The Importance of Community Relationships
GRACE COFFEY IS THE PARTNERSHIP MANAGER AT CAMDEN GIVING AND SHARES HER EXPERIENCE OF ENSURING EVERYONE BENEFITS FROM VOLUNTEERING.
As Partnerships Manager at Camden Giving, the strength and unequivocal talent of the people of Camden radiates to me every day from the varying corners of our community. At a time of political change, likely upheaval and as the year draws to a close, I'm reflecting on the many sides of Camden that I witness and the benefits of different types of people coming together. The value of everyday interactions and cross-sector relationships are made clear to me on a daily basis. It is in this ‘everyday’ that great glimmers of kindness, patience, support, learnings and constructive debate occur and in these very interactions that I have witnessed just how our community positively benefits from cross-sector collaboration, specifically in skills-based volunteering.
VOLUNTEER COORDINATION
Coordinating volunteers into local meaningful volunteering opportunities falls under my title of Partnerships Manager. I work alongside Urban Partners, a voluntary business partnership made up of organisations in the Euston, King’s Cross and St Pancras area, coordinating employees from the businesses into local skills-based volunteering opportunities. The value of skills-based volunteering and why it is growing in success in Camden has become embedded in me as a successful aspect of society that needs shouting about. One example of this is the Commercial Director of Ted Baker mentoring the founder of Clime-It Brothers, a streetwear fashion venture that also gives back, providing opportunities for local young people in Camden. The mentoring partnership is based on two individuals working in the fashion industry, one with years of commercial success under his belt and the other innovatively working with fresh perspectives and being a well-respected member of the local community. The volunteering is set to benefit both parties, with big and small business outlooks learning from each-other in their brilliantly different yet intrinsically linked roles.
In addition, we need to change our understanding of the word ‘volunteering’, it encompasses much more than it is sometimes understood to be. Often when I have mentioned the word ‘volunteering’ I have been met with responses of on-mass wall painting, river clearing or litter picking. All are undoubtedly valuable tasks that our society needs and on occasion the right interpretation of the word. However, the success of skills-based volunteering adds much greater depth of meaning to a word quite often dismissed as just volunteering. This depth has come in the form of understanding volunteering as a two-way transaction, that should positively benefit both the volunteer and the group or person volunteered for. By debunking the notion that the volunteer is placed on a pedestal and only gives and instead reforming this to include that the volunteer most certainly gains from their volunteering experience then adds value as to why you would even volunteer in the first place.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
As for-profit businesses are more widely accepting social responsibility as part of their main purpose and company values, local impact, business footprint, inclusivity, accessibility and community support is moving further up their to-do list. It is then in skills-based volunteering that win-win situations can be formed. Through empowering employees of businesses to understand what skills-based volunteering is, it enables them to see how such an experience will grow their own knowledge and expertise, all whilst being of value to somebody else. To then return to the workplace having had this positive experience the individual and the employer both gains, making it not only a societal but economic success for the business.
On the opposite side of the coin, small charities or local groups benefit from the time of somebody they both need and value. From HR to social media support, financial to legal advice, practical hands-on work to informative knowledge sharing, all local charities have an area in which they would benefit from this type of support. They also have limited time, often limited people and resources and therefore do not have time to waste. Valuing the time of a charity and the logistics often involved in hosting a volunteer is why, out of the many clear reasons, skills-based volunteering is best. Charities need and deserve specific and attentive support and for their genuine needs to be at the centre of the volunteer-match, ensuring that they positively benefit and that their volunteer leaves the experience knowing they have added real and meaningful value.
THE TWO-WAY TRANSACTION
By creating a culture of skills-based volunteering I also believe societal divides can in turn be broken down. The strength of small and grassroots organisations, in how they work so tirelessly to access often the most vulnerable local people, how they are fiercely resourceful and often hold our communities together deserves to be showcased to businesses and their employees. In turn, the strength of large businesses is in their access to new opportunities, contacts and talented employees, with resources often more readily available and perspectives that should be seen in the charity-sector as valuable. The two worlds deserve to capitalise on each other’s strengths whilst at the same time furthering their own. For this to happen a nurtured culture needs to exist. This is the culture I have been building during my time at Camden Giving and as the token between the ‘two sides’.
By supporting individuals to mobilise, conversing with them on what their own individual interests are, matching them to charities they sometimes would never hear about but who they so intrinsically align with is key to empowering people to make an informed and personable volunteer choice. To listen to the needs of local charities and fine-tune how best they could be supported and then delivering on this builds trust and the foundations for a culture of success. For as long as we are all unique, in who we are, what we do, what we are working on and how we could benefit from some extra help, our need for types of volunteers will also be unique too. It is in remembering that the skills we all have could undoubtedly be of use to someone else that I hope continues the growth of skills-based volunteering. By paving the way for a community of skill-sharers, where individuals lend time and specific knowledge to others and in turn are rewarded, we build a community that grows from each other and where collaboration is seen as the key to success.
In 2020, Camden and beyond need to find ways to build connections that will benefit everyone and volunteering has the power to do this.