Managers of volunteers are an inspiring group - spend some time in each others' company, learning, sharing and commiserating

Managers of volunteers in participating agencies are welcome to attend the regular, informal Volunteering in Manningham (ViM) Network meetings held every quarter. If you wish to attend or find out more about ViM and your potential participation in it, please contact the ViM Coordinator, ph: 9841 4215.


Benefits of participation in the Network include:

• sharing of information, such as training opportunities and current volunteering issues
• sharing of information about how to support volunteers in your agency
• access to documents that you can use, e.g. job descriptions,
• access to a database that will help you advertise volunteer vacancies
• participation in quarterly meetings of the ViM Network of managers/coordinators of volunteers

Victoria's Volunteering Portal is becoming a useful source of information for organisations engaging volunteers. Stage 2 will be launched in September 2010, bringing increased interactivity and a a datamatching search facility for volunteer opportunities.

The Volunteering in Manningham (ViM) website advertises volunteering opportunities in Manningham and also in adjacent suburbs for some regional agencies. Not-for-profit agencies may advertise on the website, so long as they offer appropriate insurance to their volunteers and provide them with appropriate training and support.

You'll need to complete a ViM Volunteer Vacancy Form (VV Form) to advertise a volunteer opportunity on the ViM website. A completed form will meet Volunteering Australia's guidelines for a position description. You'll probably be able to copy and paste all or most of the information required from your existing position description. Sending the information to ViM in this manner enables us to provide a better service to prospective volunteers during ViM interviews, and also to people using the web - perhaps future volunteers for your own agency.

Email ViM with completed VV Form as an attachment

The Migrant Information Centre (Eastern), known as MIC, has a number of useful resources on its MIC volunteering webpage, including these information sheets on inviting cultural diversity:

Information sheet 1 - Welcoming and inclusive policies

Information sheet 2 - Communication

Information sheet 3 useful links, contacts and services - see attached file

This colourful sign was developed by Bathurst Information & Neighbourhood Centre.

This colourful sign was developed by Bathurst Information & Neighbourhood Centre. The downloadable Word version of the welcome sign enables you to add a local Aboriginal language or change the community languages included.

This helpful fact sheet on inclusive volunteering for young people with disabilities was prepared by the Youth Disabiltiy Advocacy Service (YDAS), as part of the Developing Youth Volunteering project of the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria (YAVCIC).

This short tip sheet on engaging people with a disability in volunteering was prepared by Volunteering Scotland.
Click here to download the full Volunteer Scotland report on Volunteering and Disability.

Recruiting and supporting young volunteers
Only a small number of Australian community organisations really turn their efforts to recruiting young people as volunteers, perhaps because of a common belief that today's young people are selfish and uninvolved. This is definitely a misconception.
To learn more about recruiting and supporting young volunteers see the free help sheet, provided by the Australian Institute of Community Practice and Governance as a service from ourcommunity.com.

Volunteering is Catching is a study of young people’s experience of volunteering in Victoria and is based on the findings of an online survey of four hundred young people aged 12 to 25. The report details the areas young people were volunteering, their motivations, the barriers as well as the perceived impact of volunteering. The emerging trends for both volunteers and young people who have never volunteered are detailed. There are differences in the experiences of young people with volunteering based upon age, gender, disability, geographical location and cultural diversity which are discussed in this report.

Click here to download the report.