10:20am Wednesday 27th January 2010
By Reader's letter
WILLIAM Dixon Smith’s letter of January 20 (“Volunteers need more protection”) does not accurately reflect the experience of volunteering enjoyed by thousands of people in the city.
It is a fundamental feature of volunteering that people do it because they want to, and keep doing it because they get something back in return.
People get involved for many different reasons, including supporting a cause they care about, pursuing a passion, learning new skills, meeting new people, getting out of the house, finding out about career choices or building a CV.
The York Council for Voluntary Service’s volunteer centre exists to help individuals find a volunteering placement that fits with their interests and skills. All organisations that register their volunteering vacancies with us meet a basic standard of good practice, and can access training and advice to build on this if they wish.
The volunteer managers’ guidance manual that William refers to has been funded by City of York Council, as part of the Year of Volunteering. It is misleading of William to suggest that the manual aims to “avoid… bestowing legal rights on volunteers”. It covers all aspects of good volunteer management, including suitable grievance procedures. Anyone who is interested can check this for themselves at yorkcvs.org.uk/looking.html or visit our centre in Priory Street.
All political parties recognise the role of volunteering in community life and the well-being of individuals. This higher profile has also given rise to the debate about the legal status of volunteers; and it is right that this should be explored. But let’s not undermine all the good things about volunteering by focusing on relatively isolated incidents of bad practice.
Kate Tayler, York Council for Voluntary Service, Priory Street Centre, Priory Street, York.
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