Glasgow’s Volunteering Charter was set up by Volunteer Glasgow following the 2014 Commonwealth Games
A group of Glasgow based charities have all been recognised for their commitment to promoting volunteering.
Glasgow Disability Alliance, the Scottish Refugee Council, Young Movers (YOMO), Glasgow Women’s Library and Victim Support Scotland have become the first charities to be awarded the Glasgow Volunteering Charter Mark from Volunteer Glasgow.
Launched in June 2016, the charter mark came about as part of a commitment to sustain an inclusive volunteering legacy following the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The mark signifies that organisations have pledged to create and expand appropriate volunteering opportunities in their organisations and crucially make them more accessible.
Charter signatory organisations must create volunteer opportunities using a clear set of values, principles and processes to ensure they are not replacing paid staff posts with volunteering roles.
Bernadette Monaghan, chief executive at Volunteer Glasgow, said that following Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games there was a small increase in the number of adults volunteering in Glasgow for the first time since 2008 as well as a small increase in advertised opportunities but it aims to improve on it further by offering charities and other organisations volunteering support.
Over the next three years Volunteer Glasgow will challenge every organisation in the city to sign up to the new charter to promote more opportunities.
Awarding the first organisations with their charter mark, Monaghan said: “In spite of all the challenges faced in Glasgow, our public sector partners and a variety of other not-for-profit groups and charities are also working hard to deliver their charter pledges.
“More than 15 organisations will be eligible for the charter mark in the coming weeks and months and we would be delighted to assist even more organisations to sign up to the charter so that they can benefit further from the support of people volunteering their time, skills and energy.”
More organisations will be invited to formally sign up to the charter in the coming weeks but any public or third sector organisation can register their interest, take advantage of online resources and advertise for volunteers for free at volunteerglasgow.org/advertise.
