Workshops
These workshops are facilitated discussions about a topic. Please come prepared to share your own experience and knowledge – as well as your list of questions!
Volunteer Strategy (Thursday & Friday) by Louise Eagle [Community Projects Volunteer Lead, Douglas Macmillan Hospice]
Exploring steps to development a volunteer strategy. An interactive workshop, to explore the issues and experiences of developing and implementing a volunteer strategy. Discussions will be facilitated on the requirements, stages and implementation of a volunteer strategy, enabling participants to share their own experiences and ask the questions that matter to them. Volunteers and the Law (Friday ONLY) by Jarina Choudhury [Volunteering Consultancy Development Officer, NCVO] An intense overview on Volunteers and the Law covering eligibility to volunteer, equality act, job substitution, data protection and DBS. This workshop will guide you to adopt good practices and operate within legislative and regulatory frameworks.
Diversity – A different Approach (Thursday & Friday) by Debbie Usiskin [Volunteer Engagement Lead, North London Hospice]
In hospices we work in an ever changing environment. The external environment – the landscape in which volunteering operates is also changing. And so, if we want to ensure that we are ready for the future – whatever that may bring, we as volunteer managers also need to change. Diversity can be an elephant in the room so there will be some discussion around levels of comfort with people who are different to us, the assumptions we make and asking questions that may feel awkward to us. In this interactive workshop we will examine some of the changes of the last few years and work together to identify what changes we can make within our practices to recruit volunteers that reflect the changing nature of the society around us, ensuring that our patients and their relatives can continue to benefit from volunteer support for many years to come.
Conflict resolution (Thursday ONLY) by Mark Makin [Senior Advisor, ACAS]
Conflict is a fact of working life but how it affects your organisation depends on how you manage it. When managers aren’t equipped to resolve issues it’s often easier to ignore them but that’s how problems escalate. The benefits of tackling conflict pro-actively can be significant. This short session will examine the causes and effects of conflict but importantly the most effective ways in which organisations can respond. The session will explore the more traditional organisational responses to conflict through to other methods such as mediation as well as examining some of the skills that managers need in order to tackle conflict effectively.
Stop Being Scared / Boundaries (Thursday ONLY) by Lisa Gibson [Community Development Manager, St Barnabas Lincolnshire Hospice]
Scale the wall but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. This interactive and creative workshop will ask the question, is it time to dig beneath the boundaries we hold dear? We will think about the point at which safe becomes ineffective. And we will consider the temptation to resist the latest ideas in favour of what has always worked for us. We will look at change management and how we can support colleagues who struggle to get past the ‘ch’ in ‘change.’ You’ll need to hold onto your seats, it’ll be pacey, practical and thought provoking.
Open Forum (Thursday ONLY) by members of the HVMN Executive.
Bring any questions to pose to the attendees to share best practice and learn from your peer’s experiences.
New VSMs in post (Thursday & Friday) by Steve Dale [Head of Volunteer Services, Dorothy House Hospice Care]
Are you new in post in the last year or two?
Full of questions or want to do a reality check?
Share your questions – and get support from experienced VSMs.