| Feedback |
We carry out a range of work to support community groups and organisations in the High Peak and Hope Valley. Here are some exaxmples of feedback from the support we offer.
Implementing Good Practice:
“HPV has provided a lot of support and help with delivering training, advice on volunteer opportunities for drivers, help with posters and press releases – in fact HPV’s help with regards to helping us with volunteering opportunities has been phenomenal – really really good! In fact it’s extremely handy having them here, they help out generally with volunteering or with any problems that we have.So I can’t praise them enough actually, they’ve provided a lot of support to us”.
"It’s more work but we felt it was a bit more professional and we had more confidence in the process…. Doing the job description made me think if things which weren’t there."
"We wanted to embrace social media and in doing so have recently had a serious case of cyber bullying.HPVol talked us through boundaries and supervision and how to deal with and resolve the situation.It was great to have their help as we really didn’t know what to do."
"You don't actually think about it (good practice), for example, risk assessments. We have now got in place some policies which is something I had never even thought about 'till I talked with them"
“We've created a series of policies, training sheets, etc that will undoubtedly be beneficial for volunteer recruitment next year. We have had good feedback from colleagues about our new volunteer pack.”
“Through the review process I have been more proactive in developing the volunteers’ responsibilities and interests appropriately.Some are coming out of a chrysalis. They are gradually taking more responsibility and coming up with ideas that we are implementing.”
“I now see it in a totally different light – you just don’t see it until its potential is explained.It can be a professional activity – I just used to think of people working in a charity shop, not sharing specialised skills and knowledge.”
"If I needed help with or had problems with volunteers, such as Health & Safety, or anything, I would use HPV as my first port of call."
"Living in the sticks I find it reassuring that they are there at the end of a phone line."
Volunteer Management Training:
“We’ve received a lot of information, networking opportunities, sharing information.It’s been valuable to refresh and update, and meet others. Good to get together and share!”
“I’ve done training (Funding for your future) which was very helpful to us.We need help filling in forms and applying for funding”.
“Very useful training – helped me be more assertive”.
“Was good to have the handouts brailled and sent to us before - so we can read it before which is helpful”.
“We had a personal assistant provided at the training which was very very good. Very very helpful to both of us and a pleasure to have him”!
“High Peak Volunteering have brailed handouts for us and provided an escort at the (funding for your future) training session. The training is good – so people can be made aware etc”.
“It was excellent training and got me thinking about things differently.For example I have two volunteers who are 6th formers on the Duke of
"Since the training I have started carrying out volunteer reviews, I have been conscientious about that because I know realize it’s good practice.Just thinking that things seem alright is not enough."
“It’s nice to be kept up to date with new legislation that we should be doing and don’t even know about.There’s a little niggle at the back of my mind. If anything does go wrong it’s no defence to say I didn’t know.I think it’s important these days as you can get yourself into serious trouble. “
“You do have to think about your workload.Going on the Managing Difficult Volunteer Situations training made me feel it was okay to be a bit more assertive.”
"We managed recently to get a really good grant, thanks to a contact made at your training. We are expanding and new volunteers are coming on board all the time. It is so exciting, we are busy and buzzing with the all!!!"
Bespoke Volunteer Brokerage:
"She’s (our new volunteer) just finished all her training and is going out as a befriender next week and she’s wonderful.She just fits in the team perfectly."
“They’ve helped us find volunteers.I have a close relationship with HPV, they are easy to work with, always helpful, always there.They’ve advised me on finding volunteers in the area, they’ve provided me with training to go on in the area – which helped me in a better way deal with volunteers, so the project gets more out of it and the volunteer gets more out of it”
"HPVol have helped us recruit more volunteers with learning disabilities, this is really nice for us as we can see the difference it’s making to these volunteers, knowing they are helping other people"
“It’s really helpful to have someone who is focusing on that area (Hope Valley)and that an organisation has taken the initiative and understands what we do and is sensitive and realistic about who they signpost to us.”
"When I came here in 2008 you would get volunteers coming in the door but communication wasn’t that efficient.It’s a lot better since HPV has been… it’s helped us to understand how to identify volunteers skills."
Marketing for New Volunteers and Promoting Services:
"HPVol helped us to design a poster and pamphlet and identify where we can display them… and how to get our message across. This has been an invaluable help to us. We can now reach clients who are rurally isolated and didn’t know about the car scheme before, this year our client numbers and volunteer numbers have shot up."
“We have definitely used it (marketing advice)It has been a contributory factor to getting new volunteers.”
"It’s too soon to say but we expect that through using the digital information screens HPVol are organizing we will be able to reach more vulnerable people from the community who we’ve not been able to make contact with yet."
"Through help with marketing we now have more elderly people on our books who are isolated either as they are housebound or because of where they live.As we do shopping for people in need, these are exactly the clients we want!"
“We have thought more about how we phrase things and what we want from our volunteers”.
Rewarding and Thanking Volunteers:
“They've made me think about rewarding people and making them feel valued like with the afternoon tea. It was really well done.We have a few people with learning disabilities and it meant so much to them to have the recognition.They still talk about it.”
Raising Awareness & Partnership Work:
“More work happens in those rural areas as a result of them being there and inviting us along. They make the contacts and then the other agencies have opportunity to impact there. It’s taken 2 ½ years to establish ourselves in the towns – it would be even more difficult in the rural areas”.
“One of the problems in the village regarding volunteers is that there’s so many little organisations knocking about and there’s the same people involved in each one. It’s only the last few years that Hope has started to get younger people attracted towards it.
“As a College where community engagement is central to our ethos and an important part of our role, initially as a
“We first met at the Business Breakfast meeting at which we share best practice etc.From there we invited HPV to talk to students and key staff about what High Peak Volunteering meant and from there we’ve shared ideas.
HPV have been exceptional in getting involved and prompting us and suggesting ways of working and from that we’ve managed to secure a fantastic trail leader and also we’ve worked with HPV to secure other volunteering opportunities – not just sport activities, like the bike club, but within curricular activities and extra curricular activities – which is very exciting for us”.
“I think certainly it adds tremendous value to our club.But it has the potential to add value across school and community.I think it’s been interesting to see what volunteering means and how it can really affect an organisation”.
“We have worked with High Peak Volunteering in a range of activities over the past year. These include:
· Sourcing a mountain bike tutor
·Music Festival
· Volunteering opportunities with students
· BIG (Business Interest Group) breakfast meetings
· Careers week interviews
All of these have had a positive impact on the wider work of the College but particularly our students”.
“The HPV project has been extremely helpful in enabling us to establish an archive project at the College. We have 2 volunteers working on cataloguing and organising all the archives related to the History of the College. They in turn have been able to get other people to come in on a voluntary basis to help identify people and information for the records”.
“The presence of HPV during Open Evenings and evenings when Adult Community Education classes have been running has also been important in showing the breadth of the College's interests, the availability of volunteering opportunities, and the ways in which local groups can recruit volunteers”.
“I think having High Peak Volunteering here in the daytime is also a good thing for the local community, as it means people can get hold of them more easily and see what the project is about. Its also part of what being a Community College is about”.
“HPV have helped put together new standardised procedures and ways of working.Being part of the modernisation sub group they have actively helped put together and design the registration forms, procedures for brokerage, they helped by being involved in designing, developing and implementing the training across the County.2 specific examples here, but they were involved in the whole accreditation process”
“HPVol has very definitely enhanced our project.They made a great contribution to the modernisation group.They had a significant role in training delivery and training design and I would like to see that continue”
“Working in partnership with HPVol has been fantastic! I have been impressed by them and their determination.The number of groups here today! I think we compliment each other and they’re really organised”
“Looking forward to working with them in the future? Absolutely, lots of opportunities to explore”.
"They’ve been very fair and helpful – particularly passing on information about
"We wanted to advertise our services and they’ve helped us do this through roadshows, giving us big lists of publications, emails with dates of events we need and so on.”
"The Celebration Event High Peak Volunteering organised was really good for raising our profile and has been a good example of working together"
