Volunteers the key to Community Empowerment
Posted by Andy Phillips on Monday, June 20, 2011
Community members are the essence of good development practice and how we work with them to further empower them is vital if we are to see sustained development and growth at a local level.
While it is important to focus our work and develop a programme that gives a definable set of outcomes it is just as important to recognise that this cannot be successful without a plan for continuous community capacity building. We cannot expect capacity building to only be for a set period because as with all situations we always need to be identifying new volunteers or workers and then training and equipping them to carry on the work of community development. While it is great to have a team of committed volunteers it is important to recognise that this team will always be in a state of constant flux.
Some of the volunteers may get a job, after all this is why many volunteer in the first place, to enhance a cv. Others may feel that they have 'done their bit' and feel it is time to move on. This to is fine. However if we are not always looking new potential team members then this is where we can fall short and develop a gap in provision.
So where am I going with this? My idea is to develop a train the trainer package for volunteers so that they can help to identify potential community members who can follow in their footsteps and keep the programme viable and functioning. In Tonyrefail during the first three months of 2011 our volunteers did over 700 hours of unpaid work. They really are a credit to our community and without them much of what is being achieved simply wouldn't happen. So a huge thank you to all our volunteers and here's to the next generation. If you would like to be involved with any form of community work in the Tonyrefail area why not get in touch by completing the information request form on this site or telephone the office on 01443 671312 and one of our staff will be happy to talk to you.
While it is important to focus our work and develop a programme that gives a definable set of outcomes it is just as important to recognise that this cannot be successful without a plan for continuous community capacity building. We cannot expect capacity building to only be for a set period because as with all situations we always need to be identifying new volunteers or workers and then training and equipping them to carry on the work of community development. While it is great to have a team of committed volunteers it is important to recognise that this team will always be in a state of constant flux.
Some of the volunteers may get a job, after all this is why many volunteer in the first place, to enhance a cv. Others may feel that they have 'done their bit' and feel it is time to move on. This to is fine. However if we are not always looking new potential team members then this is where we can fall short and develop a gap in provision.
So where am I going with this? My idea is to develop a train the trainer package for volunteers so that they can help to identify potential community members who can follow in their footsteps and keep the programme viable and functioning. In Tonyrefail during the first three months of 2011 our volunteers did over 700 hours of unpaid work. They really are a credit to our community and without them much of what is being achieved simply wouldn't happen. So a huge thank you to all our volunteers and here's to the next generation. If you would like to be involved with any form of community work in the Tonyrefail area why not get in touch by completing the information request form on this site or telephone the office on 01443 671312 and one of our staff will be happy to talk to you.