"If we don't invest in the management of volunteers, there's no point recruiting them."

One of AVM's directors, Debbie Usiskin, was quoted in this recent article in The Guardian on young people and volunteering. Here's an extract from the article:

Image problem turns recruits away

Volunteering needs a facelift as young people see it as 'geeky', but what can be done to improve its image? By Anne Wollenberg - The Guardian (Wednesday September 10 2008)

Despite heavy investment from the government and the sector, charities are still struggling to recruit volunteers. According to the government's 2007-2008 Citizenship Survey, volunteer numbers in England and Wales have declined since 2005. It revealed that 27% of respondents volunteered formally at least once a month, down from 29% in 2005, and the number of people volunteering at least once a year also decreased from 44% to 43%. Overall, current levels of volunteering are now back in line with 2001 figures...

...Debbie Usiskin, head of volunteering strategy for disability charity Scope and vice-chair of the Association of Volunteer Managers, says: "The government has put an enormous amount of money into the recruitment of volunteers, but has finally started to realise it also needs to invest in retaining them, with £4m coming in March 2009 for the training and support of managers and volunteers."

"There's an assumption that because volunteers don't get paid, the whole process is free. Many organisations have not increased their capacity to support new volunteers. In order for people to keep volunteering, they need help and support, and the people supporting them need time to do that," Usiskin advises. "If we don't invest in the management of volunteers, there's no point recruiting them."