What a year it's been

Yesterday AVM held its first AGM - more detailed reports on the content of the day to come. To mark the moment we released our first annual review. We attach it here and have an excerpt from it below:

We’re pleased to say that to date 126 volunteer managers have signed up as members and a further 510 people have registered on the website. It’s not just the numbers though; it’s where they are from. Our members are from all areas of the country, they come from local authorities, universities and volunteer centres, and from the smallest volunteer-led community organisations to the large national charities.

Support for the development of AVM came from many different sources. We had messages of support from Government (Ed Miliband MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office), from the volunteering sector (Justin Davis Smith, Volunteering England; Fiona Dawe, YouthNet; Gordon Lishman, Age Concern England; Fiona Reynolds, The National Trust; Graham Wynne, RSPB) and from across the globe (Martin J Cowling, Susan Ellis, Andy Fryar, Linda Graff, Steve McCurley)

Our Headline Achievements

. Led the campaign to clarify childcare expenses within the National Minimum Wage consultation
. Created the Volunteer Managers' wiki
. Advised the Office of the Third Sector on their guidance on CRB checks for volunteers
. Developed the most comprehensive collection of vacancies for volunteer managers
. Raised the profile of volunteer management

Membership Services

. The website - www.volunteermanagers.org.uk

Our website is our main tool of communication. The website offers:

• more information about AVM and its directors
• tools and publications for volunteer managers
• general information about volunteering
• forums to post queries
• blogs to post information and thoughts
• a video tutorial to get the most from the site

. Volunteer Managers’ Wiki

One of the greatest achievement has been our innovative Volunteer Managers’ wiki. Good practice in volunteer management is both fluid and evolving, and there is so much that can be learnt from each other in its application in the various fields we work in.
The wiki is the only place where that vibrant discussion is captured and the knowledge collated.

. Volunteer Manager vacancies

We have created the most comprehensive list of vacancies for volunteer managers.

. Members E-Newsletter

A bi-monthly newsletter goes out to members with news about what’s happening with AVM and other information from the volunteering world of interest to members.

Policy Development

A key feature of our work has been to raise awareness of the role volunteer management plays in developing safe, effective and sustainable volunteering.
We have responded to:

• the Commission on the Future of Volunteering Consultation
• the Office of the Third Sector’s response to the ‘Manifesto for Change’.
• The Ministry of Justice’s Third Sector strategy.
• DEFRA’s Third Sector strategy
• NOMS’ Third Sector strategy. We have:
  

1. sat on the review group for the Management of Volunteers National Occupational Standards
   
2. been involved with ‘Scoping Volunteer Management Training in London’, a report prepared for the London Development Agency
3. sat on the steering group for the Institute of Volunteering Research’s 'Management matters - a national survey of volunteer management capacity'

• carried out our own survey of what volunteer managers want and their concerns

We have also:

• We led the campaign to clarify childcare expenses within the National Minimum Wage consultation.
• We advised the Office of the Third Sector on their guidance, published during Volunteers’ Week, CRB checks for volunteers.
• We have sent a paper to the Office of the Third Sector regarding their proposals for training for volunteer managers.
• We currently sit on the Commission on the Future of Volunteering Action Group on Skills and Empowerment for Volunteer Managers.
• We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Volunteering England that recognises our joint commitment to develop volunteering in England.

International Work

An important part of our work has been working with our international colleagues as we recognise that the basic principles of volunteer management apply across the globe.

Various members of AVM had articles published in the second edition of ‘Volunteer Magnet’ – a global collection of good practice hints and tips.

We have been in close contact with the Australasian Association of Volunteer Administrators, Andy Fryar (Australia), Martin J Cowling (Australia) and Susan Ellis (USA).

We have run workshops in Australia and Russia on volunteer management in this country.

With the sad demise of the Scottish Association of Volunteer Management, we will provide help and support to our Scottish colleagues on helping a new organisation develop.

Raising our Media Profile

Our launch was covered by Third Sector, People Management Today and Charity Times.

We have featured in Third Sector magazine on a number of issues; management of volunteers, training of volunteers, funding of volunteer managers, how to foster volunteering and the new initiative set up by Rockcorps.

Most recently we have featured in the Guardian on the need to increase capacity to support volunteers if organisations wish to recruit more volunteers.