Campaigns

Our ongoing policy and campaigns work builds on the experience of young people and our funded projects. We are working to open up access to high quality volunteering opportunities, ensure young people get the most out of their volunteering experience and remove barriers to volunteering.

Young people and the recession

With young unemployment nudging 1 million, v is working hard to ensure that policy makers continue to invest in young people and volunteering. Volunteering can provide a lifeline for young people through the recession and help to avoid a lost generation.

v is calling for cross party political support for a unified national programme of youth public service building on the success of vtalent year, our full-time volunteering programme. vTalent Year  engages young people not in education, employment or training with 16-25 year olds from different backgrounds. The programme provides experience, training and progression support which will prepares participants for the jobs market.

v recently organised an RSA lecture Lost Generation? Recession and the Young where delegates heard about the benefits of volunteering to both the individual and the state. The lecture was given by Professor David Blanchflower, former Bank of England Monetary Committee Member and included responses from David Willets MP, Shadow Minister for Universities and Skills, and Stephen Timms MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

v’s CEO, Terry Ryall commented, “Volunteering, particularly by those young people who are disadvantaged and marginalised, provides the skills and experience to find work and to keep it. For the state, this means less benefits being paid out and more taxes coming in. Volunteering is a solid investment. We’re pleased that all the political parties and business recognise this and call for continued investment now and for the future.”

Find out more about the campaign on the vlabsblog.

Good for nothing

v’s Good for Nothing campaign challenges the idea that young people are associated with anti-social behaviour or crime and asks the public to pause for thought before judging young people based on their age or appearance. The campaign features four volunteers who have all been victims of negative stereotyping yet give their time for the benefit of the community, or in simple terms doing “good’ for “nothing”.

Research shows that 69% of British adults think young people treat others with a lack of respect and consideration in the public and 40% think teenagers have a predominantly negative impact on their community. However figures reveal that only 1% of 16-25 year olds do not respect their elders, 48% have given their time for the benefit of people in their area.

Tim Loughton, Shadow Minister for Children and Young People said, “It’s time to recognise that hundreds of thousands of young people give Britain something for nothing. Negative stereotyping is the psychology of laziness – we have to challenge it.”

Dawn Primarolo, Minister for Children and Young People said, “I welcome v’s new advertising campaign because hopefully it will make everyone think twice about young people before they believe in or contribute to the negative stereotyping. .. A higher percentage of young people volunteer than in any other age group and it’s about time that we celebrate the positive contribution they make and recognise and reward them for their hard work and respect of others.”

Read more about the young people featured in the campaign or have your say by texting v to 60505.

Volunteering and skills

v wants to see wider recognition from employers and educational institutions for the skills that young people develop through volunteering. Recognising and celebrating these skills will incentivise more young people to volunteer.

v’s 2008 report, Discovering Talent - Developing Skills [hyperlink to report], brings together existing research with case studies from v funded projects to illustrate the contribution that volunteering could make to the skills agenda. All young people could benefit from volunteering opportunities which help build their self-confidence and transferable skills. The case studies indicate that there is a strong link between volunteering and employability and that volunteering could be a particularly effective way of engaging young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

In January 2009 v launched the vinspired awards to recognise the contribution made by young volunteers. The awards help young volunteers to identify the skills gained through their volunteering and record the positive impact of their activities. v is now working to get the awards recognised by employers and educators. If you are an employer or educator you join the CBI and Institute of Directors in recognising the awards here.

Downloadthe report:  Discovering Talent - Developing Skills: the contribution of volunteering 

Policy & consultation responses

v's submission to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee Inquiry into young people not in education, employment or training

December 2009: This document is v’s submission to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee Inquiry into young people not in education, employment or training. The response is based on the experience of the voluntary sector and local authority partners delivering v programmes to young people classed as NEET. In particular the response focuses on learning from our v talent year programme.

v's response to the Youth Citizenship Commission Votes at 16 consultation
January 2009: The following document constitutes v's response to the Youth Citizenship Commission Votes at 16 consultation. The response is based on a survey of the vinspired panel - young people aged 16-25 that have registered their interest in volunteering though vinspired.com. The survey results can be found in the research section.

v statement on the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s funding for volunteering
November 2008: This document outlines v’s position on changes to HEFCE funding for student volunteering. Full briefing on the funding changes can be found here.

v's response to the Morgan Inquiry
March 2008: This document constitutes v's response to the parliamentary Morgan Inquiry into young adult volunteering and in particular, considers the Inquiry's questions in light of Russell Commission recommendations and v's current activity.

v’s response to consultation on NMW & voluntary workers
September 2007: This response from v to the DBERR (DTI) consultation on the National Minimum Wage and voluntary workers establishes the position of the charity in respect of proposed changes to National Minimum Wage regulations.

v’s response to the Third Sector Strategy for Communities and Local Government
September 2007: This response from v to Communities and Local Government considers the department’s proposals for the third sector and reflects on the strategic role that youth volunteering can play at a local level.

v's response to the Commission on the Future of Volunteering
June 2007: This written response from v considers how youth volunteering will fit into the wider vision for volunteering being developed by the Commission. It seeks to bring our experience of implementing the Russell Commission recommendations, together with direct input from young people, to influence and inform the Commission.