Press release: Tackling unemployment by signing up 50,000 expert volunteers
Ensuring Britain continues to be a civilised and harmonious society means attracting 50,000 expert volunteers to sign up to the fight in supporting the unemployed back into work, according to the charity Careers Development Group’s (CDG) position paper launched today.
The aim of CDG’s expert volunteer initiative is to attract those who, alongside having the capacity and desire to volunteer, have the skills to support and share with the long term unemployed. They would complement the work that welfare to work providers such as CDG and the government undertake.
Examples of expert volunteers include:
- retired English teachers supporting those needing basic literacy support
- directors and managers helping to build the self-confidence of those who have been unemployed for more than a year
- former builders who having sold their businesses and want to help young people learn a trade.
An expert volunteer corps would support the need to increase the transfer of skills and knowledge between the generations if Britain is to avoid a society split between those with jobs or who have enjoyed good careers and those who are struggling to get, or get back, into employment. Effectively this is a transfer of skills and experience from retired or retiring baby boomers to generations X and Y.
Roy O’Shaughnessy, Careers Development Group’s chief executive, said:
“With a full commitment from government and employers, and taking advantage of Britain’s strong volunteering record, this initiative has the opportunity to harness all parts of civil society to change lives, communities and society for the better.
“Now, more than ever, is the right time for the welfare to work sector to encourage those with the skills, desire and time to climb aboard and volunteer their expertise. Those coming forward would be making a real difference to people who need their help.
“We are all responsible for the society in which we live and none of us should turn a blind eye to those who need our support to get, or get back, into work.”
The expert volunteer initiative will be led by third sector organisations and welfare to work providers who together would facilitate and structure the initiative.
Reach, the national skilled volunteering charity, is working with CDG in raising the profile of expert volunteering initiative.
Sarah King, chief executive of Reach, said:
“Volunteering, using their skills and personal life experiences, is a hidden opportunity for thousands of people - they just need avenues to channel the help they can give. The link between remaining mentally active in retirement and improved health and wellbeing is well evidenced.
“Helping the long term unemployed in this way would be a stimulating opportunity for many skilled individuals, whether retired or still building their own careers. It would give them the opportunity to change lives while balancing their own time and life demands.”
To tackle the problem of long term unemployment, a concerted effort from all parties - the government, voluntary and community organisations and the private sector – is needed. It means the public, private and third sectors have an opportunity to cement the Big Society philosophy together.
The CDG summit
CDG will be holding a summit on 14 October 2010 at Central Hall, Westminster, London, to discuss and debate with leading figures in the public, private and voluntary sectors how this initiative can work in practice and how it can contribute to the Big Society agenda.
Source: CDG
Comments
Brilliant idea and everyone will be a winner and i look forward to seeing this introduced in my community in Manchester.
Very happy to both support this venture and also to be one of said volunteers here in Tees Valley
Volunteering is often the first step on the ladder of change for individuals who have been unemployed for a number of years and need to gain some experince and also confidence.
I would welcome this initiative as a third sector provider in the Northwest.
I support this initiative, it’s a great thing to do and I know it already goes on in many institutions, 10% of our own staff are volunteers. I just hope the delicate task of handling any media coverage on this topic is done well, the media and the unions are not being kind to some proposed changes and one could easily twist the headlines...ie..50,000 welfare to work employees dislodged by volunteers etc.
I think it will need to be made very clear that these volunteers should support and enhance existing infrastructures and not totally replace them.
This is an employers dream come true! We'll all be a nation of volunteers and no one will have a paid job.
I've said this before and I'll say it again, despite the good intentions, we don't need volunteering schemes like these. Britain already has regional volunteer bureaus and organisations that promote volunteering, such as CSV.
What we need is a job creation scheme. The ministry of propaganda is fiddling while Rome burns.
Yes we can always use more jobs however, constructive ways to engage employers and experts with those outside the regular employability realm are always welcome. There's a significant contingent of young people who could benefit from this direct approach from the community and the employers within it ... could it be linked with
http://www.employersandyoungpeople.org/Home somehow? And will we need to do our own version in Scotland or is it already happening in Scotland?
Do you really, seriously think that if an employer had an unlimited supply of volunteers to "work" in their organisation or business, that they would say:
"Hey, this is a great idea! These volunteers work really hard. Why don't we hire them and pay them a salary?"
Don't hold your breath waiting for this to happen!
Officially sanctioned volunteering/employment schemes, just like "work trials", etc... will soon earn bad reputations because employers will realise that they could take advantage of "volunteers" no matter how hard they work and tell them that they weren't successful at the end of their volunteering period. Soon after, the JCP sends someone else and the whole process is repeated.
On a lighter note, I've thought up a name for the official UK job creation programme. It's called....(drum roll, please): "Job Create".
You read it here first.
Perhaps using the employers to give them, and/or enhance skills they didn't think they had, would help the young people to be credible competitors in the job market. Why neglect to build skills and abilities. Surely you want the whole community to have a chance at enjoying the benefits of "Job Create's" work? Maybe even, those people who might have dropped off the employment radar, having started to gain skills and motivation, might open their own business and create jobs themselves? Or is that just too ambitious a goal?
Hi Sophie, Adam,...
Are we going off track here?..., or have I got the wrong end of the stick........I don’t think the welfare reform is focussing on placing these ‘volunteers’ with regular employers... helping out the young adults in those organisations, .....I think the intention is to get volunteers involved with the voluntary sector with the intention to create some very cheap VS led provision.... ie organising these volunteers to offer some sort of free job support, employment skills training, and or basic skills training,.... the volunteers will not be seeking employment - they will be retired and presumably on a pension and they will not be seeking paid work themselves, they will be doing this work for free, for their local charity and their local community...re the ‘big society focus’ and ....here it comes ..Possibly dislodging many professionals who are doing this for a living.
I think this idea is already on the ‘DWP work programme schematic’, ..part of ‘the big society vision’ is for those who have retired and have the skills and experience to help those who don’t, ..... ......'seed' funding will be given to those charities that get involved with this idea to help them establish and organise this volunteering sector of un paid help that contribute to moving the unemployed into work.
I wholly agree that we need some sort of Job creation scheme but this isn’t it, I think this drive is to create some very cheap back to work support that any benefit claimant can access.
Thanks Les, yes we were off track. I think this is a constructive and sensible idea: let's make the most of existing skills and expertise. Sharing and investing knowledge and experience for the benefit of the community as a whole is definitely a valuable exercise. To inspire retired people volunteer their time for this will provide a vital, cheap but rich resource to tackle an ever-growing problem.
Hi Les & Sophie. Thanks for your feedback.
This is a potential national scandal.
Les wrote:
"I don’t think the welfare reform is focusing on placing these ‘volunteers’ with regular employers..."
Regular employers? What then are training providers? They're employers! Even if these volunteer pensioners are not seeking employment, you DO admit they have the potential to "dislodge" people who do this for a living. Is this what we really want?
Not all retirees/pensioners want to return to the workplace. Granted, there will be some, but when most people retire (and it seems likely that we will soon be forced to work until we drop), they will want to enjoy their lives. Working with client groups is not always smooth sailing, if you catch my drift. It's just like the myth that all lone parents and substance misusers, people with mental health issues and ex-offenders are "vulnerable" (but that's another subject!).
This crazy scheme sounds suspiciously like an attempt to get staff on the cheap and to publicise the above named "charities".
I am puzzled by some of your positive comments about this over-hyped scheme, unless they were made by directors/senior managers/number crunchers and those who should know better who are chasing after some free labour or government funding that no doubt will be necessary to run this programme.
Unfortunately in this economy, nothing is free.
Some people are positive and some are negative. What's wrong with old fashioned reciprocity? Sharing and exchange: great. People helping themselves and each other no?
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!
There's nothing wrong with volunteering, I volunteer. However, when volunteers are used to replace paid workers, especially in such a dire economy as we have right now, something's wrong.
There already exists a volunteering infrastructure in the UK for people who wish to volunteer. What makes these third sector "charities" think that they are able to pull something like this off? And where is the money going to come from to finance this crazy scheme?
In the voluntary/non-profit sector, there's a tradition of using unpaid volunteers to displace salaried staff. This is something that should be discouraged.
Also, when I retire, I want to enjoy life. I don't want to engage in what I did when I was working. Am I alone thinking like I do?