Partner Article

Employer Sponsored Volunteering: Realising the Potential

Friday 10 June 2016 – Tyne Metropolitan College (Coast Road Campus), Battle Hill Drive, Wallsend, Tyne & Wear NE28 9NL

8am – 1.30pm including breakfast and lunch

The University of Sheffield and the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, in collaboration with a range of partners from across the voluntary, private, and education sectors, are delighted to announce details of a major regional workshop on the topic of employer-supported volunteering.

This is your chance to hear about the impact that employer-supported volunteering can have on businesses, employees, charities and communities alike, to learn about some of the approaches being taken in the North East, and to meet brokerage organisations who can make it work for you.

Businesses – by attending you will get the chance to:

Hear about the business benefits of investing in employer-supported volunteering; Hear from organisations (businesses and charities) who have benefited from meaningful employer-supported volunteering ranging from ‘team challenge’ days, skills-based capacity-building, direct work with beneficiaries, micro-volunteering and trusteeship; Meet brokerage organisations who can help you devise a bespoke approach to employer-supported volunteering; Hear about the challenges facing the North East’s voluntary organisations and the people they support and consider how employer-supported volunteering might make a difference.

Charities – come along and:

Give us your views as to how employer-supported volunteering can be meaningful for the voluntary sector and the people you work with; Meet businesses and brokerage organisations who may be able to provide your organisation with time, expertise, capacity and enthusiasm that helps you to help others.

Key questions for discussion on the day might include:

How do we ensure that the skills and resources on offer from businesses are a good match for the sector’s needs? How can small voluntary organisations benefit from the time and expertise on offer from large corporate businesses? How can SMEs meaningfully donate time and expertise to support voluntary organisations working in their neighbourhood? How do we ensure that there are solutions for different types of volunteering (individual, small-team, or large-team) and distribution of volunteering time (hours or days, intensive or spread-out)? Who should pay?

Speakers will include Jane Hartley, CEO of the Voluntary Organisations Network North East (VONNE), Dr Joanne Cook from the University of Sheffield, Paul Schofield from the Office for Civil Society and a range of beneficiaries of meaningful employer-supported volunteering in the North East.

The event has been organised by the University of Sheffield; you can book your place by visiting http://management.sheffield.ac.uk/events/employer-sponsored-volunteering-newcastle/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Adam Lopardo .