Get Out Get Active launches new Volunteer Management Toolkit
Volunteers are crucial to the success of the Activity Alliance's Get Out Get Active (GOGA) programme. In partnership with Volunteering Matters, GOGA has launched a new Volunteer Management Toolkit. It provides organisations with a step-by-step guide to building an inclusive volunteer programme.
The Toolkit features a roadmap and resources on how to deliver an inclusive and accessible volunteer journey. Topics include creating positive volunteer opportunities, recruitment, recognition, safeguarding, and measuring volunteer impact.
Since 2016, GOGA has recruited over 2,800 volunteers to support the delivery of fun, inclusive activities for disabled and non-disabled people. Now, they have brought the programme's key learnings and insight on supporting disabled volunteers together with external resources to create a comprehensive Volunteer Management Toolkit. The aim is to support GOGA partners and other organisations to develop their own inclusive volunteering programmes in sport and activity.
Kat Southwell, Head of Programmes at Activity Alliance said:
"Much of GOGA’s success is down to the many different people involved in the programme and the various roles they play. The Volunteer Management Toolkit will support organisations to do things differently and commit to organisational change that places volunteers at the heart of their programmes."
Our research report, Encouraging more disabled people to volunteer, found that disabled people are more likely to perceive and experience barriers to volunteering. The Toolkit adopts the Activity Alliance Ten Principles to support organisations to be inclusive and remove barriers to their volunteer practices.
The new Toolkit complements recent funding announcements and research on inclusive and accessible volunteering. In November, the Government launched a new Volunteering Futures Fund to improve accessibility to volunteering opportunities in the arts, culture, sports, civil society, youth, and heritage sectors. The £7million fund aims to remove barriers to volunteering with a strong focus on improving access for disabled people. While GOGA’s founding funder, Spirit of 2012, recently commissioned new research into the background, nature, and experiences of disabled volunteers. This insight alongside our new Volunteer Management Toolkit will help organisations develop inclusive volunteering practices and programmes.
Visit Get Out Get Active's website to access the new Volunteer Management Toolkit and begin creating your organisation’s very own inclusive volunteer programme.
Photo credit: Active NI and Disability Sport NI
