How to make the most of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 Steve Crocker Year of Volunteering Co ordinator Leeds City Council

Aims of LYOV2010 Increase the level of volunteering in the city by a quarter celebrate and promote volunteering to increase the level of community engagement through volunteering to help groups attract more volunteers and provide more volunteering opportunities and to promote a higher quality volunteering.

The Partnership Leeds City Council Voluntary Action Leeds Leeds Ahead NHS Leeds Universities Yorkshire Forward Environment Agency First Direct, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Yorkshire Bank Safer Leeds Leeds City College Leeds Community Foundation

Narrowing the gap? Leeds households undertaking volunteering 2009

Programme February : Volunteering for health and wellbeing March : Volunteering in every neighbourhood April : Volunteering across the generations May : Volunteering for literacy and learning June : Valuing volunteering in Leeds July : Volunteering for leisure, sports, arts and culture August : Volunteering for environment, parks and wildlife September : Volunteering for a safer Leeds October : Volunteering for all November : Children and young people’s volunteering

How has it gone so far? Launch of Year of City Museum Opened Volunteer Centre 12 St Paul's Street LS1 2lE Website set up: events during the year with over 6000 people attending Leeds Volunteering Debates Environmental taster scheme to reclaim an a derelict site Three “award” schemes, 60 organisations helped. Month long celebrations Revised Compact for Leeds signed Quality volunteering encouraged: with a volunteering kite mark, toolkit and training programmes for volunteer co ordinators.

European Year of Volunteering 2011 Key Priorities Removing barriers to volunteering Promoting benefits of volunteering to local communities Highlight best practice in Volunteer Management Promoting Employer Supported Volunteering Bi monthly themes January and February: poverty and homelessness, covering disability, poverty and ex offenders March and April: supporting young people and children May and June: environment July and August: sport (looking forward to London 2012) September and October: culture and the arts November and December: health and wellbeing

Leeds EYOV11 Conference Hosted by Leeds City Council with our Leeds partners and with our twin cities Share learning and best practice from the Leeds Year of Volunteering and elsewhere. 25 delegates from 4 European countries (Seigen and Dortmund in Germany, Lille in France, Brno in Czech Republic and Brazov in Romania) to visit Leeds Leeds organisations, with the European Commission and Volunteering England to speak Leeds organisations host and link with our twin city volunteer partners

European Year in Leeds Each theme to have a taster project, celebratory event and marketplace Voluntary sector led Funding from Big Lottery Theme leads from key local organisations Focus on Strategic role of Volunteering ESV within Leeds City Council

Learning Time to set up Partnership Commitment from all parties Involvement of key services Funding Clear aims Involve as many volunteers as possible!

"Your livelihood is what you are given, your life is what you give" John Sentamu, October 2010

Broader Discussion Questions Will the voluntary sector become the volunteering sector? Will volunteering become compulsory? Can volunteering step forward as the public sector steps back?