Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Name of Organisation

Why did you decide to go for Investing in Volunteers?

We felt it would be a great way of demonstrating Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts commitment to our volunteers, and always felt that having our systems and procedures reviewed would enable us to evaluate if we are operating in line with best practice guidelines and identify any areas for improvement.

What benefits have you found from working towards Investing in Volunteers?

The process again demonstrated the commitment from our volunteers, who were more than happy to be interviewed by the assessor from Investing in volunteers. Working towards the standard presented us with an opportunity to evaluate our own work, and our systems in place and having this assessed offered reassurance that appropriate systems are in place in our organisation to recruit support and recognise our volunteers. It was also great being signed an assessor who was happy to provide help and advise and suggestions on how we can make improvements in the future. We received a huge amount of publicity both internally within our organisation and in various forms of media, inc newspaper/ magazine articles and television coverage. The presentation event was a great opportunity to recognise the hard work and commitment from our team of volunteers and also the chance to meet a celebrity, Verity Rushworth of Emmerdale who kindly presented the plaque to the Voluntary Services Team.

Tell us about your experience of the assessment process in your organisation.

The assessment process was made very clear to us by our assessor, and we felt we had a very good awareness of what was needed to do in order to achieve the standard. I feel the assessment was very thorough, with the assessor speaking to volunteers, the voluntary services team, Trust staff who support volunteers and senior members of the Trust Executive Group. The feedback received from the assessor was great, and I feel it was good for all parties to have an opportunity to comment on the management of volunteers across our organisation. In particular I feel that the assessment process was very flexible, allowing originations to work through the assessment at their own pace, and being flexible to their individual needs.

5 Practical tips you would give another organisation working towards Investing in Volunteers

Be honest about what you have in place upon commencement of the assessment, you will need to evidence that you are doing what you say you do
Provide the assessor with as much information as possible
Prepare the information prior to the assessors visit- i.e. your volunteer policy, sample role descriptions etc
Maximise the opportunity to promote your volunteers upon achieving the standard i.e. presentation event
Inform your volunteers in advance that you are working towards the standard; their input will be needed during the assessment process.