Welcome to our March Volunteer Coordinators newsletter. We can't believe that we're already heading into Spring!

January and February were exciting months - we ran an in-person network meeting in Knaresborough and a 'Managing Volunteers' training session in Thirsk. Thanks to Gracious Street Church and North Yorkshire Youth for hosting us.

March is also a key month for the county with the official launch of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) on 1 March. There will be lots of information coming out as the mayoral elections approach on Thursday 2 May and the work of the combined authority gets underway. It certainly will be interesting to hear how funding will be used to aid the VCSE sector and Vision for Volunteering.

All the very best everyone.

In January we held our first (of hopefully many) in-person Volunteer Coordinators network meetings. We were delighted to be joined by 12 colleagues in Knaresborough to discuss their priorities for the year including the Vision for Volunteering.

Just some of the thoughts that stuck with us were: 'It's not just about recruiting but more awareness on why people volunteer'; 'Make more effort to support the quiet volunteers' and 'We're not the only ones struggling with volunteer recruitment and well-being'.

Hopefully everyone that attended went away feeling that they'd been listened to and supported as well as making some new contacts and possible collaborators.

In its February roundup, NCVO provided an update on several initiatives including Volunteers' Week, The Big Help Out, Active Kindness and Vision for Volunteering. If you are getting involved in The Big Help Out, why not sign up below for their free webinar on 3 April to help you plan for this year’s campaign. NCVO has also updated its online 'involving volunteers resources' here.

This month we are delighted to introduce Roy Attwood, who has been a volunteer at Glusburn Institute Community and Arts Centre for over 30 years. We hope you enjoy reading about his background and achievements to date.

Please introduce yourself

My name is Roy Attwood and I’m 78 years young. I volunteer at Glusburn Community & Arts Centre. I was born and raised in Skipton, North Yorkshire. When I got married, we moved to Glusburn as we couldn't afford the house prices in Skipton. The plan was to get a foot on the mortgage ladder and move back to Skipton, but over 50 years later we’re still here! 

What attracted you to the organisation and role?

I have volunteered at the Centre for well over 30 years.  My first involvement was through our children who attended dance classes there. I was also part of a new indoor bowls group from its inception. All regular user groups were invited to send a representative to the monthly trustee meeting, and I volunteered to be the indoor bowls rep. When a new Chair of Trustees was voted in, she asked me to support her as Vice Chair and that then got me seriously involved in volunteering! 

I spent my working life in engineering and take a practical approach to things. I feel I have a wealth of skills gained through work experience and training opportunities over the years, and it seemed a shame to let these go to waste when I retired. For me, volunteering is a fantastic way of transferring my skills to help benefit others. 

What would you say to anyone thinking of becoming a Volunteer Coordinator/ Manager?

I’m not sure anyone has ever actually given me advice regarding volunteering!  But if I could offer anyone any words of wisdom, I would say: “If you’re interested in volunteering, have a good look at the skills you’ve gained over time and see if they can be of benefit to another organisation”.  You’d be surprised at how transferable your skills can be, and this is particularly important at the start of retirement.

What have you learnt about yourself while in this role?

I gain a huge amount of personal satisfaction from volunteering and love seeing the benefits for me personally and for being part of a team. I cherish being able to help others and give advice where I can. 

Finally, please tell us something about yourself that your colleagues would be surprised to know. 

Not many people know that I’m related to Sir James Falshaw, a former Lord Provost of Edinburgh. He was involved in the railway boom of the 1840s as, like me, he was an engineer!