Information from VAST Volunteering
New Collective Vision for Volunteering Across Stoke-on-Trent
This Volunteers’ Week, VAST has launched a brand-new Stoke-on-Trent Vision for Volunteering, inspiring unity in local communities, removing barriers to volunteering, and creating positive and fulfilling opportunities where volunteers, organisations, and communities can thrive.
The launch of the vision follows hot on the heels of VAST’s Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation (VCQA) where the Local Infrastructure Organisations exceeded requirements in all areas of assessment.
VAST has developed the local counterpart to the 2022 national Vision for Volunteering in consultation with voluntary community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations and the many volunteers from across Stoke-on-Trent.
VAST’s Stoke-on-Trent Vision for Volunteering
Our Vision for Volunteering is to create a community where everyone comes together to make a positive impact. We believe that together we can create meaningful connections, foster empathy, and create a real sense of unity. Putting the ‘unity’ in community, our mission is to inspire others to join in and help make the world a better place for all.
The city’s Vision for Volunteering is a pledge, one where volunteer-involving organisations show commitment to developing and nurturing a community where volunteering thrives, and where every individual feels empowered to make a difference. It’s a pledge to uphold and promote the values and principles that underpin the shared vision for a stronger, more connected community across Stoke-on-Trent.
The principles for this Vision for Volunteering are outlined in four key themes:
- Investing in Volunteers: reward, recognition, and retention.
- Community Connections: ideas, networking, and sharing.
- Experimenting and Innovation: partnerships, mentoring, and sharing learning.
- Encouraging Individuality: accessibility, inclusion, and breaking barriers.
This new ‘Vision’ was initially explored with members of the Stoke-on-Trent Volunteer Managers Network where together, the vision’s themes could be identified and explored to ensure that the actions coming from them were realistic and beneficial to organisations and volunteers alike.
Following this, VAST Volunteering consulted their Volunteer Voices Forum, a peer-support space for volunteers in Stoke-on-Trent to come together to share their unique and valuable insight, volunteering ideas and feedback on how to improve volunteering in the local area.
Sian Mollart, Senior Project Officer for Volunteering said:
“Stoke-on-Trent has such a rich history of communities coming together and supporting one another through volunteering. Our city has a bright future ahead, so it feels right to have a targeted Vision for Volunteering to capture this.”
“We’re passionate about volunteering in Stoke-on-Trent and it was massively important to us to ensure that our ‘Vision for Volunteering’ was as sector-led as possible. So, we asked those who know best: volunteer managers and, of course, volunteers themselves.”
“When we presented this vision at our Volunteer Voices Forum, the results were overwhelmingly positive, and we’re incredibly excited for the future of our collective Vision!”
Chris Jones, Stoke-on-Trent Community Drug and Alcohol Service (CDAS) Volunteer Coordinator said:
“This Vision for Volunteering is important for Stoke-on-Trent because it will unite the city through shared ambitions which will strengthen services and partnerships and create meaningful opportunities for creating positive change in the community.”
