Volunteers in Gardens and Arboreta
Date posted: 12 July 2011 - Permalink / Shortlink
Date updated: 16 July 2011 - Proceedings added
Date updated: 12 August 2011 - New links and summaries added
Date updated: 24 March 2012 - Including report from Newsletter No. 42 December 2011
University of Bath, 12-14 July 2011
Report
We were pleased to welcome more than 90 people to this timely conference in the European Year of Volunteering 2011 – volunteers and Friends as well as volunteer managers, co-ordinators and consultants. Speakers from gardens and heritage and volunteer organisations stimulated much discussion. There were talks from gardens and arboreta on developing a volunteer strategy, attracting and retaining a diverse range of volunteers, developing professional gardeners from a volunteer scheme, managing change through volunteers, volunteers giving guided tours, working with students, employer-supported volunteering, and more.
Consultants gave much useful advice and information on volunteers and the law, the Volunteer Rights Enquiry and Charter for Strengthening Relations between Paid Staff and Volunteers, volunteer programmes and policy and monitoring and evaluating a volunteer programme. The importance of having a clear strategy, policy and programme for volunteers, with proper management and training for both volunteers and paid staff was stressed.
On a visit to Westonbirt National Arboretum, we heard about some of the help given by their many volunteers and discussed management, training and diversity of volunteers. Our thanks to Cheryl Pearson and Hugh Angus at Westonbirt for help in organising the conference.
Working in partnership with garden staff, volunteers can bring enthusiasm, unexpected skills and different perspectives. To quote Amanda Le Poer Trench (Volunteer Co-ordinator at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew): ‘Our volunteers are priceless’.
Presentations
Welcome and introduction
David Rae, PlantNetwork Hon. President Director of Horticulture, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Lantra research on skills and volunteering in the historic and botanic garden sector
Pam Smith, Historic and Botanic Garden Training and Development Advisor to Lantra
Volunteering in horticulture in the UK and USA
Kelly Baker, student in botanical horticulture
Diversity - the spice of life
Cheryl Pearson, Volunteer Manager, Westonbirt - The National Arboretum
Strategy rules - how and why to develop a volunteer strategy
Amanda le Poer Trench, Volunteer Co-ordinator, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Sixty years of garden volunteering - the National Trust story
Mike Calnan, Head of Gardens, National Trust
Minutes of the 15th Annual General Meeting of PlantNetwork
held at 5.30pm Tuesday 12 July 2011, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY Chaired by Dr David Rae, PlantNetwork Hon. President
Im a volunteer - get me out of here
Jan Hoyland, Curator, Castle Howard Arboretum Trust Gill Gribbin, Volunteer Co-ordinator, Castle Howard Arboretum Trust
Growing your own: developing professional gardeners from a volunteer scheme
Ed Ikin, Garden & Countryside Manager, Nymans, National Trust
Volunteers and the law
Mark Restall, Trainer and Consultant
Guiding by volunteers - the way ahead
Nick Wray, Curator, University of Bristol Botanic Garden
Managing change through volunteers - the ultimate challenge?
Kevin Reid, Director, Ness Botanic Gardens, University of Liverpool
Welcome to Westonbirt
Simon Toomer, Director, Westonbirt - The National Arboretum Discussion groups and tours of Westonbirt Arboretum
Volunteer Rights Enquiry and Charter for Strengthening Relations Between Paid Staff and Volunteers
Rob Jackson, Rob Jackson Consulting Ltd
Localism and communities: implications for public green space
Sarah Moore, Policy, Research & Information Manager, GreenSpace
Green fingered or just green - challenges and opportunities in working with students
Mark Wallington, Horticulture and Countryside, Bridgwater College
A new approach to employer-supported volunteering
Mike Elliott, National Volunteering Manager, National Trust
Volunteers - help or hindrance? Your volunteers are only as good as your programme
Carola Vorlop, Trainer and Consultant
Assessing progress: where to start with monitoring and evaluation
Kate Davies, Head of Volunteering, English Heritage
Links
The Volunteer Investment and Value Audit
Link to download The Volunteer Investment and Value Audit, a guide for managers published by the Institute for Volunteering Research
Volunteer brokering
Link to Volunteering England web site page listing volunteering brokering organisations
Cares
Link to Business in the Community (a group of not-for-profit organisations) Cares web site page. Cares is a network of more than 350 partner companies that address social issues in communities by volunteering their employees' skills and time during business hours.
Volunteering and the law
Link to a Volunteering England PDF guide to legal issues for volunteer managers. Volunteers and the Law covers all the main areas of concern including: Expenses, Benefits, Criminal record checks, Health and safety, Data protection, Avoiding creating employment contracts.
Criminal Record Checks
Links to information on the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check. Business Link web site Direct.gov web site
Volunteer Rights Inquiry on Volunteering England website
Link to Volunteering England and the 3R Promise developed from the Volunteering Rights Inquiry
Volunteer Rights Inquiry interim report
Link to the interim Volunteer Rights Inquiry report PDF from Volunteering England
Volunteer Rights Inquiry call to action
Link to the Volunteer Rights Inquiry Recommendations and call to action March 2011 PDF from Volunteering England
Volunteering England/TUC charter
Link to the Charter for Strengthening Relations Between Paid Staff and Volunteers: Volunteering England and the TUC PDF
Community organisations controlling assets: a better understanding
Link to the summary and full report PDFs on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation web site
English Heritage Volunteer Survey 2009
Link to the PDF report on the performance of the English Heritage education volunteering programme.
Volunteer Focus
Link to the first edition of the Volunteer Focus magazine highlighting the role of English Heritage volunteers.
Summaries
Historic & Botanic gardens - Volunteer value (Horticulture Week article)
Link to Horticulture Week article by Gavin McEwan who picks out and details five tips for successfully managing volunteers in gardens from the Volunteers in Gardens and Arboreta conference:
- Understand the legal context
- Appoint a volunteer co-ordinator
- Consider giving volunteers higher-value work
- Train volunteers to be your public face
- Monitor and evaluate volunteers' contribution
Garden survival depends on volunteers
Link to Horticulture Week blog by Philip Turvil summarising the PlantNetwork Volunteers in Gardens and Arboreta Conference
