BIG benefits from volunteering

Written by Kerry Peters-Taylor, Head of Programme – The BIG Alliance

It isn’t every day that you are approached to see if your organisation would benefit from an experienced professional working for you, for free, for 6-8 weeks…and actually could you support three?

But that is what happened when we were approached by BIG partner, Euromonitor, about hosting their workers who, having worked for the organisation for 10 years, could apply for a sabbatical, which would include 6-8 weeks working at a charity. Who would say no? The opportunity to have someone experienced and trusted to take on a project of work that will otherwise sit on your wishlist for months is invaluable. To have someone reviewing the current landscape of volunteering, another reviewing the current landscape of mentoring and a third looking into how we move forward with AI, has really set us up to make much more informed plans for our next steps.

Earlier this year, I also represented BIG as a participant of a Priority Planning session with another of our corporate partners. I essentially walked into a room of wonderful volunteers and dumped my brain on the table, all my thoughts about BIG and our future, what I want for our programmes and partners and team…and they sorted it into an actionable plan, with really tangible next steps. It was so incredibly helpful, and with both of these experiences I think we have gained an even higher appreciation for how valuable and necessary these points of support are for our community partners.

And yet, we are hearing how increasingly difficult it is for people to take the time to volunteer, more so now with hybrid working. We are increasingly asked for short, 1 hour volunteering opportunities, or a 2-hour session hosted online. Sometimes we can support those requests…but often it won’t meet a need, which is the guiding principle of all we do.

So we are looking at how to support re-stitching volunteering back into the fabric of work, with potential BIG Insight Sessions for colleagues to join and learn about the value of volunteering or bringing back volunteer fairs at lunchtime. We are also keen to talk to the L&D colleagues of our partners to link up the value and skills developed from programmes like Leaders in Partnership with internal L&D pathways…we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas, please do get in touch with the BIG team at any time.

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