North Devon Volunteer Centre

Who we are:

North Devon Voluntary Services supports and promotes voluntary activity and the voluntary sector as a whole and encourages the sector to co-operate with the public and private sectors to help develop a more just and caring society.

We were formed in March 2006 by an amalgamation of North Devon Volunteering Development Agency (primarily Volunteer Centres) and North Devon Voluntary Action Forum (an associate CVS) and are now a full CVS hosting two Volunteer Centres in Ilfracombe and Barnstaple which also cover the whole North Devon District by means of Outreach activities. Our primary function is to recruit volunteers and place them in volunteering opportunities in organisations registered with us and who have approved volunteer policies. In addition to this we provide training for volunteers and to voluntary organisations in matters pertaining to volunteering, we promote the development of new volunteering opportunities, and campaign on behalf of volunteers and volunteering. As a CVS, we also represent the voluntary sector in local, regional and national forums.

For Volunteers we provide:

• Access to volunteering opportunities through our Centres, outreach clinics and the Do-it website
• Personal interviews with our trained staff
• A wide choice of volunteering opportunities
• Training and support at the start of the volunteering activity
• Follow-up to ensure that the volunteer is satisfied and happy within the placement

In addition we offer volunteers the opportunity of becoming involved in any of our own Direct Service Volunteering opportunities within our own organisation: befriending, wheelchair escorting, shopping, gardening and receptionist volunteering. We also provide the opportunity for volunteers to become involved in our own Volunteer Drivers' Scheme

For Organisations we provide:

• A brokerage service providing access to suitable volunteers
• Training in volunteer- related activities such as recruitment, retention and management as well as the development of good practice
• Advice and assistance in marketing their own volunteering opportunities and the promotion of volunteering as a whole
• Advice in other areas such as fund raising, financial management, trustee responsibilities, etc., all of which impact on the effectiveness of their volunteers
• Advice and information in the development of new and innovative volunteering activities
• Co-ordination of policy response and campaigning in matters pertaining to volunteering

Through involvement in and membership of Regional and National Forums and Organisations (eg. Volunteering England) we are able to inform strategic thinking and planning concerning volunteering at all levels for the benefit of local volunteer-involving organisations.