Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire
The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-1542, in the name of Annabel Goldie, on the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates the Kirkintilloch-based Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire; understands that the centre provides a central point for volunteering throughout East Dunbartonshire and that it aims to encourage and support local people who wish to offer their services to help others in their community; recognises the Volunteer Champions Project, a school-based initiative that promotes volunteering to teenagers; believes that, by volunteering, local young people are showing dedication and clearly have a social conscience; applauds the befriending service, which pairs a volunteer with an isolated adult, providing what it considers to be a vital source of friendship, assistance and company that reflects an admirable model of being a good neighbour, and commends what it sees as the excellent contribution that this organisation and the voluntary sector make to the community.
17:01
I am pleased that my motion on the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire has been selected for members’ business this evening. I thank the MSPs who have supported it, and I particularly appreciate the cross-party support. That reflects the wide appreciation by MSPs across the chamber of the vital role that the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire and many other local organisations throughout Scotland play in our communities.
In November last year, I was privileged to visit the centre in Kirkintilloch, to meet staff and to learn about the excellent work that the centre does. I know that members across the chamber are diligent in making visits, but I have to say that when I emerged from that one I said to my researcher, “What an uplifting experience!” It was like drinking a glass of champagne.
The centre provides a central point for volunteering throughout East Dunbartonshire. It aims to support and encourage local people to offer their services to help others in their community—it is the focal point where people are encouraged, enabled and have the opportunity to volunteer.
When I stepped through the door, the enthusiasm and passion were tangible. That is down to the positive can-do approach reflected by all the staff, not least Paul O’Kane and Elaine, with whom I spent most time. Some of the staff are with us in the public gallery, and I welcome them to the debate.
Those of us who were privileged to listen to Paul earlier today during time for reflection saw that passion and enthusiasm at first hand. I thought that he nailed it when he posed the question: what would happen if we woke up one morning to find that there were no volunteers? I think that there would be a Scotland full of voids and black holes, with thousands of lonely, vulnerable and unsupported people. No Government minister or local authority leader of any political hue could fill that void.
Volunteering is unique. It is the antithesis of selfishness. It is basically the implementation in people’s own time and without remuneration of the enduring principles of people helping their neighbour and doing what they can to help others, not because they have to but because they want to. Those principles are all too often pushed aside. We are all guilty of that—usually not intentionally but simply because other pressures in life eat into our time and compete for our attention.
That is why the East Dunbartonshire centre is so important. It reminds us of the need to volunteer, to help and to remember others around us. It also co-ordinates those who want to volunteer, and of course it plays a vital role in facilitating how to volunteer.
However, that is only part of the story, because volunteering involves a symbiotic relationship—it is an exchange. It brings benefits not only to the recipient but to the volunteer. Indeed, among the reasons the volunteer Scotland website lists for why people should volunteer is because it feels good and because there will be
“No More Billy/Mary Nae Mates”.
However, there are other benefits for the volunteer. Volunteering can be a very social activity and can help people to make new contacts and meet new friends. It can provide new skills and experience. According to the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire, just over 50 per cent of the people who go to volunteer centres are on jobseekers allowance or incapacity benefit. Volunteering is a recognised pathway to personal development, learning and employment. Importantly, it can be immensely satisfying and hugely enjoyable.
On my visit to the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire I was particularly interested to hear about the specific projects that it runs. Two in particular stood out for me: the befriending service, which for me represents the essence of what a volunteer’s presence can do; and the volunteer champions project, which endeavours to promote and encourage volunteering among our youngsters.
The befriending service was first introduced by the centre more than 11 years ago. Befriending is a supported relationship between two people. It is usually face to face but it can be by telephone, letter or e-mail. The service pairs a volunteer with an isolated adult, and there have been approximately 300 successful matches. The befriending relationship is initiated, supported and monitored by volunteer centre befriending service staff. The project aims to make a difference to the quality of life of people who experience social isolation due to ageing, disability or other changes in their circumstances. It provides a vital source of friendship, assistance and company. How marvellous and, like so many good things, how simple.
The volunteer champions youth volunteering project was developed by the volunteer centre in partnership with Turnbull high school in Bishopbriggs. Volunteer champions receive training from the centre so that they can promote a volunteering culture in their school and local community. In phase 1, the centre recruited 16 volunteer champions, who successfully completed their training in Turnbull high school and went on to promote volunteering and volunteering awards within the school environment. A volunteering hub is now being established in the school to assist the promotion of volunteering. The champions are fully involved in the project’s development and are encouraged to take ownership of the programme. I think that that is fantastic.
The champions learn many new skills. They learn how to produce confident and motivating presentations, set up a volunteer stand at public events, work better in a team, overcome nerves and extend their knowledge of volunteering. When I visited I was delighted to meet Luisa, who runs the volunteer champions project. I also met Rachel, a volunteer champion and former Turnbull high school pupil. Both girls have clearly benefited from being involved with volunteering from a young age and both are a credit to the centre and to themselves. All those young people are a superbly positive advertisement for their local area.
What, then, is the positive message from the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire? First, although we are often told in the media that community spirit is dead and that everyone is busy or out for themselves, I can tell members that community spirit is in fact very much alive and kicking in East Dunbartonshire and Scotland. It was also clear to me that volunteering is cool. Our youngsters want that opportunity.
I congratulate the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire and its dedicated staff on the tremendous success of what they do and thank them for being such an inspiration to everyone else. I am glad that Parliament has been able to show support for their efforts this evening.
17:09
I thank Annabel Goldie for securing the debate. I am delighted to take part in the debate and to highlight the work of the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire, which is in my constituency. As Annabel Goldie outlined, what a team we have there in the volunteer centre. Annabel referred to Paul O’Kane’s contribution at time for reflection. As she mentioned, some of the centre’s staff, including Luisa and Carol, are in the public gallery this evening.
My first contact with the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire was back in 1999, when I was a regional MSP for the West of Scotland, but my contact has continued since then. When I worked with East Dunbartonshire CVS in 2004, I worked with the volunteer centre and, as a fellow professional, learned about the work that it did.
I hope that, by now, I have become friends with the staff at the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire. Like Annabel Goldie, I love to go to the office. She likened it to a glass of champagne, and she is right: the staff and the office are always fizzing and sparkling. The people there are full of great enthusiasm.
I was delighted to be able to go and present a cheque for £50 towards the centre’s funds a few weeks ago. Many MSPs do market research for companies. They offer to pay us, but I always prefer—as I am sure most members do—to give the money to a local worthy cause. There cannot be a cause much more worthy than our volunteer centre.
I call them friends also because of what happened at the riding of the Parliament on 1 July. As I stood on the High Street watching the crowds go by, the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire representatives proudly came by behind their banner as part of the riding. I could not help myself: I jumped in and joined them behind the banner. What fun we had that day. It culminated in photos with the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, who is here to reply to the debate. We had a great time.
Why is it important that we talk about volunteers and volunteering in the Parliament? Annabel Goldie talked about what volunteers say they get out of volunteering. That is true, but I am glad that the debate gives us the opportunity to say thank you back to volunteers for what they give to local communities. In thanking all our volunteers, I extend my thanks to the staff at the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire.
The volunteer centre is one of only five partner organisations in the third phase of the Scottish Parliament’s community partnership project. At the end of this month and into February, the centre will host a stall in the Parliament. I hope that as many MSPs as possible will take the time to stop by and see the work that it does.
I am glad that Annabel Goldie highlighted the volunteer champions work that we are doing in schools. It is the most fantastic thing. Having been a volunteer in my own day and having volunteered with young people, I think that it is important that we now work to encourage young people to come on board as volunteers.
Annabel Goldie also mentioned the work in Turnbull high school. Luisa has now taken that into Bishopbriggs academy, where the number of pupils who asked to work with the volunteer champions project meant that it was oversubscribed. That is largely down to—no, all down to—Luisa’s enthusiasm and the support that she gives the young people in their work.
Annabel Goldie also mentioned befriending. Volunteering continues for a long time. One of my friends, Sandra Renwick, began as one of the befrienders in Kirkintilloch, moved to Skye and is still befriending people in Kirkintilloch by phone from Skye. That shows how important volunteering becomes to people.
I thank Annabel Goldie for bringing the debate to the Parliament and I especially thank all volunteers and all those who work in the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire.
17:13
I am delighted to have the opportunity to pay tribute to the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire and I welcome Annabel Goldie’s motion, which rightly recognises some of the organisation’s outstanding work in encouraging and enabling volunteering.
Volunteering makes a huge difference to individuals and communities and can be hugely rewarding for volunteers. It often provides a pathway to personal development, learning and employment. Therefore, it is crucial that we encourage and develop volunteering, particularly among young people, as well as recognise and assist those organisations that already do that.
I am aware that the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire’s undertakings are wide ranging. Its activities include recruiting volunteers and matching them to suitable organisations; assisting in the development of new volunteering opportunities, policies and procedures; offering general advice on volunteering; and providing information on training opportunities for volunteers and individuals who work with volunteers.
I know that the centre’s staff have a number of positive aims and initiatives for East Dunbartonshire, but I will start by paying particular attention to the excellent volunteer champions project, mentioned by both Annabel Goldie and Fiona McLeod, which works with young people in high schools throughout East Dunbartonshire. The project creates a volunteering environment in schools and trains a number of young people to be champions for volunteering, encouraging their peers to volunteer inside and outside of school, and its aims include improving and increasing the promotion of volunteering within the school environment; empowering young people through volunteering; developing a volunteering culture within the learning environment; promoting award schemes for volunteering; and establishing an East Dunbartonshire volunteer champions network.
I know from speaking to Paul O’Kane, the centre’s development officer, just what impact the project has already had in East Dunbartonshire. In its first phase, 16 volunteer champions were recruited, completed their training at Turnbull high school and went on to promote volunteering within the school environment. Many of the first 16 have also been trained in facilitation and are now leading sessions in the new volunteer champions training programme. Such training and responsibility provide young people with fantastic experience that they can take forward; increase confidence; develop leadership and communication skills; improve CVs; and provide a genuine boost to young people aiming to access further education or find employment. The centre’s aim of establishing a volunteer champions programme in all East Dunbartonshire secondary schools should be welcomed, and I hope that this type of project will soon be replicated in other parts of the country. It is vital that the Scottish Government recognises the importance of volunteering in all educational establishments, and I hope that consideration will be given to how we can improve volunteering among our young people.
As I have said, the volunteer champions project is only one of the centre’s many positive initiatives. I want to briefly mention the successful befriending service, also mentioned by Annabel Goldie, which pairs a trained volunteer with an isolated adult. The pair are in regular contact for an agreed period of time and engage in social activities usually enjoyable to both. The befriending relationship, which is initiated, supported and monitored by the centre’s befriending staff, aims to make a difference to the quality of life of people experiencing social isolation due to ageing, disability or other changes in their circumstances and hundreds of people have benefited from the service since it was introduced by the centre more than 11 years ago.
None of these excellent projects and services would be possible without the commitment, hard work and creativity of the centre’s excellent staff and I am sure that we in the chamber can unite in placing on record our appreciation not only for their work but for the efforts of all those who have participated in volunteering initiatives in East Dunbartonshire, which continues to lead the way in volunteering in Scotland.
I have to admit that I have yet to visit the centre—I have not found time to do so in the past six months—but I met its staff and volunteers at the opening of Parliament in July. Their dedication was an inspiration and they provide a great example of the good work that such centres carry out.
You have a treat in store for you, then, Mr Bibby. I call the cabinet secretary to close the debate.
17:18
I thank members for their speeches and congratulate Annabel Goldie on securing the debate. When I saw that her motion had been selected, I had a very happy recollection of being hijacked for a photograph on the opening day of Parliament and the enthusiasm and verve of the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire staff, which both Annabel Goldie and Fiona McLeod have described, were pretty obvious to me. It was a great encounter and I say to Mr Bibby that, given the enthusiasm that was on display on the Parliament’s opening day, I cannot imagine that he will escape a visit to the centre for much longer.
The debate provides an important opportunity to record the appreciation of members of the Parliament for the work that has been done in the Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire. Many of us will have had experiences of the work that is done around the country in the areas that we represent. In my capacity as the minister responsible for the voluntary sector in Scotland, I have had the privilege of experiencing the tremendous contribution that volunteer centres and volunteers make in a variety of areas of our national life. I know that I speak for all members when I record our appreciation for the work that volunteers do and the contribution that they make to the fabric and the quality of life of those around us in our communities.
It is easy to say so, but the state could never replace the functions that are performed and the contribution that is made by volunteers, nor should it try to do so. The contribution that they make is motivated by a regard and a respect for other citizens and members of our community that are self-motivating and self-expressed. They make an enormous contribution to the quality of life of all of us in communities in Scotland.
The Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire is one of the two partners in the East Dunbartonshire third sector interface, which is one of the 32 third sector interfaces across Scotland that the Scottish Government supports to deliver four key functions: to assist in volunteering development; to support and develop a strong third sector; to develop social enterprise; and to build the third sector’s relationship with community planning.
The words that I have just expressed might include more than a little jargon—I see that Mr Carlaw, who is always a man to keep a close eye on my jargon, is watching me. The purpose of the interfaces is to ensure that one of the objectives that I have set for the work of the public sector in Scotland—that it should pay close regard to involving the third sector in the design of public services and public interventions at local level—is met. The interface model is designed to do exactly that. As part of its wider public service reform agenda, the Government has placed a clear emphasis on giving the third sector a growing role in the delivery of public services. The Government is persuaded by the fact that, in many of our communities, we see the third sector making an enormous contribution in reaching individuals in our society whom public services often find it challenging to reach and to support as effectively as they should.
The Government’s approach to public sector reform, which involves a strong role for the third sector, prioritises prevention and the reduction of inequalities; brings organisations together at local level to deliver better outcomes; provides greater investment in the people who deliver services; and improves the performance of public services in meeting the aspirations of people at local level. The Government is equipping the third sector to make a significant contribution to that through its support for and engagement with national organisations and local networks. It is supporting organisations to participate in some of the design work on public services that the third sector would find it challenging to participate in without Government support, and it is encouraging a shift towards the development of more social enterprise activity. Among the great things that are happening in Scotland today are the burgeoning level of social enterprise activity and the development of new finance models to encourage the delivery of alternative models and to ensure that third sector organisations are at the heart of public service delivery.
Many aspects of the role of volunteers are recognised in the Government’s programmes. Personal development and employability skills are some of the attributes that can emerge from some of the volunteering programmes over which the Government presides. One of those is the Scottish Government’s MV awards scheme, which provides opportunities for young people between the ages of 16 and 25 to take part in voluntary work in their community. The scheme recognises the contribution that young people have made through the award of certificates for 50, 100 or 200 hours of volunteering.
As Ms Goldie recounted in relation to the volunteer champions project that has developed in East Dunbartonshire, we all know that volunteering can help young people to become successful and effective learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. Ms Goldie, Mr Bibby and Fiona McLeod acknowledged the significance of young people’s involvement in volunteering, which is of particular note.
On the wider role of volunteering in our society, the European year of volunteering in 2011 was significant. Our programme for the year focused on participation and celebration and included a volunteering and learning conference, at which delegates from across Europe shared their experiences. A national campaign was launched to raise the profile of volunteering and get more people in Scotland involved.
I am keen to maintain the momentum that has been generated and to ensure that the European year of volunteering has a strong and powerful legacy in our community. To demonstrate our on-going commitment to volunteering, and to bring our work programme on the European year of volunteering to a close, the Scottish Government will adopt the principles that are laid down in the universal declaration on volunteering. That is in keeping with our view that the Government’s approach should be to facilitate volunteering opportunities for as many people as possible of all ages and from all backgrounds, using a wide range of providers.
I assure the Parliament that although the European year of volunteering has ended, our volunteering support and our journey to support volunteering will be maintained. I take a close interest in the volunteering agenda and the Government will continue to work closely with its partners to recognise more actively the benefits of volunteering as we plan for policy delivery and plan to boost outcomes in our community.
The debate has highlighted the benefits of volunteering and the valuable contribution that Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire makes to the local community. I am certain that the centre’s important work will be invigorated by the powerful commendation that it was given in Ms Goldie’s motion and the cross-party support that has been expressed. I look forward to hearing about more of the work as we continue to work closely with the centre, as we do with interface organisations in every part of our country.
Thank you. I close our first meeting of the Parliament in 2012.
Meeting closed at 17:27.