Student Volunteer Centre University of Nottingham Students Union

Name of Organisation

Student Volunteer Centre, University of Nottingham Students’ Union

Why did you decide to go for Investing in Volunteers?

To ensure that we are working within volunteering best practice with all of our volunteer teams & to gain recognition for achieving this high standard.

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

It has given us the opportunity to develop and introduce new ways of working to ensure that we are offering excellent opportunities and a high level of support for all of our student volunteers.

We developed a new Volunteer Policy which underpins everything we are trying to achieve when working with our volunteer teams.

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

This process was logistically difficult because we had to tie in the interviews around student volunteer’s study/exam/lecture timetabling.

Some of the volunteers were nervous about their interview – but we gave them lots of reassurance and they were fine!

The day of the assessment went fairly smoothly with staff & volunteers being interviewed about their experience of volunteering with the department.

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

Maintain an up to date action plan

Maintain a folder and/or PC file with evidence for the final assessment

Keep staff and volunteers involved and informed of the process and any new initiatives that are introduced

Seek out best practice examples from other organisations – you don’t have to reinvent the wheel! Most organisations are flattered to be asked for examples of their good practice

You don’t have to be ‘perfect’ in every area. But you must display your organisation’s commitment to be the best that you can be at all times!