Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services (LCVS) Volunteers Forum and Fair

Read about the challenge, our role and the active difference this project has made.

The challenge

Volunteers make up a significant and valuable proportion of the workforce across the sport and physical activity sector, so it’s important that MSP is part of the right networks to promote opportunities. 

Early in 2018, MSP became a member of the Volunteer Co-ordinators Forum facilitated by Liverpool CVS. The aim of the Forum is to:

• Enable connectivity between voluntary, community and third sector organisations who recruit or deploy volunteers.
• Share practice, experience and ideas.
• Explore opportunities for collaboration and working together.
• Promote and support diversity in volunteering.
• Raise the profile and awareness of volunteering within the city’s communities.

So it’s been key for MSP to establish itself as an active and productive member of this valuable forum.

Our role

As a result of joining the Forum, MSP has provided the opportunity to engage directly with a range of voluntary, community and third sector organisations which in turn has led to:

  • One-to-one meetings to discuss opportunities to enable physical activity for the groups and to provide direct support e.g. Community Activity Champion training, advice on project development.
  • Supporting the recruitment of volunteers for sport or physical activity focused activities including training on MSP’s online volunteer platform and advice on developing sport or physical activity focused roles.
  • Promotion of specific volunteering opportunities across our network e.g. Claire House Hospice
  • Provision of direct assistance to organisations with physical activity focused events e.g. Palm House Family Activity Day, Sefton Park.

In addition, to help raise awareness of volunteering opportunities across the City, the Volunteer Co-ordinators Forum established a sub-group to co-ordinate a Volunteer Fair as part of Volunteers Week 2019. MSP joined the subgroup to help Liverpool CVS organise the event.

As well as helping with organising the June event at St Georges Hall, including identifying organisations to attend

 

e.g. Liverpool FC Foundation and Cancer Research Race for Life colleagues, we were active in promoting the event across our networks in the build-up to and during the week.

As a result of joining the sub-group, we were also able to influence the inclusion of physical activity in the form of table tennis and running mini-challenges, throughout the day.

MSP used the event at St Georges Hall as an opportunity to showcase opportunities to support physical activity and sport and were very conscious to ensure that there was very broad in respect of the type of differing volunteer roles. In addition to providing the opportunity to engage with individuals from across the city who attended the event, the event also allowed MSP to connect and network with other voluntary, community and third sector organisations.

In addition to showcasing the differing roles, we supported Liverpool CVS to incorporate physical activity into the day by facilitating table tennis for both the attendees and also the other organisations present; based on the feedback this was very well received.

Following the success of the event in 2019, Liverpool LCVS asked MSP to provide support and assistance for future events.

The active difference

  • Contact made with over 70 businesses
  • MSP  website heavily promoted, to draw attention to our volunteering and courses sections
  • 7 new contacts made who now actively use our website  to recruit volunteers for their events
  • MSP’s profile raised further

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