Guidance for Organisations Involving Young People as Volunteers
15 February 2010
This Student Volunteering Week 22-28 February, the Volunteer Development Agency, the centre of expertise for the promotion and development of volunteering in Northern Ireland is promoting its Good Practice checklist for organisations involving young people as volunteers.
Wendy Osborne OBE, Director, Volunteer Development Agency said, "The Young People and Volunteering checklist is a practical summary sheet outlining key best practice advice in managing young volunteers, highlighting that volunteer roles for young people should benefit them in terms of skill development and work experience whilst being flexible and attractive, such as short volunteer taster sessions or group opportunities. Young people should feel valued, respected and be supported in their volunteering role. Many young people feel they have never been asked to volunteer so opportunities to directly ask them may be effective, as well as the use of new technology such as social networking."
She added, "Students sometimes suffer a poor image and as part of Student Volunteering Week 22 - 28 February, we want to highlight the positive impact many students are making to our local community. Today's students are savvy about what they need to do to differentiate themselves from their peers in order to get ahead for a career or higher education and often this will involve volunteering. Indeed, research from the Volunteer Development Agency (It's All About Time, 2007) shows that individuals aged between 16 and 24 are the most likely to volunteer and that this age group are more likely to volunteer for organisations that are involved in sports or exercise."
The Young People and Volunteering Checklist which was produced with the help of VSB's Young Citizens in Action Project is available to download from www.volunteering-ni.org
