The Volunteering Team has developed an action plan for 2012-2013. Over the last year, the team has carried out various pieces of work to learn more about services for blind and partially sighted people and volunteer impact across RNIB group to help inform the volunteering strategy. You can read more about the team's vision, plans and the work that informed them here.
What we do
One of the RNIB Group's organisational commitments is to mobilise volunteers. We do this in two ways:
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We support RNIB Group staff and others to involve volunteers in their work with the aim of increasing the reach and impact of our services. We help potential volunteer managers from the point of identifying a need for volunteers, guide them through the recruitment process, and provide ongoing support. We call this our Enabling Service.
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We provide a support service to blind and partially sighted people to help with technology and IT problems, often in their own homes. This could be helping to set up a digital TV, installing some computer software or explaining how to use a talking microwave. We call this our Technology Support Service.
Our Vision
Enabling Service: promoting and supporting the involvement of volunteers to make a difference to the lives of blind and partially sighted people.
Technology Support Service: supporting more blind and partially sighted people to be independent through everyday technology.
Who we are
We are the RNIB Group Volunteering team; volunteers are Group volunteers whether they support services or activities delivered by Action for Blind People, Cardiff Vales and Valleys, National Talking Newspapers and Magazines or RNIB.
We have 14 staff helped by 8 office based volunteers.
We are also the Technology Support Squad made up of 700 active Technology Support volunteers.
What we did last year
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We researched services provided to blind and partially sighted people; services that involve volunteers and/or are technology support services
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We collated volunteer feedback about our Technology Support Service
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We surveyed staff, volunteers and customers about volunteer impact
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We identified areas for improvement for both volunteering in the RNIB Group and for the Technology Support Service.
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We implemented a tele-conference induction training for new volunteers to welcome them into their new role and to introduce ourselves.
What we found out
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We identified more than 150 RNIB Group services or activities that involve volunteers
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20 of these are technology support services and an additional 29 technology support services are delivered by the Group but do not involve volunteers
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We have approximately 4000 Group volunteers who contribute approximately 40,000 hours of their time every month
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Volunteer managers across the Group invest approximately 3000 hours in managing volunteers every month.
Successes
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We exceeded our 2011/12 target of increasing the number of volunteers: during last year we have actively deployed 1534 new volunteers.
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15 per cent of our volunteers in 2011-12 were blind or partially sighted compared with 13 per cent in 2010-11
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We have managed to increase the percentage of BME volunteers and female volunteers compared to last year.
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Home visits have increased by 18% compared to 2010/2011.
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Group volunteering policies and procedures for recruitment have been agreed and are working
Volunteer Impact
We surveyed staff, volunteers and customers about volunteer impact and here are some of the headlines:
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96 per cent of volunteer managers say that volunteers significantly increase their capacity to deliver services to blind and partially sighted people
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82 per cent of volunteer managers say that volunteers allow us to be more effective at a community level
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79 per cent of those volunteer managers say that volunteers enhance our reputations within their immediate communities
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88 per cent of customers felt that they could not have expected to receive the levels of support they have without volunteers
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91 per cent of customers were happy with the quality of services they received
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79 per cent did not feel that the quality of the services delivered was inferior to that delivered by paid staff.
The equivalent value that volunteers contribute to the RNIB Group over a 12 month period is just over £6million. For every £1 we invest in Volunteering in the RNIB Group, volunteers return £4.55 in equivalent value.
Gaps and opportunities
We identified a number of areas where there are opportunities for improvement:
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There is no standard system for collating information about access to services and impact
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Volunteer involvement concentrated in goals 3 and 4 and there is an opportunity to include volunteers in service or activities that fall within the other goals
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There is not a consistent approach to managing volunteer budgets or for forecasting what volunteer related expenditure might be for any given year
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There are opportunities for strengthening our relationship with some key partners, particularly to increase our reach in delivering technology support to blind and partially sighted people.
What we are going to do
Accurate Group data
We will update and cleanse Group data. This includes ensuring all data for Action for Blind People, Cardiff Vales and Valleys and National Talking Newspapers and Magazines is on our database and that all Group data is current and accurate.
Understand Volunteering Impact
We will analyse the results of surveys with staff, volunteers and customers and produce a report of our findings on the impact that RNIB Group volunteers have.
Re-vamp our Technology Support Service
We will ask existing volunteers to transfer into updated roles which their feedback suggested will better meet the needs of customers. We will also recruit new volunteers in areas of need. We will create a new volunteer role that will help us to promote this service and we will work in partnership with other organisations that provide technology support to increase our reach.
Increased support for Volunteer Managers
Over the year, we will work closely with volunteer managers across RNIB Group to get a good understanding of their volunteering needs and support them to gain skills that will help them to be effective in their role. As part of this, we will hold Roadshows across the UK that current and potential volunteer managers will have an opportunity to attend.
Increased support for volunteers
We will also develop a support network for our volunteers that will aim to identify and meet their information, training and development needs and equip them to carry out their role effectively. We are also creating a new volunteer role to support us in recruiting and developing new volunteers.
Understanding customer needs
We will develop ways of understanding what our customers need whether these are volunteer managers within the RNIB Group, volunteers or blind and partially sighted people who need support. We will get their feedback on the services we provide and use this to continuously improve our services.
Systems and streamlining
We will review our systems and processes, including our volunteering database, NVIS. We will make improvements to ensure that we are not duplicating effort and working as efficiently as we can.
What we will look like
Here's what we want to look like at the end of 2012-13:
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Volunteering will be championed from the top of the organisation and throughout the Group
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The number of volunteer hours contributed will increase again this year as will the equivalent value they return for every £1 invested
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The number of volunteers and volunteer roles will increase
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There will be more equal representation in terms of volunteer involvement across the RNIB Group goals
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There will be standard measures for all aspects of volunteer involvement and a system/database that effectively supports us
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We will be an organisation of choice for people looking to volunteer
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We will be reaching more blind and partially sighted people by working in partnership with others
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50 per cent more blind and partially sighted people will have received technology support from our volunteers.
If you have any questions about this or you would like to read the documents below please contact Clelia Cazzaniga: clelia.cazzaniga@rnib.org.uk or 020 7391 2126.
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A report of our research of services to blind and partially sighted people that involve volunteers and/or are technology support services
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A report of volunteer feedback about our Technology Support Service