Thirsk Sowerby and District Community Care Association

Name of Organisation

Thirsk, Sowerby & District Community Care Association

Why did you decide to go for Investing in Volunteers?

We seek to provide the highest quality service we can to the client groups we work with and our Volunteers are the backbone and mainstay of the majority of project activity carried out by our organisation. They are therefore vital to the success of our project service delivery. As an organisation we have always felt that to achieve a high level of service, it is vital that we provide the best possible environment/experience and support to our volunteers.

With this in mind, we welcomed the opportunity to go through the Investing in Volunteers process. It gave us the best opportunity to look closely at the way we were currently working with our volunteers and identify any ways in which we could improve or adapt our existing practices. This Quality Standard was chosen because it is not just a paper exercise. Volunteers are interviewed to ascertain what really happens on the ground. It was important to us that if we were to gain such a QS, then it had to be because our volunteers felt we were providing them with an appropriate experience with sensible policies and procedures, not just because we could produce paper evidence.

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

Working through the Quality Standard has benefited the Organisation by focussing attention on our strengths and weaknesses. It has enabled the organisation to re-visit volunteer/staff & client needs in a more focussed manner.

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

The support of the Assessor was extremely useful. It was clear the Assessor had a good understanding of the voluntary sector and of the specific issues relating to smaller/rural organisations. Introduction to the process and follow up Assessment was carried out in a methodical, clear manner

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

• Ensure you get everyone necessary on board before you start, especially the Management Committee.

• Designate someone to lead but make sure others take on some of the tasks and all are aware of any practice changes.

• Smaller organisations can do this just as well as a larger organisation.

• Make sure you have the time and capacity to engage. These are the two main issues likely to prevent organisations such as ours carrying out this QS. If you want to do this properly it will take time and resources but think of the positive note having this QS will have on future funding bids.

• Don’t panic - you are probably doing most things already even if you do not realise it