Introduction
People choose to volunteer for a variety of reasons:
- the chance to give something back to the community
- to make a difference to the people around them
- an opportunity to develop new skills
- to build on existing experience and knowledge as a pathway into employment
Regardless of the motivation, what unites them all is that they find it both challenging and rewarding.
Volunteers bring a range of expertise to tasks or projects. Their expertise may complement and add value to the skills of staff. In many instances, volunteers can develop a range of support to service users that cannot be provided solely by paid staff.
We welcome volunteers in a variety of service areas. We are committed to engaging with volunteers in a way that complements and expands service delivery.
Vision for volunteering
We have a vision of thriving communities where volunteers play an active role in:
- shaping local service delivery
- promoting community cohesion
- positively influencing decision making
We will work with local communities and partners to develop a diverse range of suitable volunteering activities that are relevant for all people in Lincolnshire.
We want to support volunteering opportunities that develop skills within our communities to help individuals to enter the workplace and increase their employability prospects.
We want to develop skilled volunteering opportunities to help to sustain and bolster the community and voluntary sector.
We want to support volunteering in communities to increase levels of community participation and self-sufficiency.
What is volunteering?
We regard volunteering as an unpaid activity where someone freely gives their time to help an organisation or an individual who they are not related to. In other words, volunteers are not paid employees or workers and do not have a legally binding contractual relationship with us.
Volunteering is not work experience. Anyone applying for a work experience placement should be managed as part of the work experience process. The Work Experience Guidance ensures that we have a corporate and consistent process for work experience placements for children and young people and comply with our legal duty towards safeguarding and health and safety for these groups.