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'Developing Ourselves Because No-one Else Is' - Recognising and Developing Volunteer Managers

Wednesday 29^th February 2012 - 10am to 4pm

• The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund,
• County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7PB

Photo credit: Stuck in Customs

The conference is now sold out (27th January 2012).

This one day conference examines how volunteer managers can explore their own professional development, through interactive workshops, engaging speakers and a Q & A panel.

• How can I develop myself as a volunteer manager?
• What can AVM do to support my professional development?
• How have current voluntary sector leaders undertaken their own professional development?
• What new initiatives will support volunteer managers of the future - such as volunteer management apprenticeships?

Confirmed speakers include:

• Christine Fogg, Principal Consultant, CASS Business School
• Sue Jones, Training Manager, Warrington Volunteer Centre
• Sean Cobley, Chair, Association of Volunteer Managers

Costs (including lunch & refreshments):

• AVM Members: £22.00
• Non-members: £55.00

The conference is full - we are now managing a waiting list.  You can add yourself to the waiting list at our event website at http://avmconference2012.eventbrite.com.  If you are interested in the conference please add yourself to the waiting list as it will help us gauge interest in future events like this.

If you wish to join AVM, and enjoy the members discount on the conference, please also email us at conf2012@volunteermanagers.org.uk.

Guardian Live Q & A - Managing Volunteers On A Tight Budget

Hallo, and a Happy New Year from all of us here at AVM.

On behalf of AVM, I'm taking part in The Guardian's first live Q & A of 2012: 'Managing Volunteers On A Tight Budget' on Tuesday 10 January from 1-3pm.

Managing volunteers is critical to many charities' functions. As budgets tighten, they need to find new ways to recruit, manage and retain volunteers, delivering better services to their beneficiaries at reduced cost.

What are you doing on  the 29th of February 2012?  This is the date of the next AVM conference and we'd love to see you there.  So pop the date in your diary now, you know it's an event not to be missed.

This year our Annual General Meeting will focus on our continuing professional development. Our speakers include Sue Jones who will give an update on the EYV2011 activities as well as new plans for more ways in which Volunteer Managers can continue to learn on the job, we will also hear about the new third sector apprenticeship frameworks, and how City University encourage and facilitate ongoing development.

I've been reflecting on the findings of a paper published in Voluntary Sector Review (Vol 2, No 1, 2011)  entitled 'Volunteers who manage other volunteers and the professionalisation of volunteer management: implications for practice' (Hill and Stevens, 2011).

VOLUNTEER AND VOLUNTEER MANAGEMENT BENCHMARKING: A CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (July 2011 )

• Are volunteers important to your organisation?
• Would you find it useful to be able to understand how your volunteers and volunteer management compare with other similar organisations?
• Could this information help demonstrate your value added to your Senior Management Team/Board?

Agenda Consulting in partnership with the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) are launching a new benchmarking study covering volunteers and volunteer management. The study has already received considerable interest.

To express interest in participating or to find out more please contact Shabnam Tamim at shabnam.tamim@agendaconsulting.co.uk or Tracy Jarvis tracy.jarvis@agendaconsulting.co.uk or contact them on 01865 263720.

It is hard to form a new organisation, and sometimes even harder to keep it going. People need a reason to join, and to remain a member of AVM, especially as there seems to be so little that AVM can give back at the moment.

Volunteers' Week 2011, sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, takes place from 1-7 June. Now in its 27th Year, the Week celebrates the millions of volunteers who give their time and acts as a call for others to get involved too.

Our dedicated website - www.volunteersweek.org.uk  has a host of information and resources including:

Two very interesting developments over the last week - one high profile and one under the radar...

Yesterday we had the Prime Minister's proclamation that petty bureaucracy needs to be mullered in the pursuit of the celebration of life.

But last week there was the publication of a paper in Voluntary Sector Review where the authors, Stevens and Hill state "researchers and policy makers have begun to wake up to the dangers of inappropriate levels of formalisation in volunteer management."

The Association of Volunteer Managers had its inaugural conference today (9th March 2011) focussing on volunteer management and the Big Society. Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society addressed the conference setting how he saw the role of volunteer management in the Big Society. He came armed with as many questions as answers, but the fact that he was there at all was surely testament to the recognition of volunteer management's value to the Government's current policy agenda.