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The Value of Volunteering: Conference Follow-up
On Thursday 3rd December, Volunteering Ireland in association with PAVMI held a conference entitled "The Value of Volunteering: Its Economic, Social and Political Impact".
Click for more details below.
Conference Overview
Welcome and Formal Opening
Minister of State for the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, John Curran
Speech
'Does She Take Sugar?’ A short performance by members of ‘Women Making Waves’, a voluntary led group in Fermanagh for women with or without disability, who use drama as a means to highlight social issues in a meaningful, light-hearted way. Performers: Eileen Drumm, Carmel Campbell and Liz McCord
Social Value of Volunteering
Eilís Lawlor, Programme Head for Valuing What Matters, New
Economics Foundation
Presentation
Lecture
Summary: The presentation will focus on four specific themes:
· New tools for measuring and valuing social, economic and environmental impacts, and how these could be used to measure, quantify and make visible the costs and benefits of volunteering
· How, when looked at in this way, can we understand the contribution of both formal and informal volunteering to society?
· What are the implications of this? What does it tell us about how the economic system is structured? How does the market economy crowd out other valuable activities and how would it need to be reformed to create space for greater participation?
· Finally, how can we ensure that the ethos of volunteering is adhered to, so that we avoid exacerbating existing inequalities?
Speaker Biography: Eilis is Programme Head for Valuing What Matters at the new economics foundation (nef), an independent think tank. Her work focuses on developing ways to measure, quantify and value things that are not market-traded. The aim of this is to challenge the approach to public and private decision-making that is driven by financial considerations and ensure that the things that matters to people, communities and the environment get included appropriately. She is the author of a number of reports on Social Return on Investment
(SROI) including the latest UK government guidance. Prior to this, Eilís led the Measuring What Matters programme at nef which applied Social
Return on Investment to public policy interventions for the first time. Her areas of interest are economic and spatial inequality, criminal justice, children's services and effectiveness in public policy. Current projects include the value of different kinds of professions, the causes of inequality and applying the SROI method to airport expansion.
Economic Value of Volunteering
Elaine Bradley, CEO, Volunteering Ireland
Lecture
Summary: According to research from the Johns Hopkins University, volunteers represent the equivalent of 3-5% of the economically active population in many countries; they make a $400 billion contribution to the global economy; the number of full-time equivalent volunteers is approximately 140 million people and if volunteers were a nation, they would be the 9th most populous country in the world. Attention is increasingly being paid to the economic value yielded by volunteering. In this presentation, Elaine will outline the thinking that is driving the measurement of volunteering in financial terms; discuss research and other initiatives in this area; and will outline the pros and cons of trying to capture the complexity of the volunteer relationship in a number.
Speaker Biography: Elaine has been CEO of Volunteering Ireland since 2007. With a background in consultancy, specialising in the enhancement of capability and strategic development of organisations in the nonprofit sector, Elaine has extensive experience in the sector in both a paid and voluntary capacity and has worked in both an Irish and European context. She is currently a member of the Board of Centre Européen du Volontariat (CEV). Over the years, much of the focus of Elaine’s work has been the inclusion of marginalised groups.
Political Value of Volunteering
Marian Harkin, MEP for the North and West Consituency of Ireland
Summary: Marian Harkin will discuss the impact of volunteering, the effect it has on participative democracy and the relationship between participative and representative democracy. Marian will speak about the empowerment of people through volunteering and how they can have a role in influencing the community, society and world around them through direct involvement, acting as a force for political change.
Speaker Biography: Marian Harkin is an Independent MEP for the North and West Constituency of Ireland which now consists of 11 counties including two new counties Westmeath and Longford. Marian was elected as a Member of the Irish Parliament in 2002 - 2007 and has been elected twice as a Member of the European Parliament since 2004. As a Member of the European Democratic Party (EDP) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament, Marian is a full member and ALDE co-ordinator of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, substitute member on the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee and substitute member on the Petitions Committee. Marian is also President and founding member of the European Parliament Volunteering Interest Group which successfully led the campaign to have 2011 designated as the European Year on Volunteering. Marian is co-President and founding
member of the European Parliament Carers Interest Group which works with Caring organisations from across the EU including Ireland (Caring for Carers & the Carers Association) and the European Commission to ensure that the needs of family carers will be adequately addressed in future EU policy.
Breakout Sessions
The Profession of Volunteer Management
Lorraine Tansey, Chair of the PAVMI Steering Committee
Presentation
Handouts
Synopsis: Participants in the Volunteer Management Workshop actively engaged in discussion on a number of topics ranging from: effectively engaging volunteers, role descriptions for volunteers, managing numbers of volunteers or volunteer programmes and responding to change. Elements of volunteer programmes were discussed: the volunteer policy, handbook, disciplinary procedure, recognition and supporting volunteers. The role of the volunteer manager itself was discussed and the feeling emerging from both sessions is that role is highly valued. Information about PAVMI was presented and a lively discussion on the value of a national support network and advocacy representation for individuals across the sector.
IT for Volunteer Management
Naoise McNally, Project Manager, Volunteering Ireland
Synopsis: Naoise McNally will introduce Ireland Involved Online, a new initiative by Volunteering Ireland which will include a one-stop shop for individuals and companies to find ways to become involved with community and voluntary groups and organisations, and a volunteer management system. The session will present volunteer managers with this new initiative and seek feedback on tailoring the system to meet needs of those in the community and voluntary sector.
Ireland’s Contribution to the European Year of Voluntary Activity and Active Citizenship 2011
Elaine Bradley, CEO of Volunteering Ireland, Yvonne McKenna, CEO of Volunteer Centres Ireland and Pat Boyle, Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
Synopsis: The European Commission are proposing to make 2011 the European Year of Voluntary Activity and Active Citizenship. 2011 is an opportunity to raise awareness of the value of volunteering in Ireland while celebrating our volunteers and laying the foundations of an environment that enables active citizenship and volunteering. This session is an opportunity to discuss the broad objectives of the year and to get feedback about the interests and concerns of participants, which will be reflected in the planning of events for the year.
Model to Measure the Economic Value of Volunteers
Sinead Hardiman, volunteer manager, Barnardos
Workshop notes
Synopsis: This workshop looks at the practical aspects of measuring the economic value of volunteering. Providing Barnardos as a case study example the workshop will consider the management systems required to monitor and record this information. The workshop will provide an overview of volunteering in Barnardos, current systems for recording information, the benefits to the organisation and volunteers, and areas of consideration in developing a measurement system. The session will be practical and interactive, with the opportunity to discuss experiences and ideas. 
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