http://volunteersuffolk.org.uk/

Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV)

ESV is an initiative developed by an employer to help employees in participating in all types of volunteering that are consistent with the values of the organisation, this may be in form of a partnership between the employer and one or several charities/community groups. (this is sometimes referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility or Employer Supported Volunteering)

What are the benefits of offering volunteering to your employees?

Offering volunteering opportunities to your employees is an amazing way to address the organisations commitment to social responsibility. It empowers your staff with new leadership behaviours, has a positive impact on their social and teamwork skills, and can help you change and improve the culture within your organisation.

It will also;

Provide your business with a role in making a local social impact

Have a positive impact on your organisation’s staff recruitment and retention

Offer great Career Professional Development (CPD) Improve your organisation’s brand in the local

community Provide your staff with new skills including social skills,

work-readiness skills as well as improve their motivation

Improve teamwork, leadership skills and enhance empathy in your organisation’s workplace

Improving communities and the life of individuals

How does ESV work?ESV combines the employer, the volunteer and the volunteer involving organisation – usually a charity or community group.

Employers often organise team volunteering activities, but they can also give staff the opportunity to take time away from work to volunteer individually within their own community. This might include support for employees to become a charity trustee or board member, to participate in on-going community activities, or to support local events and fundraising appeals

ESV has benefits for everyone involved:

Many employees volunteer in their own time outside work, for others an ESV programme enables them to participate when they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

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Volunteering can provide skills development and increased motivation for employees when they return to work, as well as contributing to individual well-being.

It’s a great way for employers to meet their corporate social responsibility objectives. Working with charities and building partnerships in the local community enables employers to give time and practical support to help address local needs.

The contribution made to volunteer involving organisations can make a real difference for beneficiaries in the short and long-term through both one-off volunteering events and ongoing partnerships.

EMPLOYERS

Whether you are an organisation wanting to set up an employee volunteering programme, or you already have a programme but you want to inspire your staff to get out and get involved in their local community, we can help!

Why not start by looking at all of the amazing roles and organisations which are hosted in the Volunteer Suffolk database click here to see the variety of what is happening across the county to give you some ideas of what you might like to be involved in. In addition to these roles there are also lots of other ways your staff can be involved in the local places they work and live in.

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Some other things to consider are;

Are you looking for team volunteering or for staff a to volunteer individually or in smaller groups?

Can staff spread their hours so that this becomes a longer term volunteering role? (for example, 3 days is the equivalent to 24 hours- this could be 12 weeks of 2 hours of volunteering)

Could a team within your organisations 'pool' their days and then spread their skills into a charity? (for example, a sales team of 10 are given 2 days each, in smaller teams of 2/3 over several days they could go and have a big effect on a local clean up, rather than 10 people for 2 days).

Consider what the 'host' organisation will gain from your staff volunteering, sometimes receiving large numbers of people for only a short period of time can be hard to manage and resource, as well as train and communicate to so that everyone is ready to start from the same place of understanding. If your staff can be deployed on mass then it may be that one off event support is suitable.

One-off event volunteering

Some volunteering roles need regular commitment but there are many one-off special events, some with opportunities for a workplace team to work together for the day. The website has an events calendar packed with interesting events from community festivals to litter-picks. The events offer an excellent introduction to volunteering from trusted partners, allowing individuals

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to develop new skills and grow in confidence whilst supporting a worthwhile cause. With a diverse range of sports, cultural and heritage events, there are opportunities to suit many varied interests. Perfect for teams or individuals with limited time!

There are many ways in which ESV can be approached and we understand every organisation as well as every individual and opportunity is different. We are happy to help to work out the best way to implement a bespoke ESV service.

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EMPLOYEES

Volunteers are a really important part of an active and vibrant community. They’re the selfless people who make things happen that otherwise might not. They’re the people who put the needs of others before their own. Often, they don’t even realise they’re volunteering, because helping people is just what they do.

If you would like to know more about volunteering as part of ESV, first talk to you HR Team to find out what your employers policies are for this. Different employers 'gift' different amounts of time, some give 1 day, other give more and for some this is done in a much more ad hoc way.

Once you have found out about your organisation’s policy why not start by looking at all of the amazing roles and organisations which are hosted in the Volunteer Suffolk database click here to see the variety of what is happening across the county to give you some ideas of what you might like to be involved in.

If you have not found what you are interested in, please get in touch and we will do our best to support you or a team of colleagues into what you are looking for.

If you would like to know more, or talk through your options, please contact;

Andrew Simpson 01473 345322

andy.simpson@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk

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