Elizabeth tells us about the rewards of her role, supporting the VCS and her colleagues in all different elements of volunteering advice…
Hello, I am Elizabeth Volunteering Advice Services Officer at Community Southwark.
I lead on the Volunteer Advice Service, with a small team of volunteers offering residents of Southwark 30-minute volunteer advice appointments to help them understand the volunteering sector across Southwark and what volunteering opportunities are available in the borough. During an advice appointment we find out why a resident wants to volunteer, what skills they can offer and what they want to gain from a volunteering opportunity. From learning what motivates a resident, we create a tailored signposting offer to volunteering opportunities from our Community Southwark members.
We offer a blend of face-to-face and telephone advice appointments, plus we can help with completing volunteering application forms along with offering a follow up call between 6 to 10 weeks after their initial appointment with us to see how their volunteer search is progressing.
If you would like to book an advice appointment or refer a resident to learn more about volunteering, you can do this via the online booking page.
Or email us at volunteering@communitysouthwark.org and we would be happy to help!
I also get the opportunity to manage and support our members to promote their volunteer opportunities on the volunteer directory and through the Volunteering in Southwark ebulletin. If you have a volunteering opportunity you would like the advice team to advertise, please complete the role description form.
It is a privilege within my role to be able to support the diverse and wide range of volunteering opportunities taking place across Southwark, to help strengthen and establish pathways to increase accessible volunteering. I am a part of delivering the Supporting Active Communities Volunteer Strategy for Southwark 2021 – 2024
…which aims to increase the awareness and knowledge of volunteering within the borough. Provide appropriate support to organisations that host volunteers. Along with making volunteering inclusive, accessible, meaningful, and valued.
Each year the volunteer team holds our annual Southwark Stars event, it is an Award Ceremony to celebrate the incredible volunteers taking place across the borough. This year it was held at the Tate Modern, were we had the chance to recognise the outstanding contribution of volunteers in Southwark in 10 specialist categories and Volunteer Champion certificates. To learn more about what some of the volunteers have been up please check out this year’s Southwark Stars winners.
Along with helping volunteers find external volunteering opportunities, I have the rewarding role of overseeing our internal volunteers at Community Southwark and Healthwatch, if you would like to join our pool of volunteers, check out our volunteering opportunities here.
And if you are a corporate, looking for a corporate volunteering opportunity for your organisation then check out the INVOLVE programme.
