There is lots of local activity in this area, and this is where you can find out about it! The Develop partners are committed to tackling issues in Bromley around social inclusion and volunteering. We have an interest in increasing the opportunities available to people with mental ill-health to contribute through voluntary activity, and also in promoting mental health awareness within the volunteering sector. We are also interested in welcoming and supporting local people who wish to volunteer within mental health services.
We should all be involved in promoting social inclusion because:
- Common mental health problems affect up to one in six of the general population at any one time. Almost everyone will know someone who has had mental health problems at some point in their lives.
- Nine out of ten people with mental health problems engaged in volunteering said it gave them a sense of purpose and achievement, and more than eight out of ten said it had a positive impact on their mental health.
What's in this for you?
In this section you will be able to find:
- Services that welcome or support voluntary contributions to their organisation, group or society by people with mental health issues.
- Events about volunteering.
- Evidence and policy Government and volunteering organisations policies and guidance on supported volunteering schemes for people with mental health problems and how to improve the organisation you work in to be more welcoming and supportive to people with mental ill-health.
- Guidance and tools that can be used to help people plan their volunteering activities and how to offer a supportive welcome to people with mental health problems.
- News stories about people's experiences of participating in voluntary activity in the borough.
If you would like more information about social inclusion and mental health, Develop also provides:
- Discussion Forum: a place to ask questions, offer solutions, find support and obtain advice on developing volunteering for people with mental health problems and share ideas about what to do when mental health issues arise in your organisation. (Available to registered site users).
- Training about social inclusion and volunteering and mental health issues (from handling stress and promoting mental wellbeing and recovery through to awareness training about mental illness).
If you would like more information about volunteering and social inclusion, please contact Develop at: volunteeringNET@developbromley.com
View the national database of volunteering bridge-building projects
Volunteer Centre re-accredited by Investing in Volunteers
31st Jan 2012
Develop Partner Community Links Bromley (CLB) has been re-accredited with the Investing in Volunteers Award. The Award provides evidence of the positive way CLB manages a team of volunteers and the impact the tasks undertaken by volunteers have on the quality of services delivered to local organisations.
Diane Diamond (pictured), Volunteer Centre Manager said “I am delighted with this Award. Although we know that we all do our very best to ensure CLB’s volunteers enjoy a positive experience, this award is proof of that.”
CLB is strongly supported by 10-15 volunteers undertaking a wide variety of office based tasks, from processing applications for volunteering across the borough to helping maintain an up-to-date database and reporting systems. The volunteers are essential to the work that CLB carry out and their retention rates are high due to the way they recruit and manage the team.
The Investing in Volunteers accreditation demonstrates a commitment to high quality volunteer management to potential volunteers, funders and service users. It is a chance to assess the quality of your volunteer management and involvement, prove and improve the effectiveness of your work with volunteers and enhance your organisation's reputation.
An example of the support CLB offer to their volunteers is the great news that Robert Jansz has achieved a Business Administration Level 2 Apprenticeship qualification whilst volunteering at Community Links Bromley. He joined Community Links Bromley, on a full-time basis, as part of the Future Jobs Fund initiative. Once he had undertaken six months of work, he stayed with CLB as a volunteer to complete his apprenticeship and achieve his qualification.
Robert’s tasks included work on Health and Safety, team working and customer facing tasks like dealing with phone enquiries and greeting visitors to the Centre. He was also substantially involved with the early days of checking data for the BiG Community Directory.
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