MiCommunity Master Class in … Corporate Volunteering
MiCommunity developed employee volunteering opportunities across Greater London as a way to engage with local businesses. It was a good way to raise awareness of the needs of older people in relation to digital inclusion, and to highlight the work being undertaken by local Age UKs.
Large corporates tend to have a person that is responsible for their corporate social responsibility (CSR), which helps the business demonstrate their community or philanthropic side. This can be giving money or through volunteering time and skills. Smaller businesses may not have a person responsible for this but still want to get their staff involved in the community. Organising employee volunteering opportunities takes a lot of time, so some charities charge businesses for this. While other charities use it as a way to build a longer term relationship with the company. In time the charity might get financial support, e.g. through fundraising, though that rarely happens in the first instance.
Techy Tea parties
What is it? It’s a tea party with a techy twist. The company will hold the session on their own premises, it’s a fun and informal chance for older people to try out new technology and get their questions answered by volunteers who are taking time out of their work, often over an extended lunch.
The companies provide the venue space and the refreshments, (e.g. their Board Room or an in housecafeteria). Many enjoy having a ‘cake bake’ to provide home made cakes for the event, and this can let other staff get involved if they can’t on the day.
Your contact willrecruit a group of staff to volunteer for around 2 hours on the day. It really works if they are encouragedto bring along theirown digital technology, such as kindles, iPads and iPhones. Older people get to try them out and have a closer look. This is along with some laptops so the older people can get online and find out about social media e.g. Facebook or Twitter.
Once the date, time and venue is agreed, start to recruit the older people. Match the numbers about one to one, there may be a bit of drop off in the older people on the day (so 10 volunteers to 10-12 older people). Encourage older people to their own gadgets, such as mobile phones or digital cameras, along with their questions e.g. how to retrieve a text message or send an email.
On the day ensure that you have a member of staff to supervise. Match older people 1 to 1 with a volunteer for to help with any techy issues they might have. Supply paper and pens for taking notes.
Digital Clinics
What are they? These are informal ’drop in’digital taster sessions and chances for older people to bring in their own technology and get one to one help with their questions. They are set up in community venues such as a library, day centre or in a local Age UK venue. It can work well for engaging older people who are less mobile, for example by holding a session in sheltered housing. Volunteers from the company are recruited to come to the venue for the session. Refreshments aren’t compulsory, though tea and biscuits are always appreciated! Aim for about 5 volunteers and up to 10 older people ‘dropping in’. Because this is off site, and volunteers are usually taking more time out of the day, companies are not necessarily expected to pay for transport or refreshments. Advertising is done usually through newsletter, mailing list or poster in the venue.
Mobile phones are particularly popular for digital clinics. It’s a good way to distribute information about staying safe online.
Top Tips
1)Start with businesses and/or local authorities that you already have a relationship with and be prepared to demonstrate to the company what their staff and the business will gain from the experience. Research shows, for example, that volunteering can boost morale and improve employee retention.
2)If there is not a specific staff member responsible for charity days or community engagement, ask for a named contact. They will help co-ordinate the event on the day and before.
3)Be aware of the physical access and, in the case of tea parties, dietary needs of theolder people. For example avoid coinciding with rush hour in the morning or the late afternoonschool run.
4)Supply the named contact with some promotional information so that they can recruit the employee volunteers from within their company – here’s an example (for a techy tea party)
5.7million people in later life have never used the internet, and many more find it difficult to stay up to date with the pace of new technology. Are you interested in giving your time to help older people tackle the digital exclusion that they face?
On Thursday 26th April 2012 from 1.30 – 3.30 Age UK xxx will be bringing a group of older people here to ACME COMPANY for a TECHY TEA PARTY. The Techy Tea Party will last up to two hours and we aim for it to be very fun and informal. The older people will be bring their mobile phones or digital cameras and will have questions and queries e.g. how to send a text message, how to download a picture from their camera.
Why don’t you bring along your kindle, iPod or tablet and show an older person what all the fuss is about? Do you fancy volunteering to sign the praises of twitter, Facebook or Flickr? Get in contact with (named contact)
We don’t need technical wizards so don’t let that put you off. The older people really appreciate the 1:1 support, and a chat, over a cup of tea. These sessions can really make a difference to older people’s confidence in using equipment that many of us take for granted.
5)Advertise the opportunity as widely as possible with local older peoples groups, local Age UKs and day centres. You could put some posters in libraries or doctors surgeries.
6)Appoint a designated person to hold the contact list of older people who have replied and said they will come. It will help you recruit more volunteers if the list is bulging!
7)Make sure that the invitation encourages the older learners to bring along their mobile phones, digital cameras or other bits of piece of techy equipment and also any questions re: email or social media that could be dealt with at the session
8)For digital clinics try to have access to a computer with any spare camera adaptors/card readers etc on the day, as some people may want to upload and learn how to manage photos.
9)Safeguarding –there should not be any need for CRB checks other than the supervisor as this is a one off volunteering opportunity and not a regular activity. Generally as long as the volunteers are not left alone with the vulnerable adults and the supervisor is in attendance at all times you are following CRB guidance.
10) Induction- Take 10 minutes at the beginning of the session to talk to the older people and volunteers. Let them know how the session will work, housekeeping, and how people will pair up. In addition and make sure everyone knows not to share passwords, or personal information they are not comfortable with. Even if the older person wants to set up a bank account, most of the big banks have online banking demos with videos on their websites.
11) The company may want to do a press release about the event and if so make sure that your charity is named correctly and offer them a quote from your Chief Exec or Chair of Trustees. In return ask the company if they are happy to be used as a case study to encourage other companies to take part. Most are happy to show off! However do run any further literature or Press by the company to make sure they are happy with how they are being presented or that their logo is being used correctly.
12)The company may want to understand the impact of this opportunity on their staff. Would the company be happy to pay for some of your time to undertake a brief evaluation report or have the employee volunteers fill in a feedback form?
Frequently asked questions
What about transport to and from the venue?
Many older people are happy to travel independently. On some occasions, transport could be an issue. Ask the company whether they are willing to cover the costs of local community transport.
Will I need to get permission from people to take their photograph?
If you are planning to take pictures to publish on a website, in a publication or on any other type of materials that might be distributed, it's essential to get signed photo release forms that grant you permission to publish likenesses of the people and objects in your photos.
A photo release form is a written agreement between you and the person you are photographing and doesn’t need to be very complicated.
What information do I need to collect from volunteers?
Forms can be off-putting for many people. Ask yourself what information is necessary and if you are collecting data, make sure to have a simple layout and consider using tick boxes to reduce the amount of writing necessary.For a 2 hour volunteering session this should be no more than one side of A4, and be prepared to explain why the data is being collected. The minimum should be a name and an email and a tick box to ask them to opt out if they don’t want to be contacted again. This week’s volunteer could be next year’s charity marathon runner!
What else do I need to bring?
Get hold of the Age UK leaflets about internet safety and anything your local police may have. Older people can be concerned about fraud and privacy, understandable, especially if this is a new area to them and they have only read headlines.
What do I do with the older people once they are there?
Start with finding out what people know already, what their questions are, and their hobbies and interests. If you are still stuck, for places to go for things to do with people try the following websites for ideas:
Go on Learn: great for basic intro exercises such as mouse control
BBC Webwise basic intros and has a free online course covering mobile phones, online safety, using email and the internet