It’s Volunteers' Week across the UK – celebrating the time and contribution millions of people give for free throughout the year. Like many charities, those that are part of the Recovery Focus group are lucky enough to count on the support of hundreds of committed volunteers.
Our group – which consists of Richmond Fellowship, Aquarius, DVIP and My Time – provides specialist support services to individuals and families living with the effects of mental ill health drug and alcohol use and domestic violence. Many of our volunteers have used our services in the past, or have a family member affected by our causes. We know that for many of them their volunteering experience is part of their recovery journey.
Unsurprisingly we take our volunteers, and their experience with us very seriously, and we are always looking to improve and evaluate it. We recently held a survey of all our volunteers, and have published the results to tie in with Volunteers' Week.
Of those surveyed:
- 90% said volunteering gave them a feeling of personal achievement
- 65% said they have increased their confidence through volunteering with Recovery Focus and 75% said they have increased their social networks
- 97% felt safe while volunteering with us
- 86% said their supervisor communicated effectively with them and feel they are available and supportive
- 85% of volunteers felt their induction and training for their role was good
Jacqui Bull, Participation Development Officer at Recovery Focus, who leads on our volunteering said:
'We’re very pleased with this most recent set of results which shows that volunteering with our partners is both well-supported and rewarding. We're proud of these results and the volunteering opportunities that we offer, but we’re prouder still of our volunteers.
I’d like to personally say a big thank you to the individuals who completed the survey, and everyone who spends their valuable free time volunteering with our partners to the benefit of the people we support'.
If you’re interested in volunteering with any of the charities within the Recovery Focus group you can find out more here.