Monday November 30 , 2009

Introduction

Hi Everyone,
We hope you are getting excited about the festive period, welcome to the 5th e-newsletter from the vinvolved Oxfordshire team which we are sending out monthly to all our volunteers (& to all of you that have yet to start something), to keep you updated with what’s happening with us, and to inform you of some of the great opportunities we have on our system.
 

Stuck on what to buy this year? Have you thought of giving a festive favour? Its simple, give someone a pledge that you will do some volunteering in the New Year - speak to your YVA for ideas! Even better why not make your New Years resolution that you'll get involved with some more volunteering - check the opportunities section for more ideas!

Festive Greetings

From the vteam

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Meet the team

Each month we will profile one member of the team for you to find out a little more about us, each of us will answer the same 10 questions This month.... introducing CHRIS
 

1.Who are you & what do you do? I’m Chris,  I’m one of the youth volunteering development managers, which is pretty much as it says on the tin. I get to meet volunteer coordinators from loads of fantastic charities big and small around the county, sometimes give them advice and suggest new volunteering roles, and try to do justice to their opportunities you see in print outs and online. I also lead on publicity (posters, website, press releases etc); go to lots of meetings to promote us and see how we might develop in the future; and help manage those wonderful advisers that you’ve probably come across somewhere about the county.

2. Describe yourself in 3 words. Still developing that

3. Who was your hero as a child ? My granddad - who built me castles out of cider bottles, and did elephant walks up the stairs, and said things like “In the name of several pigs” when he played cards, and was always fun and kind.

4. What do you like most about your job? Any bad bits? Meeting people (both workers and you, the volunteers) doing brilliant things in different ways to make their communities and world a better place – supporting refugees, teaching safety techniques to children in primary schools, helping out at dance classes for disabled and able bodied kids at youth clubs, conserving landscapes and wildlife, listening to suicidal strangers in the middle of the night, befriending or driving elderly people, running campaigns on climate change, making audio newspapers for deaf people, bringing communities together through archaeology. The bad bits – erm, computer stresses, guilt about collapsing intray, empty biscuit tin…

5. What’s your claim to fame? Hmmmm. Can’t compete with Gert’s dancing with Prince Phil, I’m afraid. I once sat in an unmentionable burger place beginning with Mc at the next table to Freddie Windsor - who is a very minor royal but enough to get my sister excited. Doesn’t do it really.. Nope. I give up.

6. What have you learnt from volunteering?   Five years ago I gave up my job and lived for 8 months at a fantastic homeless community based on a small farm in Scotland (and as a result, went onto work with homeless people for some years). The role was befriending/supervising the young people who were residents there, which included encouraging them to help out on the farm. Some of the sheep got “flystrike”, and people for some reason were less keen than normal to get away from the playstation and help – which resulted in me picking out maggots from said sheep’s wounds with another volunteer… the setting sparked the chemistry … and said volunteer became said beloved lady Marie!

8. If you won the lottery, how would you spend your millions? Would be great to wipe out my debts, and those of friends. And then I’d love to buy some land next to a canal, and rear goats and parsnips, and tend the alfalfa.. And help future kiddiewinks grow up happy and free. And help old friends in Nepal do the same. And try lots of different whiskies in misty pubs. And and

9. Do you like bananas? Yes, especially in banoffee pie. However, I’ve had terrible experiences – plural, doh! – leaving bananas in drawers for too long. Smell of which did put me off for a while.

10. In your opinion, which is the most interesting volunteering opportunity that young people can do in Oxfordshire at the moment? The Urban Music Foundation is a group of a few young people from Greater Leys in Oxford who are using their experiences of knife crime and racism to do something very positive. They’ve set up their own YAT to educate other young people about these issues through rap – both performing at events, and teaching others to make socially engaged music too. I know I’ve cheated a bit mentioning three, but there really are so many brilliant choices…
 

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News

OCVC student union officers from Banbury have organised a sponsored swim to raise money for Children In Need. The swim takes place on December 1st. Each officer hopes to swim at least 50 lengths each. . Good Luck to the SU team. Let’s hope lots of money is raised for such a good cause.

We're in the process of planning our County-wide celebration event and we want YOUR IDEAS! Where should it be? What format should it take? Should we have music / food / entertainers? If you have any suggestions on what the event should look like e-mail Claire on claire.jones@ocvys.org all suggestions will be appreciated and everyone who e-mails Claire will be entered into a prize draw to win a £10 voucher from a shop of your choice. Get those thinking caps on and get in touch!

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Opportunities

We currently have over 1,700 volunteering opportunities on our database, each month we will highlight some of the organisations who are looking for more young volunteers -

1. The Blue Cross  - In Lewknor The Blue Cross is Britain's pet charity, providing practical support, information and advice for pet and horse owners. Through their network of animal adoption centres they re-home thousands of animals each year. Their  hospitals provide veterinary care for pets of people who cannot afford private vets' fees. The Blue Cross in Lewknor currently have a variety of volunteering opportunities available from admin roles, to supporting the staff in the rehoming centre, and helping to promote the centre. REF BLUE CROSS

2.  Banbury Day Centre - 16-25? Banbury day centre are looking for volunteers to help support the work of the staff in the centre from helping out with craft sessions to entertaining the elderly people who attend. REF BANBURY DAY CENTRE

3.  Thames Valley Police - Volunteer Police Officer county wide - 18 - 25? Special Constables are volunteer Police Officers who use some of their spare time to police their local communities. They have the same powers, wear the same uniform and carry the same equipment as full-time police officers. They perform a wide range of policing duties from neighbourhood patrols to policing major public events, in support of their full-time colleagues. Each month they volunteer a minimum of 18 hours of their time to police duties. This time can be worked flexibly - during the day or evenings. You are expected to commit to the position as a longer-term opportunity.REF OCV 133

4. Archway Foundation - Befrienders needed  Oxford City - 18-25? Just one hour a fortnight can make a difference! As a volunteer befriender you will visit someone who is lonely and unable to get to our group activities due to anxieties or mobility issues, or who is in need of one-to-one support, usually a couple of times a month. This is an immensely rewarding opportunity to build up a long term one-to-one relationship, perhaps helping a lonely and isolated person to develop the confidence to attend our other activities.REF OCV1672

5. Guideposts Trust - Mates n Dates Buddy County Wide - 18-25? Mates n' Dates is a specialist friendship and dating agency for adults with learning disabilities in Oxfordshire. It provides an opportunity for people to make new friends in group events, and/or develop relationships. Learning disabled people want to be the same as everyone else - but sometimes find it particularly hard to make friends, let alone enter into and sustain a relationship. Having a specialist local database, references from parents, assessment meetings, organised activities, and chaperoned dates helps enable this basic human right to become reality in a safe way. The project needs many more volunteers to develop the service to establish local, regular group events all over the county - cinema trips, meals, bowling, pubs and clubs, and whatever great ideas you have - to help develop the "mates" side. Offshooting from this - as well as from direct requests for "dates" - you might accompany individuals on 121 dates. At the moment, there's more demand from men than women for dates - your support and presence might improve the balance! REF GUIDEPOSTS TRUST

To find out more about these opportunities please e-mail us on vteam@ocvys.org / or contact your Youth Volunteer Adviser direct (01865 403 304) quoting the ref number. To check out the other new opportunities visit www.vinspired.com

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How are you getting on?

South & Vale
The Northmore trust & vinvolved volunteers completed a project to regenerate an area of newly acquired land to add to the Whittnum Clumps Reserve (the reserve is between Abingdon and Berinsfield) they celebrated with a bbq and a campfire and v thank you certificates were given out.

North & West
Banbury & Grimsby Youth centre’s joined forces to put on a celebration event at Woodgreen, the event was to thank all their volunteers & celebrate all the great projects that are happening in both of their centres. They invited 100 people to the event, had food and live music and 20 of their young people were presented with v thank you certificates. The evening was enjoyed by all who attended.

City
Based on need to facilitate a forum for children and young people in Horspath Oxford, Word Foundation set up a safe place to meet, share common values and develop a positive culture that promotes values and life skills. With grant funding from vinvolved the charity organised a two-day youth-led event.
The event consists of a musical, drama and art concert to give a voice against poor choices that may limit youths for life e.g. drugs, drinking habits, teenage pregnancy etc. This has been running for 6 years and grown from strength to strength.
On Saturday 31st October Luan went to the celebration evening to deliver Human Bingo Ice breaker and gave out v thank you certificates to the Vessel of Honour Youth Action Team. The evening was filled with performances and debates and proved to be a great evening for all.

You could be featured here next month - Please keep us up to date with what you are doing, so that we can then support you to achieve your v50 / & v impact awards.
We’ll also invite you to a celebration event in your area!
 

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Volunteer of the month

Each month we are going to feature one of the many young people who currently are volunteering in Oxfordshire, asking them the same 5 questions -
Introducing ... Laura Tatton
 

1.What volunteering do you do/ have you done? I currently volunteer at 3 Helen and Douglas House charity shops in Wallingford Didcot and Henley.

2.How did you hear about the vinvolved team? I heard about vinvolved when i was 16 and on an e2e course in Abingdon.

3.What have you enjoyed most about volunteering? the thing I enjoy the most is knowing that i do something for the good of someone else and the customers I serve always praise me for my work

4.How has volunteering helped you? / How do you feel it will help you in the future? voluntary work has helped me a lot because when I stop the voluntary work I would get something from it like a possible 3 nvq's in retail and is has given me a big confidence boost. It will help me in the future because I know that the staff will write a good reference for me and I want to help my community in every way possible

5.if you could have dinner with a famous person who would it be and why? if I could have dinner with a famous person it would have to be John Barrowman or Michael Ball because I am a huge fan of their music and the always make me feel happy when I listen to their music or see them on tv
 

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Youth Action Teams - YATS

In this section every month we hope to give you an update on one of the YAT's (Youth Action Teams) we are currently working with. If you are a member of one of our YAT's get in touch to share with others what you are currently doing and the difference you have made so far.

A group of Art students at OCVC Banbury campus have teamed up with the in-house student mentoring scheme and vInvolved to plan and organise once monthly art therapy sessions. The students hope that art will bring students together that have not met each other before, so that volunteer mentors can offer support and become a friendly face in college. The youth action team will be working in pairs to plan a variety of artistic activities throughout the remainder of the college year which will enable them to build good relationships with other students and have a heap load of fun.
What a fab idea. Good luck for the first session in December.
 

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What have we been up to?

Each month we're going to give you a snap shot of what we've been up to and where we've been!

The YVAs have been visiting more schools across the county to give presentations on all the volunteering opportunities happening in Oxfordshire. Most recently they have been to Burford School, Oxford High School and also Faringdon Community College.

Next Friday they will be at Bellerbys College in Oxford.

Luan, YVA for Oxford City is also doing regular drop – ins at OCVC, Blackbird Leys campus and also at Oxford Brookes University,

if you’d like to find out more get in touch!
 

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