BVSC Millennium Volunteers B-Active! Project

BASIC INFORMATION

Case study date: July 2006

Local authority in which project based: Birmingham

Date started: 1999

Type of organisation: Voluntary

Brief description:

The Millennium Volunteers (MV) B-Active! programme supports young people aged between 16 and 24 to volunteer through individual placements or as part of a team. It is hosted by BVSC (Birmingham Voluntary Service Council), the Centre for Voluntary Action. The project targets hard to reach groups including young people with physical and learning disabilities or mental health issues. It seeks to empower and engage young people by supporting youth-led initiatives that allow them to develop their skills and confidence while benefiting others in their community. The 'What Next?' service offers advice to Millennium Volunteers participants (MVs) on opportunities for progression into additional volunteering, employment, education or training.

Collaboration:

B-Active! works in close collaboration with two other local MV projects: Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and Involve at Birmingham University Guild of Students. It is affiliated to and/or works closely with Youth Action Network, Save the Children - in particular the Befriending Unaccompanied Minors Project (BUMP), Connexions, Birmingham Employment Preparation Team, Birmingham Mencap, EnVision, Matthew Boulton College, Aston University , Volunteer Centre Birmingham, Skill and the Foundation for Conductive Education.

Funding:

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES), via Government Office West Midlands, provides annual MV funding of between £86,000-£88,000.

Staffing:

The B Active! team comprises a full-time project coordinator, a full-time outreach supportdevelopment worker and a part-time outreach support development worker.

NATURE OF PROVISION

Which groups of young people does the project work with?

B-Active! works with young people aged 16 to 24 from hard to reach groups across Birmingham. These include: care leavers; asylum seekers and refugees; young people with physical and learning disabilities; young people with mental health issues; and those not in education, employment or training. It offers over 600 volunteering opportunities and places over 200 young volunteers every year.

Most MVs are from minority ethnic groups, and 60 per cent are female. A quarter have either mild, moderate or severe learning and/or physical disabilities and five to ten per cent are affected by mental health issues.

How was the need for the project identified, and by whom?

In 1999 BVSC received DfES funding to run a MV scheme since 1999. In 2004, as resources became more limited, BVSC decided to direct its funding to support those from hard to reach and marginalised sections of the community. This targeted approach also matched BVSC's ethos and strategic plan.

How do young people become involved? What, if any, commitment do you ask for?

The project takes referrals from Connexions, the Employment Preparation Training Centre, and other support agencies working with disadvantaged young people. Young people can also refer themselves. MVs are expected to undertake a minimum of three hours voluntary work per week for up to six months.

What are the main approaches used and volunteering opportunities offered?

B-Active! offers young people an opportunity to volunteer in an individual placement of their choice or as part of a team. Placements include working with ex-offenders, befriending people with disabilities, supporting children in education activities, mentoring, and fundraising. Those opting to volunteer as part of a team work with up to 15 others in their age range. B-Active currently supports six teams of young people from hard-to-reach groups, including three for young people with learning and physical disabilities.

The programme provides three months of training relating to volunteering, benefits to the volunteer and the community, roles and responsibilities, health and safety and risk assessment. It also offers opportunities to get involved in team building activities, and up to four volunteering taster days to prepare young people for involvement in youth-led community projects. MVs are also encouraged to take part in consultations relating to youth matters, and represent their peers on various steering groups and management committees.

Volunteers can also receive peer support through 'The Stream', a national web-based e-mentoring scheme run by Youth Action Network, enabling users to share experiences and discuss issues of common concern.

BVSC's 'What Next' service advises MVs on opportunities for progression into further education, training or employment.

How are young people involved in shaping the project/programme?

All volunteers complete individual plans to encourage them to think about what they can offer as a volunteer, what they would like to achieve, and how they would like to make a difference.

The B-Active! programme encourages youth-led initiatives. Young people choose their own taster day projects, conduct their risk assessments and then plan and deliver their own community projects.

How does the project respond to the specific needs of disabled young people?

When registering with the project, young people who find reading and writing difficult can record their personal details on video.

Training sessions for young people with learning or physical disabilities are customised to enable each young person to progress at their own pace. Training for young people with learning difficulties uses pictures and images (rather than the written word). Each individual receives one-to-one and group support throughout the training and is 'buddied up' with another young person in the group to provide support with reading and writing if required. Young people who have completed their 200 hour MV award are trained to provide additional support to those who need it most.

The length of the programme may also be extended for groups with learning and physical disabilities to ensure they receive the same benefits as other MVs.

OUTCOMES OF WORK

How do young people benefit from their involvement in the project?

Members receive training which allows them to develop transferable skills such as team work, leadership, making presentations, public speaking, and project management.

The volunteering experience provides them with knowledge and expertise in an area which they can tap into at any time in their lives and helps further develop their personal and social skills. This is particularly true for people with learning disabilities who have more opportunity to interact with non-disabled people.

How does your organisation benefit from involving/supporting young disabled people as volunteers?

By encouraging and involving young disabled people to become volunteers, BVSC fulfils a key strategic objective 'to remove obstacles to voluntary participation, especially those experienced by mariginalised communities'.

This has allowed BVSC to develop a sound base to offer improved support in the future, gained through an increased awareness of the needs of young disabled people and related legislation. As a strategic influencer of policy, it is also better (and more legitimately) able to champion the causes of young disabled people within a public policy arena.

How do other young people, organisations or the wider community benefit from the project?

Through involvement with B-Active!, young people have a chance to influence services and policies affecting other young people and the wider community in Birmingham. The project also promotes public awareness of the potential of young people with learning or physical difficulties. Their visible contribution to the local community demonstrates that they are as capable as any other young person of achieving their goals and taking part in all aspects of voluntary activity.

How are young people's progress and achievements celebrated, measured and recorded?

The project carries out periodic reviews and uses formal and informal methods to check MVs' progress against their individual volunteer plans. It maintains regular contact with volunteers, through e-mail, telephone, newsletters, text messaging and social events as well as one-to-one and group sessions.

Young people receive nationally recognised Millennium Volunteers awards after completing 50, 100, or 200 hours. Recognition beyond the traditional 200 hours is now possible for up to 500 hours. MVs completing 200 hours of voluntary work are provided with a DVD recording their involvement in training, taster days, and youth-led projects. This enables them to review their own progress and the impact they have had on the community.

The project is currently developing provision for Youth Achievement Awards, available at four levels.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

How is the project evaluated and by whom?

The project provides quarterly statistical returns for Government Office West Midlands and Connexions. Staff meet each month to discuss the success of the project to date and young people's feedback, and to consider ways of improving the projects.

What changes/developments have occurred - or are planned - as a result of evaluation?

Continuous review has led the project to focus on work with specific groups, including mental health service users, young people leaving residential care, victims of crime, Black boys excluded from school, teenage fathers and 14 to 16 year olds at risk of exclusion from school. Work with disabled young people continues to develop alongside this.

What are the main barriers you experience when involving/supporting disabled young people as volunteers?

The additional support required by young people with disabilities is very resource intensive - this often creates difficulties for the project due to low staffing levels and limited resources.

How far has your organisation been able to overcome these barriers? Are there any that still remain, if so, why?

B-Active! is able to enlist the support of other BVSC staff for training, taster days and residentials. A team of trained mentors also assists staff with sessions or events involving young people with learning or physical difficulties.

PARTNERSHIP/MULTI-DISCIPLINARY WORKING

When working in partnership, what is the distinctive contribution of your organisation/project?

B-Active!'s targeted work with marginalised or hard-to-reach young people - promoting diversity, equality and flexibility in customising activities according to needs - is unique in Birmingham. BVSC's position as a strategic partner on a range of cross sector forums and working groups allows the project a route into wider discussions around young people.

Has this partnership resulted in greater collaboration or increased understanding between partners?

Following the Russell Commission report, partner organisations are trying to develop a strategic response to meeting the needs of young volunteers and sharing resources in the most effective way possible.

The project currently works collaboratively with other local MV projects run by CSV and Involve, on aspects such as areas such as recruitment, residentials and celebration. They share project information on a weekly basis to identify how to support one another and fill any 'gaps' in provision.

STRATEGIC IMPACT

Do you consider this project to be innovative?

B-Active! is innovative in a number of areas, such as:

Targetting young people whose needs are not being met elsewhere;
Use of previous MV participants as mentors to new MVs;
Encouraging integration between different groups of young people;
A customised approach to meeting individual and group needs;
High retention rates; and
Inter-agency and cross-agency working

How do you disseminate the learning from the project?

Learning is shared locally through BVSC's monthly newsletter and regular forum meetings with Connexions, and nationally through membership of Youth Action Network. MVs also help promote promote volunteering to potential volunteer-involving organisations.

Has the learning from this work influenced wider organisational/service strategies?

BVSC has a strong commitment to ensuring that the voices of marginalised young people are heard. It has recently appointed a former MV as part of the staff team. Within the volunteer centre, increasing numbers of mental health users are looking for volunteering opportunities and the centre is exploring ways of providing the best quality service.

What plans do you have to sustain/develop this work?

BVSC intends to develop further its work with young people with learning disabilities and extend services to include other 'hard to reach' young people.

CONTACT

Sandeep Saprai, Millennium Volunteers - B-Active! BVSC - The Centre for Voluntary Action
138 Digbeth, Birmingham B5 6DR

Tel: 0121 678 8808
E-mail: sandeeps@bvsc.org