A Project 93 Micro-Volunteering Event
Project 93 Micro-Volunteering Project
Volunteering is challenging convention to address growing community need and encourage innovation throughout local Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) to better accommodate communities.
Our Stoke-on-Trent Vision for Volunteering is exploring micro-volunteering as a means of driving volunteering in our communities. In support of local charities, our new micro-volunteering programme offers short, flexible ways for organisations and volunteers get involved in community action.
We co-created this micro-volunteering event alongside one of our long-time resident members, Project 93.
Project 93 is a LGBTQ+ and HIV charity providing counselling, safe social spaces, and informed advocacy across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. They work to deliver important health messages to their community.
Learn more about Project 93’s mission!
“It’s enabled us to do things we wouldn’t have had the chance to do before with our capacity!”
When invited to learn about micro-volunteering opportunities, Project 93 were eager to set up ‘one-off’ events to involve the local community in their advocacy. As a ground-up organisation, raising local visibility and building connections is integral to their mission.
Project 93 invited volunteers to share their Safe Spaces pledge, encouraging businesses to advocate, and improve visibility locally for LGBTQ+ communities. Volunteers spent the day introducing the pledge to businesses across the city, starting important conversations about inclusion and cohesion in Stoke-on-Trent.
Project 93 created a local Safe Spaces pledge to improve community support. Businesses who completed the pledge received visibility stickers for their storefront and available resources for LGBTQ+ services.
VAST supported Project 93 co-design and deliver their micro-volunteering event: a half-day session for volunteers to get involved in community action and encourage the uptake of the Safe Spaces pledge.
We were able to remove barriers for Project 93 and other innovating VCSE organisations by translating their volunteering ideas into effective action. We were also able to facilitate planning, promotion, organisation, as well as connecting micro-volunteers with their communities.
“At Project 93, we are committed to creating a world where LGBTQ+ individuals and those affected by HIV feel supported, empowered, and free from stigma. We work tirelessly to challenge discrimination, offer vital support, and create lasting change.”
Building on the success of the event, Project 93 are already exploring how they can continue to expand their Safe Spaces pledge.
The response from local businesses has been encouraging, and there’s clearly a growing appetite across Stoke-on-Trent for resources and safe-spaces for under-represented communities. With VAST’s ongoing support, Project 93 plan to take their awareness campaign further afield, reaching new towns and communities across Staffordshire, ensuring that our local areas have visible signs of safety and belonging for our Staffordshire LGBTQ+ community.
Their event opened up community discussion about how micro-volunteering can fit into Project 93’s ongoing work and developing the idea alongside Stoke-on-Trent’s wider voluntary sector. Short, flexible opportunities like these give volunteers a chance to contribute in meaningful ways with micro-commitments. For local impact organisations, we are building capacity for flexible support.
Many voluntary organisations and community groups are already implementing new opportunities for volunteers to get started.
“The hands-off approach has allowed us to find alternative solutions we wouldn’t have perhaps considered!”
Our Vision for Volunteering Pledge launched after a large volunteering community consultation effort with volunteers, organisations, and local Volunteer Managers; championing inclusive and accessible volunteering practices across the city.
We are empowering VCSE organisations across Stoke-on-Trent to engage with the wider community through concentrated, collective local action in Stoke-on-Trent.
