Darlington Partnership Board

DARLINGTON PARTNERSHIP BOARD

WEDNESDAY 11th NOVEMBER 2015

THE BEEHIVE

LINGFIELD POINT, DARLINGTON

DL1 1RW

MINUTES

PRESENT

Alasdair MacConachie (Chair), Rachel Anderson, Mike Barton, Katie Blundell, Ada Burns, Jan Cossins, Carol Daniell, Bill Dixon, Stuart Errington, Colin Fyfe, Graham Hall, Cyndi Hughes, Doris Jones, Dean Judson, Gillian Peel, Andy Scott, Heather Scott

APOLOGIES

Mike Airey, Nick Barker, Peter Bulmer, Miriam Davidson, Rob Hogg, Sue Jacques, Andrea Jones, Mike Matthews, John McGovern, Rob Mills

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE

Danny Brown, John Dean, Simon Gdaniec, Mary Hall, Seth Pearson, Alan Reiss, Andy Whittam, Lynda Winstanley, Tracey Wright

ITEM 2: WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

The Chairman welcomed those present for attending and thanked Sara Williams on behalf of Lingfield Point for hosting the meeting. Introductions were made around the room.

ITEM 3: MINUTES – The minutes of the previous meeting held on September 9th 2015 were agreed as a true record.

ITEM 4: MATTERS ARISING – There were no matters arising

DISCUSSION ITEMS

ITEM 5: DANNY BROWN – YOUTH MP FOR DARLINGTON

Danny Brown introduced himself as the Youth MP for Darlington representing around 10k young people aged 11-19 in the town. He explained that as he is coming towards the end of his term he wanted to give an update on what he has achieved so far and what he still wants to do.

He said he sees himself as an example that no matter who you are or what you look like, you can make a change and that the aim of his role is to ensure that every young person has a voice in the community.

Danny gave his definition of democracy – “democracy is not a set of rules, it is a choice. When Choices change, so does democracy”.

The Make Your Mark campaign was explained, where 10 issues are shortlisted to five key issues which are then debated in the House of Commons by the UK Youth Parliament to decide on which will become the Youth Parliament’s campaign for the year. Danny explained that the next debate is on 13th November 2015 and that he would be travelling to London to be part of it. The shortlisted issues for this campaign are: a living wage, a curriculum to prepare us for life, transport, mental health and tackling racism & religious discrimination.

With Danny’s term ending in a few months, an election is going to take place for a new MYP. Candidates must be aged 11-18 years old and live in Darlington.

ITEM 6: DEVELOPING VOLUNTEERING

Seth Pearson outlined the focus of the meeting as the development of volunteering in Darlington and explained he is interested to find out what collaboration will look like for volunteering and to develop a clear mandate.

a: Civic Theatre & Volunteering in the cultural sector

Lynda Winstanley (Director - Darlington Civic Theatre) gave a presentation on volunteering related to the Civic Theatre. She explained that she is passionate about volunteering and having drawn on her own earlier experience she has realised the importance of it and the positive impact it has on the individual (developing confidence, gaining experience) as well as for the organisation.

She outlined the current volunteering opportunities at the theatre including The Friends of Darlington Civic Theatre, Ambassadors and the ArtsSpark youth theatre. She Went on to say that there is a need to do more and that one of benefits of the redevelopment is the opportunity to create a new volunteer scheme supported by the new facilities.

Explaining the research that the theatre has done she outlined some key statistics in relation to volunteering and added how they had tested their plans through consultations and surveys. She told how they have looked at the best practice in the sector and how they are working with Darlington for Culture to receive advice, guidance and mentorship.

Lynda said that her vision is for the theatre to be a place where volunteering is highly respected and highly regarded.

John Dean, Chair of Darlington for Culture, explained how their organisation is a member-led, volunteer-driven group giving a voice to the Arts & Culture sector and working to support the sector in Darlington. In relation to volunteering he said that they pride themselves on being professional and follow set policies and procedures but without over-burdening volunteers with paperwork and bureaucracy.

Darlington for Culture has over 50 active volunteers and each is given and interview and induction and are then supervised when they start their roles. They are all DBS checked which the volunteers fund themselves unless they are unable or unwilling to do so. John explained how it is important to ensure that there are opportunities for the volunteers but to make sure that they are not overworked – volunteers will leave if they feel they are doing too little or too much.

John warned organisations looking at introducing volunteers that they should not be surprised if the volunteers challenge the way of working as many will bring extensive knowledge and experience.

Illustrating the impact that volunteers can have, John cited several Arts & Culture sector examples including Includfest and the Festival of Thrift.

b. North East Ambulance Service

Mary Hall (Senior Engagement Officer - Darlington Borough Council) presented a paper on the North East Ambulance Service’s (NEAS) use of volunteers which was written following a meeting with Ronnie Allaway from NEAS.

She explained how volunteering in the public sector is a different kind of volunteering and how there are three volunteering areas within NEAS (Patient Transport, Community Responders and Portering) which are carried out by around 200 volunteers coordinated by four paid members of staff.

Work was done by NEAS on why ambulance crews, often patient transport, were sat waiting outside hospitals and it was discovered that the cause is often wheelchairs not being readily available or patients not being ready to leave at the right time. The research found that a crew could spend up to 30 minutes per shift looking for wheelchairs and delivering patients to different departments.

A trial was carried out in Tyneside where volunteers were used to go to the ward, ensure the patient was ready and to provide calming and reassurance. There was a reluctance at first from paid staff who felt threatened by the use of volunteers but it has proved to be a win-win situation as ambulance feel they are able to do the job that they are paid for, the patients feel prepared and reassured, the hospital is providing a better quality of care and the volunteers feel they are making a difference.

The scheme has now been rolled out in five hospitals across the North East.

Mary stressed that the use of volunteers is not free – volunteers need support and training, and to have their work acknowledged and logged. However, she added that if an organisation does it well, volunteering is of benefit to all.

ITEM 7: DISCUSSION

Seth stressed that this is a critical piece of work for the Partnership to move forward and said he was keen to look at how value can be added through collaboration. He gave three questions for the Board to consider and discuss from which he drew that the key things are:

-  A need for effective marketing

-  Promote the range of opportunities available

-  Create a professional gateway to volunteering

-  Give appropriate recognition, perhaps as part of a Partnership-led award

-  Provide access to a ‘tool kit’ for organisations providing volunteering opportunities

There was a call from Gillian Peel during the meeting for a website as a central portal for potential volunteers to find opportunities. Cyndi Hughes added that an app would be a good idea.

The Board confirmed a mandate for the Partnership Director to explore the potential for collaboration in developing volunteering in Darlington. A draft proposal will be shared and circulated for comment then discussed at the next Board meeting.

Dates of Future Meetings:

January 13th, Broken Scar

Appendix 1.

How to Attract Volunteers

·  Leadership/support/coordinators

·  Clear roles – scoped to give choice

·  What volunteers do we want and then can target

·  What skills are needed?

·  Targeted – e.g. Health & Social Care students

·  Professional experience

·  Marketing – not using them to do low level tasks - value them

·  Spend time

·  Use volunteers and word of mouth

·  Capitalise on passion for locality

·  Volunteers develop

·  Making a difference

·  Start “young” – address risk

·  Personal invitation

·  Complete offer – what does the individual and organisation gain?

·  Volunteering v. Sharing

·  Augmentation of services

·  Blending of staff/teams

·  Employability v. self-need

·  Self-interest

·  Team/self-improvement

·  Ex-employees

·  Task/workload balance

·  Volunteer to feel the solution to the issue

·  Opportunities need to be visible and non-threatening

·  Ensure volunteers matched to the right opportunity

·  What is the baseline?

·  Volunteer roadshow

·  Get right entry point e.g. options evenings, prep for retirement

·  Validate learning e.g. Open College Network

·  Publicity – get the word out

·  Specific projects/specific ask – danger of being too general

·  Organisations understanding resources to support

·  Accreditation – formal/informal

·  Recognition – “you have made a difference to Darlington”

·  Website – must be up to date

·  Organisations need to be open to having volunteers

·  Not ‘work’ but engagement

·  Volunteering ‘buzz’ creates more opportunities which could be shared

·  Engage with staff to ensure they are on board

·  Identify good practice and share ideas

Essentials of Best Practice in Supporting Volunteers

·  High level strategic support

·  Coordination and support

·  VCS often have paid specialist support for volunteers

·  Understand motivations and tailor the offer to them

·  Induction

·  Get feedback from volunteers (e.g. police survey, exit interviews)

·  Support network

·  Appreciate what they do

·  Make sure what they do is useful

·  Got to be able to work with staff

·  Harness offer of services or advice from professionals

·  Volunteer coordinating volunteers (cut down costs)

·  Safeguarding training

·  Young people need more information/support

·  Acknowledge not one typical group/person

·  Enable personal development

·  Management

·  Communication – surgery, forum, newsletter

How Can We Collaborate?

·  Public Sector bodies

·  Volunteer Awards

·  Marketing

·  Shared specialist support

·  Prioritise needs

·  Mentoring

·  National Citizens Service