Foreword to LEAP for Volunteering

6

LEAP for Volunteering

Prepared by

The Scottish Community Development Centre

For

Volunteer Centres Scotland

2003
Foreword to LEAP for Volunteering

Origins

Volunteer Centres Scotland is committed to improving the quality of volunteering. In pursuit of this aim they commissioned the development of the LEAP (Learning Evaluation and Planning) for Volunteering framework. It has been developed by the Scottish Community Development Centre from an existing model prepared on behalf of the Scottish Executive Education Department for planning and evaluating community learning and development.

The original LEAP framework was the subject of a wide-ranging training and development strategy with partners in community learning and development in which several volunteering agencies became involved. Evidence of the applicability and value of the model to volunteering was provided by applications of it by these participants. However it was necessary to adapt the existing framework to the specific requirements of volunteering.

This version of LEAP has applied the core principles of the model but done so with a specific focus on volunteering, its values, methods and objectives. What emerges is a framework that adopts common core principles, methods and language but is tailored specifically to the needs of the volunteering sector. (Users may wish to note that, commissioned by the Health Education Board for Scotland, a similar adaptation has been made for community development and health work. Hence a common approach to participatory planning and evaluation is emerging across sectors that frequently work in partnership with one another.)

Users

The initial intention was to produce a framework specifically for use by volunteer centres. However as the work has progressed the model has been developed with the potential to be applied by a range of different sorts of agencies that support promote and engage volunteers and by volunteers directly.

The role of a volunteer centre is primarily focused on promoting and developing volunteering, whereas deploying volunteers in practical activity is primarily the responsibility of agencies that engage volunteers. A useful analogy is the relationship between a job centre and an employer. Both have an interest in planning and evaluation but it is different. So too do volunteers, individually or as groups involved in a common activity. For each of the potential users of the LEAP for Volunteering handbook the focus of planning and evaluation will be slightly different though all are key to volunteering as a whole. It is important therefore to consider the role that you or your agency are playing and to focus on those aspects of the handbook that are most relevant to you.

Related initiatives

In their pursuit of best practice, Volunteer Centres Scotland have taken other important initiatives. For example they have developed a statement of vision and values, a practice standards framework and an associated tool kit to support good practice. LEAP develops from and complements these initiatives. It adopts the vision and values as its starting point and endorses the adoption of the kinds of resources identified in the tool kit. Most significantly it complements the standards framework and it is important to be clear about the relationship between the two documents.

The function of standards is to provide guidance on forms of practice and levels of performance that are likely to provide a high quality service. They offer models and targets for organisations. However stating a standard does not necessarily result in its application and applying a standard may not always be effective. It is essential therefore to have tools available to help you to plan and evaluate your practice to see whether the standards are being implemented and whether they are effective. LEAP is designed in part to help you do this. However, it is important to understand that LEAP is not primarily focused on standards but on outcomes of practice. The key questions posed by LEAP are concerned with what you are trying to achieve, how you may go about it and whether the methods and action you adopt are effective.

A very important approach to this is the application of standards. These are often statements of appropriate action to support best practice. Hence many of the 70 standards set out in the Volunteer Centres Standards framework start with words like adopt, operate, provide, review. These words indicate actions. The standards framework identifies many desirable actions but there are many more that may be seen as relevant to particular outcomes. LEAP helps users to assess what the appropriate actions may be to achieve the changes that are sought and enables reflective consideration of the benefits of their adoption.

Other evaluation and quality assurance frameworks

A common response when LEAP was first written was why do we need another framework. Partly this resulted from misunderstanding of the different purposes of different tools, for example the assumption that standards, quality improvement (e.g. The Big Picture – produced by SCVO) and evaluation frameworks are interchangeable. They may well be compatible but they do not perform the same function.

It also resulted in part from an assumption that all evaluation frameworks are the same. They are not. They may adopt different perspective and hence apply criteria that reflect different interests, they may be focused more on accountability or on learning from action, and they may emphasis periodic review against prescribed goals or continuous learning about the process and outcomes of action. It is therefore important to understand what LEAP for volunteering is.

LEAP for Volunteering is:

o  a tool for planning and evaluation of volunteering by those people who participate in it

o  embedded in the values and principles of volunteering

o  a basis for continuous review of progress and development of more effective action.

As such it is designed to support best practice. A fuller section in the text explores how LEAP may be used alongside other evaluation systems, such as ‘Best Value’ that agencies may be required to use.

INTRODUCING LEAP

A. Setting the context

Volunteer development and volunteering

This publication provides a comprehensive framework for the planning and evaluation of volunteer development and volunteering. It was commissioned by Volunteer Development Scotland and Volunteer Centres Scotland. The framework has been developed within the vision and values of Volunteer Centres Scotland.

“Our vision of Scotland is of a nation which believes every one of its people can contribute towards and benefit from making Scotland a better place to live; where volunteering is valued and recognised across all sectors as an expression of an empowered people and a force for change, and where anyone who wants to volunteer can do so readily.

Volunteer Centres support volunteering that builds healthy sustainable communities that respect the dignity of all people; helps tackle social cultural, economic and environmental issues, and builds a more humane and just society.

We support the Universal Declaration on Volunteering adopted by the International Association of Voluntary Effort in January 2001. This identifies volunteering as a fundamental building block of civil society and challenges volunteers and leader of all sectors throughout the world to unite as partners to promote and support effective volunteering, accessible to all, as a symbol of solidarity among all people and nations”

The framework has been designed to support focused, participatory, planning and continuous evaluation of volunteer development and volunteering. Within the framework the following definition of volunteering is adopted from 'Supporting Active Communities In Scotland - draft strategy for volunteering and community action' Scottish Executive (2000):

"Volunteering - the commitment by individuals of time and energy for the benefit of the community. It is undertaken freely and by choice and without personal financial gain."

Volunteering is an essential component of an active participative society. This is recognised by the UK government which, since 1999, has promoted an Active Communities initiative to achieve: “…a step change in public involvement in the community” (Prime Minister Tony Blair, January 1999) In Scotland this commitment is echoed in the foreword to the Active Communities strategy by, then, Deputy Minister for Social Justice, Jackie Baillie:

“The Scottish Executive has a strong commitment to volunteering and encouraging community action. We have this commitment because we believe that volunteering and community action have an important part to play in promoting active citizenship.”

The Deputy Minister goes on to associate volunteering with the achievement of : “better government policies and more responsive public services” ; and with the: “tackling of problems of poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion.”

This stance is entirely compatible with the perspectives of Volunteer Centres Scotland as set out in its vision and values statement. (The full statement is appendix 1).

What is the framework about and who is it for?

The Learning, Evaluation and Planning (LEAP) package emphasises that planning and evaluation are integrally linked activities which continually inform the progress of practice. The package is for use by partners in volunteer development and volunteering. LEAP is based on the recognition that volunteering is an activity promoted:

• by a range of agencies - voluntary, statutory and private

• in a range of different disciplines and settings .

Some agencies and workers such as those in Volunteer Centres will be specialists in the field of volunteering. For others it will be just one part of their activities. The package is intended for use by both.

Volunteer development normally involves more than one agency. This may be as simple as the relationship between a promotion and a user agency, however it is frequently much more complex as volunteers are increasingly deployed in settings where several agencies and disciplines are working in partnership. It therefore requires a “joined-up” approach from agencies. This package is designed to provide a common framework for planning and evaluation which can be used when different agencies that are working together in partnership.

The LEAP planning and evaluation package should enable its users to:

• clarify what is involved in volunteer development and volunteering

• plan their activities

• identify evaluation indicators which are appropriate

• provide evidence of what has been done

• provide evidence of what difference it has made to individuals and communities

• learn from their practice experience to improve their effectiveness

As was noted in the forward, different agencies will have different roles in volunteering and will need to concentrate on those aspects of LEAP that are most pertinent to their particular role.

The package is designed for participatory self-evaluation and quality improvement. By self evaluation we mean an approach in which, together, the participants take responsibility for the evaluation of their own work as a continuous part of their activities. In other words planning and evaluation are tasks of practice itself which are developed and implemented by the people who are involved. We call these people the stakeholders. Hence the package is based on the principles that :

• evaluation should be an integral part of developing volunteering

• promoting and engaging agencies, volunteers and service users take part in it

• they do so to achieve continual improvements in effectiveness and efficiency

• they feed the lessons into their planning of future work

LEAP is intended to help the stakeholders to plan and evaluate their own work in partnership. It is designed to be adaptable to a range of circumstances and be applied in the real day to day world of volunteering. The pack:

• elaborates the principles underlying the planning and evaluation model

• describes and explains the key components of the model

• sets out indicative criteria for planning and evaluating both processes and tasks

• discusses issues in using the model

• provides information on methods and techniques for using the model

• considers how the evaluation framework can inform:

planning;

management/supervision;

review and development

• reviews the policy context

LEAP should be used as a framework for planning and evaluation. It is based on an analysis of the key tasks involved in volunteer development and volunteering and invites users to identify the changes they seek to achieve ant the methods of reaching them.

B. Understanding the model

The Approach

The planning and self evaluation model is presented in a diagram at the end of this section. The diagram illustrates the key components of the model and indicates its underlying assumptions and principles. These are discussed in this section and accompanied by illustrations which build up to form the complete model.

We start by examining key contexts of volunteering. We then illustrate the core components of volunteering and the relationship between evaluation and planning.

Volunteering is subject to the influences of the wider world.

Volunteering does not exist in a vacuum. It is constantly influenced by its wider environment and in turn seeks to influence it. Changes in economic, social, political, technological or cultural context impact on its priorities, resources, activities and dominant values. Here are some examples of wider influences which would all have an impact on volunteering for both providers and users:

• an economic downturn and increasing unemployment or poverty

• a change of government

• a change in population characteristics (e.g. increase in dependent older people)

• a change in cultural values (e.g. reduction in religious affiliation)

• spread of information and communication technology (e.g. use of the internet)

The model starts by recognising that volunteering operates in the context of these wider influences. These reflect broader and, frequently, global trends.

Volunteer development and volunteering take place in an explicit policy and legal context

The model suggests that it is vital that agencies and practitioners understand and respond to the policy and legal context of their work. Equally it indicates that lessons from their practice should be used to influence policy development. This applies both to specific policy for volunteering and the wider policy objectives within which this activity is located such as achieving health equalities or environmental sustainability .

A working group of volunteer centre staff involved in developing this framework identified the following significant policy influences on volunteering activity: active citizenship, social justice, life long learning, Agenda 21, equal opportunities, health equalities, social care, community planning and regeneration. Of these it was noted that three are currently of key importance: social justice, active citizenship (particularly the Active Communities Strategy) and community planning. These are given particular consideration in the next section.