 Your voice about volunteers and volunteering in Sandwell. Welcome to our homepage - updated 26/08/08.   |
| Information
about Volunteer Centre Sandwell |
Information
for Volunteers &
about Volunteering |
Volunteer Centre Sandwell has been supporting volunteers and volunteering in Sandwell for over twenty years. During this time we have developed to meet a wide range of local needs and demands from local people and from organisations wanting to support and engage volunteers in the communities they provide services or facilities to. As a member of Volunteering England helps us to keep pace with national trends and changes in the way volunteering is shaped and happens. As well as providing a core service supporting volunteers and volunteering, Volunteer Centre Sandwell also supports a number of projects within it's premises in Oldbury. Volunteer Centre Sandwell - theTeam Sue manages the Volunteer Centre and has experience in the sector stretching back over twenty years.  Sue became manager in 1992 and has channelled a lot of energy into making the centre a strong and responsive place able to deal with enquiries on all levels from the simple to the technical relating to volunteering in the community. Her role also involves ensuring that we follow the standards set down by our national volunteering development body - Volunteering England.  Centre Administrator 'Rich' handles calls, letters, emails and visits from people wanting to find out more about volunteering, as well as ensuring the smooth running of the office. 'Pete' works within the office and meets people for pre-arranged chats to find out about volunteering opportunities and looking at what people want from volunteering and the various stages involved in getting started. Centre Manager Sue also manages and oversees a number of specialist projects within the Centre, more details below. Volunteer Centre Sandwell is core funded by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council  Schools Mentoring Project Developing from strength to strength, the Children's Fund supported Schools Mentoring Project continues  with it's work in recruiting volunteer mentors to help out in three key areas of mentor related activities:
"my favourite part of
the conference
was when the man talking about things that you can do in your life" "I enjoyed talking about what we can do to solve our anger" "I enjoyed the bit about getting to know how we feel , when we all discussed things with each other" 2008 also saw the Schools Mentoring Project acquire 'Approved Provider Standard' - a government benchmark in standards and quality in service.  Jean looks after the
Schools Mentoring Project and can be contacted on 0121 544 8326. She
also has her own direct email address - jtvcs@yahoo.co.uk
Supported Volunteering Project  'Liz' started with us in June 2008 to develop a specific service of support and information designed to meet the needs of people with a mental health background who want to get involved in volunteering.  1 in 4 of us will have some kind of mental health issue during the course of a year. To feel better we may need to do an activity which helps us restore our confidence and makes us feel valued, sometimes that comes through helping others. Volunteering can provide opportunities for us to try new things, feel useful, makes friends, learn new skills and make a difference The project is backed by the Big Lottery Fund for three years and is currently developing a friendly and clear system for recruiting volunteers and working with them in a sensitive and understandable way to locate potential volunteering opportunities. All volunteers accessing the project will be supported throughout their volunteering and will be encouraged to develop skills across a range of areas of life experience and achievement. Contact Liz on our main number 0121 544 8326 or via email at - lizsvp@yahoo.co.uk |
Interested in becoming a volunteer? - please read through this section of the website which should help you feel informed about the benefits of volunteering. We support you in a number of ways:
We believe that volunteers deserve to be recognised for their time, their skills and commitment to giving time to make a difference in the community, to this end we advise, inform and support established and new volunteers sensitively on a wide range of topics. Getting started You can access all of our current volunteering opportunities by accessing the Do It website. Here you will find you can search vacancies using your postcode and searching through volunteer vacancies by charity or community theme and activities within that area. If you have an email address the Do It website will keep you updated with news and updates. Click the logo to get started ...  You can download one of our volunteer registration forms here - download, save to your computer and complete and email back to us OR download and print and post it back to us, our address is below. When you return your form to us we will be in touch by:
Please
note: we have a ground floor accessible room for interviewing people
with mobility considerations, be sure to let us know in advance and we
can make your visit a more comfortable one.
We only deal with volunteering within Sandwell, however our friends in neighbouring boroughs can be contacted as follows - Volunteer Centres: Birmingham - 0121 678 8839 Dudley - 01384 267414 Walsall - 01922 619840 Wolverhampton - 01902 572323 Resources relating to volunteering that you might find useful. Sandwell organisations wanting to register with us to involve volunteers in their services or facilities can download an organisation registration form here *click* Volunteers and the Law - download the latest version of this guide from Volunteer England on the legal side of volunteering, *click* Volunteer England information sheets - you can download for free, *click* 50 of the most frequently asked questions about volunteering, *click* Volunteering England publish many useful books and reports, find out about them here, *click* Need guidance about CRB's and the new ISA's coming in by October 2009? Find out more from Volunteering England about them here - Introduction to CRBs *click* and their Independent Safeguarding Authority Briefing here *click*. General questions about CRB and ISA developments can be found here *click* |
| Our opening hours are: Monday to Thursday 09.30am to 5.00pm Friday 09.30am to 4.30pm Contact us: Office: Volunteer Centre Sandwell, Old Municipal Buildings, Freeth Street, Oldbury, B69 2AB Telephone: 0121 544 8326 Fax: 0121 544 3959 Email: sandwellvb@btinternet.com Web: http://sandwellvolunteerbureau.org Volunteer Centre Sandwell is the operating name of Sandwell Volunteer Bureau. Charity No. 1078380 and is a company registered in England No. 3827719. |
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