Volunteering Focus - 26 February

Happy Wednesday – after a lovely week off last week I am back in the office and working my way through all my emails so if anyone is still waiting on a reply, please don’t worry I’ll be in touch soon! I’ll be attending the Gathering Extra next week, more info below, and look forward to seeing some of you there on Thursday.

Volunteer Managers Forum Feb 2025

Earlier this month we had a fantastic turn out at the Renfrewshire Volunteer Managers Forum. We had attendee’s from over 20 local groups who came together to hear about and discuss strategies to Inclusive Volunteering. We were joined by Sewing2gether for All Nations, One Ren Digital Champions and Make your Mark for spotlight presentations.

If you would like to be sent a copy of the presentation slides please get in touch. To view the Make Your Mark Inclusive toolkit see here - Make Your Mark | Toolkit

Date of next forum – Wednesday 14 May

The Gathering 2025

The Gathering 2025 took place in-person on 4th and 5th February 2025 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). If you missed something at the Gathering in-person, weren't able to make it, or simply prefer to join events online, the Gathering Extra is for you. The Gathering Extra will take place on 5th March 2025. The Gathering Extra features real-time event hosts, live chats and special guests from across the sector bringing you curated, recorded content from the Gathering.

Fancy finding out what the Gathering Extra's like or want to catch up on anything you missed at last year's Gathering Extra? The last Gathering Extra is free to view online.

View the programme and book your place here The Gathering Extra - The Gathering - SCVO

The Cost of Living Crisis

The cost of living crisis is having a negative impact on volunteers and volunteering. Many volunteer involving organisations are facing funding cuts and loss of volunteers. In order to support, Volunteer Scotland have provided practical guidance on how to limit the impact of this crisis on your volunteering programme.

You'll also find links to latest research and policy publications here:
Cost of Living - Volunteer Scotland

Jones & Us Board Members

Jones & Us is an ambitious community organisation that helps those with learning disabilities, neurodiversity, mobility or mental health issues, and they work on their health through specialised sport and fitness activity. In the mission to expand their reach and impact, they are looking for new Board members to join the team. You do not need to have experience as a Board member, but they are particularly keen to hear from those who have either of the following skills or background –

• Business and project management
• Finance and fundraising
• Communications and digital marketing
• Experience working with Learning disabilities, neurodiversity, or Physiotherapy

Want to find out more? Fill in this form:
 

BECOME A NEW BOARD MEMBER - JONESandUS

Team Kinetic Webinar, March 13^th, Partnering with Purpose: Local authorities maximising volunteer potential. This session is ideal for local authorities considering the development of their volunteer offer. This webinar is completely free and will run for one hour.
Team Kinetic are bringing together experts who have successfully built and scaled volunteer programmes within local authorities. This session will explore how effective volunteer management can drive community engagement, enhance reporting, and support strategic decision-making.

Meet the Speakers:

• Claire Troup (MCRVIP) – How Manchester City Council grew their volunteer program to be reported and managed at board level.
• Lorraine Toner (Glasgow Life) – Using reporting to track volunteer impact, promote equality, and guide recruitment.

For more information and to sign up, follow this link - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/partnering-with-purpose-local-authorities-maximising-volunteer-potential-tickets-1225037412879?aff=oddtdtcreator

OSCR - Change to regulations

From this summer, your charity will need to provide OSCR with details about its trustees. Then, starting at the end of 2025, full charity accounts will begin to be publicly available on the Scottish Charity Register.

These changes stem from the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023, which strengthens oversight and public trust in the sector. Some provisions, such as OSCR’s expanded inquiry powers, are already in effect.

OSCR will be updating the OSCR Online system to help charities give us this information, and we are working with charities and other people in the sector to make sure these changes are as helpful and easy to use as possible.  

Find out how to prepare here

National Lottery Funding Session

Join Engage Renfrewshire staff and Community Fund Officers for a relaxed information session. You'll learn about the variety of funds available through the National Lottery's Community Fund as well as be able to ask questions and book a 1:1 spot with the fund officer to discuss ideas.
As an overview below is the list of current funding programmes:

• National Lottery Awards for All - The broadest source of funding - improving community, arts and sports activities.
• Young Start - Helping young people aged 8 to 24 to become more confident and play an active part in realising their potential.
• Scottish Land Fund - Helping local, rural or urban communities take ownership of land and buildings, to improve their resilience and sustainability.

This session is offered hybrid though only those attending in person will be able to book a 1:1 spot.

Book here - Engage Information Session - National Lottery Funding Tickets, Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite