What Volunteering Matters is doing to engage young people in volunteering and the charity sector
Volunteering Matters runs a number of projects that engage young people in social action. They help facilitate and amplify the voices and actions of younger people to be more involved for positive change in their local communities.
They have 6 dedicated projects, The Team London Young Ambassador Project has helped 600 young people across 61 settings to design and deliver social action projects of importance to them and to improve their community. They were also involved in delivering training and workshops for other young people and the team at Volunteering Matters.
Other projects help young people engage and raise awareness of key issues such as mental health to help others in their communities and schools.
How the Salford Foundation is partnering with students from the University of Salford
This partnership between the university and Salford Foundation, a charity providing various support services for young people and adults, is providing an opportunity for students to volunteer with the charity and support vulnerable people. For example:
- Student placements in the Foundation’s law clinic allowed students to help advise on legal matters within the community alongside qualified solicitors. One student, Millie, worked closely with the Women’s Service team, where she provided pro bono legal advice to service users; working on complex family law cases.
- Students at the School of Health and Society can also undertake social work placements with the charity, where they provide counselling and therapeutic support to service users.
Encouraging younger people to volunteer as part of a team – Action for Children
Whilst Action for Children’s Action Squads is not solely aimed at children, with roles for 14 and up – the way it is positioned is towards families and younger people, in alignment with their charity’s purpose and mission. It also encourages people to form a team, therefore knowing they are supported by people they know, as well as the charity.
A volunteering/fundraising programme has to facilitate and empower people to do that. A couple of things that Action for Children does is convey the benefits of the programme for the individual in providing valuable transferrable skills:
- Empowering volunteers to use their creative energy.
- Gaining event management, fundraising, finance and admin skills which they can add to their CV.
- Meet new people and learn new things.
- Make a difference; after all, they want to help out to support those whom the charity supports.
Moreover, they provide a clear pack to equip them to be involved whilst also allowing the volunteer choice and flexibility in that. This reduces any anxiety about not knowing what to do, and helps people feel supported by the charity they want to contribute to. They offer:
- Onboarding to get set up.
- A member of local fundraising to support them.
- A handbook of ideas and tips as well as safety and legal guidance.
- Their catalogue of E-learning courses.
- A Facebook group to link up with other Action Squads.
- Some gamification in a fundraising leaderboard.
- Use of their Public Liability Insurance.
- Other skills and opportunities.
Engaging young fundraisers
Julia’s House has a young fundraisers scheme – an award with Level 1, 2 and 3 certificates that children 16 and under can achieve by getting involved in fundraising.
The idea is that children can get involved and are automatically entered into the scheme, completing their first fundraising event to receive a Level 1 certificate and badge, before progressing through the levels with each subsequent event – thereby getting the recognition and support from Julia’s House.
Launched in 2022, Alex Wilcox, Public Fundraising Assistant at Julia’s House explains the scheme:
“We wanted to champion the difference young fundraisers make to Julia’s House and celebrate their commitment and support. The money they raise has a big impact on the children and families we care for.”
“The new Young Fundraisers scheme acknowledges their great contribution and hopefully provides them with a really positive experience of fundraising. We would love local children and young people to continue to fundraise for us and encourage them to take their spirit of giving with them as they grow older, which feels an important message at the moment.”
Creating a list of ideas to inspire
Whilst many larger charities have the resources to rank articles like “Fundraising Ideas for Kids” on search engines – like Save the Children UK’s- A-Z list of Fundraising Ideas, a list is not just a way to get people to discover your charity on the internet. It’s a way to facilitate engagement with your existing audience.
In Save The Children’s A-Z list of ideas – they tag the lists with who they are ideal or suitable for. Creating a list like this with the help of existing supporters could create an inclusive list of ideas that help facilitate fundraising from a diverse audience, including young people and children.
Similarly, Dementia UK has a dedicated page for young people to get involved in fundraising, and as part of their school.
You can help facilitate engagement through a list of ideas that you can support, but that doesn’t have to be limited to fundraising—it could include ways to get involved in volunteering, on the board, or as part of a youth advisory group.
Further reading and resources
Fundraising with young people – Chartered Institute of Fundraising
Working with young volunteers – an NSPCC guide
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/working-with-young-volunteers/
