Back to Health: exclusive workshops

A great benefit of joining our Back to Health campaign is exclusive access to expert workshops to help you develop effective volunteering services.

Helpforce Network, our free network for volunteer managers in health and social care organisations, already gives more than 600 professionals and organisations from across the UK the chance to join in training, share knowledge and ideas, make new connections, get support and resources, and keep up to date with all the latest developments.

But our support for Back to Health members goes even further. Organisations that join can enjoy all this plus exclusive access to regular online workshops. Led by Helpforce’s experts, these will enhance your knowledge and skills in all aspects of setting up and running a successful volunteering service.

Small groups, individual attention

Our Back to Health workshops began in October 2020, with six running so far. Each has had between four and 18 people taking part. These limited numbers have given participants the chance to receive individual attention from Helpforce’s experts to solve their unique challenges. It’s also allowed participants to network and work closely together, sharing advice, knowledge and inspiration.

The workshops have had great feedback, for example:

“These webinars are absolutely essential to establishing what ‘sector leading’ best practice looks like … Thank you for providing this platform.” Laura, Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

“I have loved every webinar I have attended. Great to see what others are doing and lots to learn from their experiences.” Pat, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust

“It is really good to hear what is happening in other trusts. It feels supportive and always good to be able to share knowledge and expertise particularly as the role is often very lonely. Being new to the group, I am really impressed that there is a forum to share ideas and get support. I wish I had known about it in my previous role.” Angela, Royal United Hospitals Bath

Upcoming Back to Health workshops

We have lots of Back to Health workshops coming up over the autumn and winter – all online, so there’s no need to worry about safety or the expense and time to travel.

Topics include:

· Leadership: A good leader can make the difference between a volunteering service succeeding and failing. Learn skills to become an excellent leader at this session.

· Innovation: What are the most innovative organisations doing when it comes to volunteering? This session will look at what’s happening at the cutting edge of the health and social care sector.

· Adopt and Adapt: Helpforce’s Adopt and Adapt service can help you set up a new volunteering service in your organisation, adopting and adapting existing models that have worked elsewhere. Find out more about the service, the models you might consider, and the steps you’ll go through.

· Insight and impact: Solid evidence of your volunteering service’s impact will help you get buy-in to continue and grow. Find out how to gather robust evidence in this session.

· Developing a business case: This workshop will give you a step-by-step guide to putting together a powerful document to help you win backing from key stakeholders for your volunteering project.

Want to come along? Find out more about joining our Back to Health campaign here.