Redbridge Volunteer Centre

It’s been a long time coming but RedbridgeCVS is very pleased to announce that we are hosting the Redbridge Volunteer Centre (RVC), a new resource to support voluntary and community organisations that use volunteers. Volunteers are a lifeline for most voluntary and community organisations and bring much needed people-powered resources. Volunteers also provide essential supporting and caring services to the community which would otherwise not be available from other sources.

RVC will provide an eagerly awaited focus on volunteering in the borough. Funded by Capacity Builders and the London Borough of Redbridge, RVC is developing a range of services, both for people seeking volunteering opportunities and for host organisations. These services include:
• a volunteer matching database (VBase), enabling organisations to register their volunteering needs and potential volunteers to identify placements that fit their skills and interests
• help for organisations to develop policies and procedures relating to volunteering• resources for staff who support and manage volunteers.

Although Community will continue to carry details of organisations looking for more volunteers, one of the Centre’s first objectives is to get VBase up At the Network and running. VBase matches volunteers to organisations looking for their particular blend of skills and experience. VBase is linked to the national ‘Do It’ register of volunteers and volunteering opportunities at www.do-it.org.uk. This means that organisations registering volunteering opportunities at RVC will be able to advertise on the internet across London.

Future developments at the Centre include:
• accredited training for organisations on good practice issues, such as recruitment, selection, health and safety, support and retention of volunteers
• accredited training for volunteers
• promotion of volunteering informing potential volunteers of what they can offer and gain from it
• co-ordination of responses on policy issues affecting volunteers and volunteering.

If you would like to volunteer please contact Liz Walker, Volunteer Centre Coordinator on 020 8514 9627 or email deepak@redbridgecvs.net