Head of City Volunteering - a 'daft job'?
Happily enoying my late breakfast and perusal of the Sunday papers yesterday morning, I nearly choked on my coffee over this article in the Sunday Times.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7149006.ece
Is it not a little disturbing that in a time when the Big Society is being touted as the solution to all our ills a role such as this (albeit for quite a significant salary) is considered daft. The Sunday Times appear to have got their facts wrong as well, a quick search online suggests that the role is Head of Host City Vounteering and is directly related to the recruitment of up to 8000 volunteers for the Olympics.
An example perhaps of how little we have moved towards a universal understanding of the value of volunteer management?
I agree - and that ability to negotiate/convince/persuade is a crucial and often overlooked skill
I think the real issue is NOT party politics... Regardless of what Boris does volunteer recruitment salaries must be transparently sustainable, and worthwhile to both superiors and minions, a deeply tricky position to hold. There is no doubt about commitment. Supbordinates such as myself need massive conviction without guilt to give up our time and intellect :) A type that grabs that is by definition expensive.
I think the real issue is that this job is unlikely to be around for long - just read that Boris is axing the LDA!
I totally agree. The Value Volunteer Management Campaign that Volunteering England recently launched aims to raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteer management. The key message is that volunteers are much more beneficial to an organisation if they are strategically and professionally managed. We've had a lot of positive responses from organisations across the private, public and voluntary sectors so far, and hopefully it will go some way in counteracting unhelpful stories such as this one! Visit the Volunteer Management Programme blog on i-volunteer to find out more.