promoting voluntary action

  Volunteer Certificate Scheme -
Information & Background

 The Volunteer Certificate Scheme was launched in Southampton 
 in 1991.  The aim is to encourage recognition of unpaid work and
 highlight the role that volunteering can play in personal and career
 development.  The scheme has since been adopted by
 Volunteering Development Agencies, Councils of Community 
 Service and voluntary organisations on a national scale.

 Volunteers completing at least 100 hours of high standard
 voluntary work can be nominated to receive a certificate from the 
 Mayor of Southampton.  This formal recognition of the work
 assists particularly those seeking paid work or further education
 opportunities.  It is also a way of thanking volunteers who have
 done exceptionally well and have shown a great commitment.

 To demonstrate the quality of the volunteering, the voluntary
 organisations involved need to be able to identify areas in which
 the volunteer has worked well.  This will be clearly shown in the
 accompanying task description and reference, which will act as a
 record of achievement for the volunteer.

 The Certificate Scheme represents many facets of the work
 undertaken by the Training and Employment Initiatives section in
 Southampton City Council and Southampton Voluntary Services in
 encouraging and recognising the increase in skills, confidence
 and personal development that a person can achieve through
 voluntary work, also the investment in this process that voluntary
 organisations make.

 Below we have made the pack downloadable in Word and pdf file
 formats, to download just click on a suitable link.