Volunteering

 Volunteer of the Month

On the second Wednesday of every month, the management team holds their meeting at the Hub. There is always a lot to discuss, including work priority lists, progress reports, and both new and ongoing projects. As part of these meetings, we introduced a vote for "Volunteer of the Month" to be featured in our monthly newsletter, recognising the outstanding contributions of our volunteers.

For our inaugural newsletter, the team unanimously decided that there was no better candidate for the first "Volunteer of the Month" than Monty, our zero waste champion. Monty has dedicated more time than anyone else and has been spreading joy and kindness to people of all ages at the Hub since day one.

The second nomination is Ena. While we are still developing a method to provide some form of accreditation to our volunteers, we welcome any ideas you may have. As our volunteer numbers continue to grow, we need to find effective ways to reward their hard work and dedication.

We have made improvements to our governing documents and both digital and paper sign-up forms. We are also working on establishing a mailing list for volunteers and creating different WhatsApp groups for various volunteer sub-group roles. Although progress may seem slow at times, we are making daily improvements. It's important to congratulate ourselves, as this is our inaugural year and we have built everything from the ground up.

The volunteer ecosystem in the strategy recognises that people engage in volunteering in different ways, at different times in their lives. It outlines a flexible model with five key stages:

• Flexible and one-off volunteering
  Entry-level opportunities that are easy to access and fit around people’s lives. These build confidence and connection.

• Volunteering through relationships
  Regular, supportive roles built on human connection and trust. This stage often helps reduce isolation and creates lasting bonds.

• Skilled or focused volunteering
  Roles that draw on lived or professional experience to offer targeted support. These have clear goals and often involve training.

• Leading and organising
  Volunteers take on leadership roles, help shape projects and influence direction using their insight and experience.

• Changing systems
  Long-term engagement where volunteers help influence policy, improve services and create structural change.

The ecosystem supports flexible movement between stages. People can pause, return or shift how they volunteer, with every contribution recognised as valuable.