Please also see the Recession Response section of our website for additional resource information.
www.charitypropertyhelp.com/ is a service supported by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveryors (RICS) to assist charities and voluntary organisations with free support and guidance on all property matters in the UK. Launched in partnership with The Return Foundation, NCVO and CFDG, Charity Property Help offers registered charities and voluntary organisations a one hour consultation with an RICS regulated member firm free of charge, on property maintenance, environmental issues, lease, renewals and tenancies, and planning issues. BTCV recently saved £850,000 on a property lease after enlisting the help of this service.
www.inkinddirect.org A free service, available to all charities, that provides goods rather than cash. It enables charities to stretch limited budgets by only paying a handling charge, which includes delivery, for the goods.
www.reachskills.org.uk A website to find volunteers with the right management, professional, technical or business expertise to meet the specific needs of voluntary organisations.
www.london.gov.uk/volunteer/ A free service for London charities and voluntary groups looking for help from volunteers. Opportunities are conveniently sorted by postcode and by sector.
www.gumtree.com This free classified advertising service for Londoners includes sections on volunteering opportunities, items for sale and also free unwanted items.
www.communitymatters.org.uk/Resources/ Guidance notes on managing community organisations and activities, including matters relating to buildings, employment, health and safety, taxation and utilities.
www.cuf.org.uk/resourcesindex.aspx Just Employment, from the Church Urban Fund, is a comprehensive guide to employing volunteers and staff in faith-based social-action projects. It includes guidance on recruiting and managing staff and volunteers, case studies and examples and a wide range of template forms.
www.smartresources.org A fairly new website, supported by Red Ochre, that aims to provide information, services and products for the voluntary community with references and links to other appropriate organisations. Some areas are still being developed. The site includes regular, useful updates and there is also a subscription based e-newsletter.
www.businesslink.gov.uk/finance This site for new and small to medium sized businesses includes information on many other business related topics including financial management, taxation, debt recovery, employment issues and training courses as well on raising business finance.
Resources on volunteering
Volunteering in an economic downturn
Volunteering can help to deliver services for individuals and groups in an economic downturn. As a result of redundancies, financial pressures and reduced public services it can help people maintain or explore new skills, change career path, keep busy, retain or regain confidence whilst enhancing third sector services. However, this specialist area of the third sector is already stretched tight, with 656 Volunteer Centre workers (including volunteers) providing expert guidance, resources and capacity to 45,000 volunteers and 9,000 frontline organisations across Greater London and additional investment is required to meet increasing demand.
Volunteering England
Volunteering offers a win-win opportunity for unemployed people to use their time constructively and keep skills fresh until paid work reappears or to develop new skills while for the VCS it is as a way of augmenting the workforce. Opportunities have to be flexible and some roles need to be broken down into manageable tasks and activities to encourage more volunteers. Once involved, people often want to give more but need to be given options to contribute whilst fitting in with their other responsibilities. Potential volunteers may need guidance on the impact of volunteering on benefits and on the payment of any expenses.
For up to date information see Volunteering England’s website: www.volunteering.org.uk
Volunteering and benefits
Volunteering and expenses
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