Volunteering Plus - putting EV on your CV!

Volunteering Plus is an accreditation service that connects volunteering to the development of work skills. Business in the Community and City & Guilds are working together to provide quality-assured recognition of professional development through volunteering.

Adding value to your volunteering programme 

Volunteering Plus is a flexible, self-assessed accreditation framework that can be applied to any volunteering activity that develops skills and competency. It works for 16 year olds mentoring younger pupils in their school and for experienced professionals serving as school governors. You can also adapt it to fit with the look and feel of your volunteering programme.

The benefits

Accreditation provides an extra incentive for volunteers to get involved and a structure that captures the benefits volunteering brings to all parties: 

For volunteers accreditation recognises their achievements and connects their volunteering to their professional and personal development. It takes volunteering up out of the interests and hobbies section of your CV!

For employers this is valuable evidence of the business benefits of volunteering as an investment in their people. Accreditation provides a structure for a volunteering programme and offers a fresh alternative to conventional training programme.

Community partners benefit from receiving volunteers working to a quality framework with the added incentive of developing their skills and capability.

Getting started

1. Business in the Community will provide training and support to set you up as a Volunteering Plus Assessment Centre.

2. You then need to recruit your volunteers and induct them as candidates.

3. Candidates collect and record evidence of their learning.

4. Assessment centres review the evidence after an agreed period and submit it for verification.

5. We verify the submission and City & Guilds issue a Profile of Achievement to the candidate.  

Costs  

It costs £1195 to get set up, trained and for your first year as an Assessment Centre and £95 for each candidate you register. So you can accredit 25 of your volunteers for less than £150 each!   

To find out more and to discuss how Volunteering Plus can work for you, contact Gennie Franklin on 020 7566 8711.