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Ever thought about young people and volunteering?

A Practical Checklist for organisations involving young people as volunteers

  • Target more information about volunteering opportunities at young people to help them make better choices.

  • Use positive images of volunteering (and less stereotyping) to attract younger people to your organisation.

  • Make volunteer opportunities attractive and appealing to young people. Variety and the fun

  • Create clear, progressive and varying volunteer roles for young people. Flexibility of volunteering (time and commitment) is important to reflect the diverse range of things which may be happening in a young person's life.

  • Make sure volunteering provides benefits to young people in terms of skills, new challenges, work experience and so on.

  • Ensure that young people feel valued and respected by others they may be volunteer with or for.

  • Make your volunteers feel empowered and consult and involve them in the development of their volunteering.

  • Provide a friendly and relaxed environment for young people to work in, with support from an identified person when they need it.

  • Ensure recognition of what young volunteers do, either by providing accreditation in the form of a qualification or simply providing a reference or record of achievement, stating skills and experience gained while they were volunteering.

  • Make sure young volunteers are never out - of - pocket.

  • Follow good practice in management of volunteers in all instances e.g. volunteer policy, recruitment and selection, induction, training, support and supervision.

  • Be creative and consider if there are tasks within the organisation which individual young volunteers or a group would be able to undertake and run as their own project, with back-up support

    Reprinted with permission of The Volunteer Development Agency

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