Be inspired and refresh your learning by dipping into our range of volunteering resources.

We’ve got a wide range of specialist resources to help you find and support your volunteers such as our Trustee Recruitment toolkit and Volunteer Management toolkit? We’ve also got helpful guides such as sample volunteer policies and agreements on our Community Support North Yorkshire website.

We run training sessions to help organisations support and get the most out of their volunteers. From volunteer management, essential training for trustees to safeguarding, there’s plenty of support available.

If you’re responsible for supporting volunteers in your organisation, you may like to join our Volunteer Co-ordinators Network.

Meet others in a similar role, find out about resources and training, and get support with your work.

If your organisation is looking for volunteers, you can advertise your volunteering opportunities for free on our Volunteering in North Yorkshire directory.

You can add and edit details of volunteer opportunities and respond to enquiries from potential volunteers on the website. Your opportunities can also be included in our weekly newsletter feature ‘Opportunity of the Week’. Register here to sign up to receive our newsletters.

Sign up to our six weekly round-up dedicated to all things volunteering. Simply subscribe to our newsletter here to get it delivered straight to your inbox.

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There are hundreds of inspiring volunteer groups across North Yorkshire, making a difference to their communities and providing vital support and services to the most vulnerable.

Hear from groups about their volunteering journeys, and see how support from our Community Support North Yorkshire team can help you to grow, be more impactful or work through challenges to build a more resilient society.

From celebrating their volunteers, to working with us to find the volunteers they need, take a look at or listen to what people have to say about volunteering with our:

• stories from organisations we’ve worked with
• volunteering blogs
• podcasts to help inspire you.

Across the nation, volunteering is being transformed.

The Vision for Volunteering, developed through workshops, interviews, and written contributions from over 300 organisations, outlines potential positive changes in the volunteering sector. This framework aims to foster a brighter future for volunteering by inspiring and mobilising individuals committed to making a difference.

The Vision for Volunteering is a 10-year strategy. Launched in May 2022 it has five themes:

• Awareness and appreciation – a future where a culture of volunteering is part of everyone’s life and volunteer roles are given the recognition they deserve
• Power -a future where volunteers (and the communities they work with) lead on change that matters to them
• Equity and inclusion – a future where it’s easy for people to give their time and energy to the causes they care about, they feel welcomed, and the benefits are equally distributed
• Collaboration – a future where collaboration is natural and spontaneous, where people do great stuff together because they want to
• Experimentation – a future where communities aren’t afraid to try new things to develop their own innovative solutions to engaging and supporting volunteers

Community First Yorkshire recognises that although many people volunteered during the pandemic, current volunteering rates are still below pre-Covid levels.

There has been an increase in informal, ‘micro’, and short-term volunteering, reflecting an evolution in volunteers’ expectations. Not everyone is able or willing to volunteer in traditional ways, so volunteering must be inclusive to stay relevant and keep volunteers engaged. More volunteers, particularly young people, desire a role in decision-making as well as in service delivery.

By integrating the themes of the Vision for Volunteering into your volunteer strategies and daily operations, we can explore the best ways to make volunteering more attractive and accessible to everyone.

For further information on the 10-year Vision for Volunteering strategy go to their website.

In recognition of  the important role volunteers play as part of our wider workforce by developing meaningful and accessible volunteer roles as an introduction to workforce opportunities, the volunteering task and finish group developed this Volunteering Principles Charter. The intention is to set out an agreed set of principles about volunteering and how volunteering should be managed so that our volunteers know how much they’re valued.

If you have any feedback on this charter, please contact communitysupport@communityfirstyorkshire.org.uk.