A VAST Volunteering Case Study
Father Hudson’s Caritas Achieves Gold!
Millions of people volunteer in some way every single year, and for many organisations, volunteers are the backbone of their operations. Without them, the number of people organisations support would fall significantly.
That’s why it’s important to support volunteers effectively from the very beginning, and to get volunteering policies, procedures, and processes right.
The VAST Volunteering Quality Standards has been split into three levels: gold, silver, and bronze. It doesn’t just award good practices either. It’s a proactive, achievable, target-driven action plan based on where organisations are now and working together towards where they want to be – an effective action plan based on achievable targets and clear priorities.
One recent organisation that have achieved Gold is Father Hudson’s Caritas.
The Young at Heart Project has been running since 2013, and was created to combat loneliness, and give people aged 55 and over a place to socialise and make new friends.
They are all about providing a safe and welcoming environment for people who might otherwise feel isolated.
They currently run 14 groups across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire ranging from social groups, singing groups, guitar groups, local history groups and even a ukelele group!
The Young at Heart Project relies on volunteers for it to be a success, and they currently have a team of over 70 volunteers.
Alex, Project Manager, is an active part of our Volunteer Managers Network. She had heard about our Quality Scheme but was concerned on how she would find the time to complete the scheme around the other parts of her job.
After hearing from other organisations that had completed the scheme, and how achievable it was, Alex was keen to see if she could make it work for Father Hudson’s Caritas. Sian, Senior Projects Officer, was able to explain that the scheme is a great opportunity to improve an existing service.
Alex then jumped at the opportunity to take part. Alex was sent the self-assessment and made a start to collate her evidence.
Sian and Alex then arranged to meet over a nice cup of tea and discussed their evidence and if anything was outstanding. This was a great opportunity for Alex to gain feedback on the new documentation she was hoping to implement as a result of the scheme and to assess what changes she had already made.
It was clear through the evidence provided that Father Hudson’s Caritas provide a rich and welcoming experience for their volunteers and beneficiaries.
“At first I thought that the accreditation meant hard work that in my busy work schedule I hadn’t got the time for, the next time it was suggested it was put across as a way of improving the service that we already provide, this had me sold. The advice given and the suggestions that we took on board enabled us to provide a much better service to our volunteers. This award has meant that we now have the recognition from others that we are doing a good job which in this line of work can never be a bad thing."
"Here at Father Hudson’s Young at Heart project we run a volunteer led model, so we solely rely on volunteers to run our 14 groups across the city, it is imperative that we have the correct procedures and policies in place to effectively run this project. We currently have over 70 volunteers, most of which have come from Vast, so to have a gold award with them will only enhance our relationship. The initial document sent out clearly informed us on what would be expected and with Sian on board, individual meetings made the process very easy. She would set tasks and give advice along the way to ensure that the process was as pain free as possible."
"I would recommend this to anyone (and I have) who wishes to improve the service that they are already providing to their valuable volunteers."
