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Denbighshire North Wales

New virtual one stop shop for Council volunteers

DENBIGHSHIRE County Council’s Cabinet has agreed on plans to create a new virtual online one-stop-shop to improve support for volunteering opportunities.

The Volunteering Policy has been created along with updated processes and associated volunteer documents to enable a consistent and flexible approach to volunteering across the whole Council.

This includes a new approach to promoting volunteering opportunities for residents within the Council, and clear guidance on how to manage, recruit and support volunteers.

Alan Smith, the Council’s Head of Business Improvement and Modernisation, said: “Work to create a virtual one-stop-shop for the Council’s own volunteer opportunities across our services, will enable the improved promotion of volunteering opportunities for members of the public.

“Our volunteers have provided a wide range of fantastic support already during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as befriending those most isolated and providing a friendly voice to chat with.

“Before the pandemic, we also had teams of volunteers who spent time outdoors undertaking dry-stone walling and other countryside conservation projects. We had volunteers who helped the archives team preserve our history and made it open to the whole community to access. We also had volunteers who supported our libraries and volunteers who helped children with reading in schools.

We’ve learnt a lot from our volunteers and we wanted to ensure that everyone in our communities, no matter what their circumstances are, is fully able to volunteer if they wish to. We want to make this as easy as possible for everyone.

“Our communities are at the heart of everything we do, and volunteering is a hugely important aspect of a thriving and resilient community.

“Volunteering can bring a sense of purpose, achievement and motivation. It can help someone to develop skills and knowledge and can give someone the opportunity to meet new people and have a fulfilling social life. It is such an important part in many people’s lives, and we want to support that and provide these opportunities.”

The move to create a stronger online hub for volunteering follows the creation in October 2020 of a web page to advertise Covid-19 volunteer opportunities.

The proposed one-stop-shop landing web page will house all updated documents including the new volunteering policy, data protection information, the volunteers’ handbook, and the manager’s guide.

It will also contain information on how to access Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council in support of other organisations who have volunteering roles.

The Council’s volunteering opportunities will be advertised online to provide a central point for interested parties and promotion of these opportunities will also be carried out through social media and external organisations including the DVSC.

To access the new volunteer one-stop-shop please use this LINK

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