Organisations and young people across the UK are getting ready to celebrate annual #iwillWeek, this year in the form of a digital #PowerofYouth festival.
This year, there has already been one enormous spike in enquiries about volunteering in Wales and we are anticipating another one, this time from young people that want to find a valuable cause to give their time to.
The #PowerofYouth festival will be encouraging organisations to;
- INSPIRE and GET INSPIRED by sharing what you are doing to involve young people in social action
- LEARN from each other’s approaches and progress across different sectors and nations
- EDUCATE and INNOVATE to CREATE awesome volunteering opportunities for young people
- CONNECT and COLLABORATE by building relationships with volunteer leaders that can help you to support the youth volunteering journey
If you would like to prepare for this upcoming celebration and get ready to welcome some new young volunteers through the doors (which may be virtual) of your organisation, we’ve got the following available to support you.
GET READY…
- Reflect on how your organisation is currently involving volunteers and what opportunities there are for growth in the future. The new Investing in Volunteers Essentials is a helpful framework to support your thinking.
- Use the Youth Volunteering and Social Action Charter to consider how you can create valuable and positive volunteering experiences for young people in your organisation. Take this one step further with the Power of Youth Charter.
- Take some time to learn more about how to involve young people in volunteering and social action by attending the e-learning module available from Third Sector Support Wales (TSSW) and reading the accompanying information sheet.
GET SET…
- Create an inclusive environment to welcome new volunteers, think about who needs to be involved in this process
- Design a volunteer recruitment pack and role descriptions which are appealing to younger volunteers. Ask some young people to review these before you publish them, or even better, are there young people that could create them.
- Register and upload your opportunities to volunteering-wales.net
- Contact your local County Voluntary Council (CVC) to let them know you are ready (or getting ready) to take on new volunteers.
GO…
From 16th November, young people across the UK will be inspired and encouraged to seek opportunities to best use their power for positive change.
We hope you will be there to welcome them.
Already involving young volunteers?
If you are already providing awesome volunteering experiences for young people please let your local County Voluntary Council know, so they can help amplify your work and help you build your connections to inspire others. You may be invited to join their local Volunteering Managers Forum if they have one in your area.
For more information
You can find out more about the #iwill campaign – https://www.iwill.org.uk/
You can learn more about the #PowerofYouth festival and the digital events that will be taking place that week – https://www.iwill.org.uk/poy-campaign-june
There are also more resources on volunteering on the TSSW Learning and Development Portal – https://thirdsectorsupport.wales/resources/
The #iwill campaign have developed the Power of Youth Charter as a framework for your organisation to empower more young people to shape decisions, take social action and make a positive difference. You can find out more about the charter here