Volunteers’ Week

Unfortunately, Volunteers’ Week this year will clash with several other events so many are condensing the celebrations down to a couple of days. The other events include Carers’ Week and the Royal Cornwall Show.

However, there was not a lack of inspirational ideas from our guests.

Your great ideas

• Volunteer certificate packs signed by the CEO and handed out by the placement managers during the week.
• Drop-in sessions in the restaurant for a day so that volunteers can meet up with the volunteering team for tea and a chat.
• Long service awards events with pin badges.
• Recruitment stands in foyers and reception areas.
• Afternoon tea where certificates of appreciation and long service awards are handed out with execs dropping in to talk to the volunteers.
• Bespoke cupcakes.
• An inexpensive little gift of a key ring for around 80p for volunteers who attend an event.
• Key ring idea 1
• Key ring idea 2
• Execs shadowing volunteers to raise awareness of the impact volunteers make.
• Comms department promoting the week on a daily basis using the volunteers’ week media pack.
• Comms creating videos for social media.

Radio Star

• One of our guests is to appear on their local radio station on the Wednesday of Volunteers’ Week for a 15-minute interview to promote volunteering.

Support for bereaved fathers

• The Honeysuckle Team are the dedicated baby bereavement team at Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust who have teamed up with Liverpool Football club to support Dads through bereavement of pregnancy and baby loss. They have three dedicated volunteers running events and they have formed The Honeysuckle Football Team. The three volunteers will also be undergoing training with the Honeysuckle Bereavement Team to peer support bereaved Dads.
• Liverpool FC — Honeysuckle FC: The Bond of Love
• Honeysuckle Bereavement Service - Liverpool Womens NHS Foundation Trust

Armed Forces Covenant

https://veteranaware.nhs.uk/

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. It is now a duty that all Trusts sign up to this.

What training are you delivering to your volunteers around the new covenant?

• To make sure everyone's armed forces and veteran aware
• The different types of difficulties they might have as a group and what it means for them not to be disadvantaged through our systems.
• Going back to basics ‘What is a veteran?’
• Frimley have recently had a training session on loan sharks and next month there will be one on gambling awareness.

Kerry Gospel is the Dedicated Armed Forces Covent Lead at Frimley

• He has just gone through the process of getting his Trust the Gold recognition status.
• He is Veteran Aware accredited.
• If you would like to discuss this further with Kerry, he is very happy to do so. Please message us in the first instance at our network@helpforce.community email.

More information can be found: https://www.armedforcescovenant.gov.uk/