Managing Volunteers: Building Positive Volunteer Experiences (3 part series)

Volunteers can play an incredibly valuable role within small community organisations — but managing volunteers well can be challenging, particularly when you don't have a dedicated volunteer manager or formal volunteering programme.

Young K&C's Managing Volunteers series in partnership with The Volunteer Centre has been designed with the realities of small youth and community organisations in mind.

Across three sessions, we'll explore how organisations can create positive, meaningful and well-managed volunteering opportunities for both young people and adults.

Outline of Sessions:

1. From Participant to Volunteer

2. Young People's Volunteer Fair – October Half-Term (Further details coming soon)

3. Managing Volunteers – The Essentials (Further details coming soon)

Session 1: From Participant to Volunteer – Supporting Young People to Take Their Next Step

It's common for young people to reach the end of a programme or age out of a service but still want to remain part of an organisation that has been important to them.

Volunteering can be a fantastic next step — giving young people an opportunity to build confidence, develop new skills, gain experience and give something back to their community.

But moving from participant to volunteer needs more than simply asking a young person to "stay and help out".

This practical session will explore how organisations can make that transition meaningful and rewarding for both the young person and the organisation.

Date: Thursday 24th September

Time: 10am-12pm

Location: The Hive, 2 Thorpe Close, W10 5TZ

We'll look at:

• Moving from service user or participant to volunteer

• Creating clear and meaningful volunteer roles for young people

• Understanding the difference between participating, helping out and volunteering

• Building a simple volunteer journey, from joining through to progression

• Setting appropriate expectations, responsibilities and boundaries

• Supporting, supervising and recognising young volunteers

• Helping young people identify and articulate the skills they are developing

• Using volunteering as a pathway into further opportunities, education or employment

• Making volunteering valuable for the organisation as well as the young person

The session will be practical and accessible, with ideas that can be adapted by organisations of different sizes — including those with small teams and no dedicated volunteer manager.

The aim isn't to create lots of extra processes. It's to help you turn the volunteering that may already be happening informally into a more purposeful experience for everyone involved.