Supporting Voluntary and Community Action
The Black Police Association (BPA) of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary aim to
• Support Black and Minority Ethnic Staff
• Share our experience to guide and direct on diversity issues
• Help and assist the Avon and Somerset Constabulary to meet the needs of our diverse Communities.
Over the past two years the BPA have recruited 13 Outreach Support Volunteers mostly from a BME backgrounds, these volunteers range from University and students, employed & unemployed members of the communities within Avon and Somerset force area that wants to make a difference in their communities.
They have assisted the Constabulary with a view of increasing representation in • Specials Constabulary • Police Staff • Police Volunteers • Regular Police Officers • Police Cadets ( 14-18 yrs ) From within under representative groups by outreaching and assisting Police recruitment events. Our BPA volunteers make a real difference by being roles models, they aim to raise aspirations and raise awareness of the opportunities that are open and available.
Over 170 disabled riders a week benefit from coming to Avon Riding Centre for the Disabled, they range in age from 4 to 74 and have a mixture of physical, emotional and learning disabilities and for some riding is the only exercise or outside time they have.
To keep the riders riding, we need over 170 volunteers a week – they are committed, kind, compassionate and passionate about the therapeutic benefits of riding. They deserve this award for ensuring that our riders make amazing progress - we have a rider who can now ride a bike due to the balance they have developed during riding, we have a rider who has gone from a wheelchair to walking due to lessons on our simulator, we have riders who have grown enormously in confidence because on a horse they are not judged as disabled and riders who have achieved first place in the Riding for the Disabled National Championships.
None of these things would have happened without our volunteers.
Our Information and Reception Volunteers are the public face of Citizens Advice in Bristol. They are first point of contact for the thousands of clients who visit the bureau seeking help and advice every year. Dealing with people anxious about debt or scared of losing their home, for example, the Team offer a reassuring welcome, and help visitors get the advice and information they need to sort out their problems.
The team comprises of volunteers of all ages, from all walks of life and backgrounds. Some are young, newly-qualified and gaining experience for paid work, some retired and keen to share their professional skills and practical wisdom. Some have been through situations and want to use their time to help others as well as themselves.
Collectively the team give over 52 hours every week. That's 2,520 annually, a contribution of £19,278 to Bristol CAB and the city as a whole.
The hosts that work with Bristol Nightstop offer a spare room in their own homes, an evening meal and breakfast in the morning to young people in the city who are at risk of homelessness. Bristol Nightstop has 3 full time staff and around 25 volunteer host households. Our hosts do this work free of charge and can be called on at a moments notice to provide emergency accommodation for young people in crisis. In the last 12 months the Bristol Nightstop Hosts have provided 456 nights of emergency accommodation supporting 80 young people in the city who otherwise would have had to sleep rough or stay in unsafe and unsuitable places. The work of the team has been outstanding and shows a real commitment to community social action.
The Volunteer force at the Zoo now numbers around 260 dedicated people, helping almost every department across the whole site, and coordinated by a wonderful staff team. There are always volunteers in the Butterfly Forest walkthrough, engaging and informing guests - they, especially, get glowing feedback (see below). Volunteers help staff the lemur walkthrough, run the Activity Centre (face painting, badge-making and other activities), deliver Animal Encounters several times a day, every day, and create and staff the Christmas Grotto. This year they have painted 8,681 faces, and given a total of 41,588 hours supporting keepers, rangers, gardens, conservation work, education and others. As a team, they rise to so many occasions, and individuals also go above and beyond: knitting a gorilla superhero character 'Kuki', painting murals, and cataloguing our library. The scheme has been running for more than 20 years and we *still* have some of our founder volunteers.
The Visitor Welcome Volunteer Team of Bristol St John the Baptist, also known as St John on the Wall - the last remaining church standing on Bristol's medieval city wall - have made dramatic improvements to the visitor access and quality of welcome to this church.
We currently have 28 volunteers who each give between half a day a month to 3 days a week to help get this unique Bristol landmark and piece of medieval history open to the public. They offer free guided tours and help with projects such as interpretation and documentation.
They have a Volunteer Team leader who organises monthly team meetings, social events and coordinates the rota, as well as a Volunteer Events Coordinator and Presentation Team Leader who organises group cleaning days.
Research volunteers regularly take their own initiative to delve into the history of the building and it's artefacts in order that we might better explain the history to our visitors.
The e Volunteer team have worked together to increase their capacity, recruiting new volunteers to help with opening the doors of this wonderful piece of Bristol's history. One of our Visitor Welcome Volunteers leads the induction team, who run regular group induction sessions for new volunteers.
With no full time staff to support them they have made fantastic leaps forward.
This group of five volunteers have worked particularly well together and demonstrated fantastic team work, supporting one another to tackle complex issues and effectively disseminating information to the statutory agencies. The team has a sensitive, respectful approach and are able to challenge appropriately – demonstrating a concern for the community and the individual. In addition to the expected giving of their time in this volunteering role, they have gone ‘the extra mile’ in order to offer practical support in helping the offender, whose confidence in social situations is improving but still low, seek suitable volunteer opportunities himself by accompanying him to the Library, Volunteer Bureau, charity shops, etc: tasks beyond the expected role take considerable time and undoubtedly support successful rehabilitation. In recognition of their on-going commitment to safeguard the community and support the aim of ‘no more victims’ this team deserves the recognition that would come from the Voscur Awards.
The ‘Have Your Say’ group are ex-Service User volunteers who offer their time to help improve Shelter’s services. They each have their own experience of struggling with housing, making them experts in what works and what doesn’t. The group represents many different backgrounds, cultures and perspectives, and discussions are always lively and respectful.
We are nominating the group for their absolute dedication to making Shelter’s services as effective, accessible and welcoming as possible. The group itself is led by a volunteer who works hard to ensure that each invaluable voice is heard. Several members have been volunteering with the group for as many as five years and their commitment has led to countless changes within Shelter’s local and national services.
The volunteers have made the group into a great place for peer support and friendship, and have turned their own difficult experiences into an opportunity to help others.
The IT mentor volunteer team at North Bristol Advice Centre have been providing vital skills support and guidance to local learners since October 2013. NBAC's computer training hub is opened once a week to the public to come and use computers and the internet for free, with support from these IT-savvy volunteers. Our four core volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and with a range of experiences and have shared their knowledge and training skills to ensure they offer a be-spoke service to each member of the public who ‘drops-in’. The team provides a friendly welcome and have guided learners from their first steps using a computer, to contacting overseas relatives and significantly saving money online.
"My husband is registered disabled and it’s a lifeline for him to come here. He gets to meet different people and he’s learning something. For him, it’s been an absolute marvellous thing... The people here are fantastic that’s the main thing – they will all try to help you.”
I am nominating the team of thirty volunteers at Kinergy, whose outstanding commitment, skills and perseverance mean that this essential community service has survived over eighteen years since it was first conceived in response to a prevalent yet hidden problem: the harsh realities of facing the future after sexual abuse and rape. Sexual abuse and rape can affect all areas of life and Kinergy volunteers make a difference by providing counselling in a safe, accepting and supportive environment.
Kinergy developed from a supportive listening group, into a professional counselling organisation still predominantly made up of volunteers. Currently fourteen qualified, experienced counsellors together with ten trainee counsellors each provide around three hours a week of counselling, whilst the organisation is led by six voluntary trustees. Kinergy inspires steady and long term commitment, for example one counsellor has worked with the organisation since the beginning, now also serving as a trustee.
Kombo Sillah Association has been founded by Gambians and friends of The Gambia resident in the United Kingdom (UK) with a view to promoting education, and relieving poverty. In the UK, this involves cultural education targeted at the objective of advancing and cementing social cohesion and community integration. They work across the region to educate various institutions on the importance of Art in promoting Cultural Cohesion.Early this year they held a Coronation Ceremony for the Head of Kora Music. Jaliba is a re-knowned Gambian artist who has travelled the world wowing people with his Kora Music. Every year Khombosillah have organised an annual event at the Trinity Centre to celebrate Kora music by inviting Jaliba and in 2014 they organised a coronation Ceremony which brought a lot of happiness to the community in the UK and abroad - they travelled all over to be part of this special ceremony.
The team of Volunteer Guides at Lifeskills are amazing! In the last year alone they have given over 7,100 hours to the Charity, educating 10,500 children using the realistic Lifeskills scenarios.
All the volunteers are enthusiastic about the education that they provide, seeing the benefits every time they volunteer, as children grow in confidence in the time that they're involved in the activities. All the volunteers are so friendly and welcoming and they just give, give, give. Their commitment is unbelievable.
This autumn six more Volunteer Guides will be presented with awards celebrating that they have attended over 500 sessions, joining the fifteen other extremely dedicated volunteers who have received the award in previous years.
We were devastated by a fire in January of 2014 and our volunteers managed to keep the helpline open offering advice and support to vulnerable children whilst working in horrendous conditions themselves.
The smoke damage was terrible and working conditions for the volunteers were grim. Their determination and unswerving dedication kept us listening to those who needed us most. We totally lost our IT, masses of information (as well as a kitchen and the toilets), yet we didn't lose the need to reach out and help the one in five children affected by a parent's drinking. Without these volunteers, the children would have had no one to turn to and validate their problems.
The Volunteer Team at Spike Island goes above and beyond to make Contemporary Art accessible and exciting for everyone who visits our building. 40 volunteers each give 5.5 hours a week to welcome visitors to our free gallery, and talk to them about the art work on display. They also tell people about the history of Spike Island, and the other exciting things going on around the building.
Volunteers also help facilitate family workshops, evening events and give tours to large groups.
Spike volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and welcome anyone who wishes to join the team providing they are interested in contemporary art. This means we have lots of interesting conversations – with our visitors and with each other!
This year, the Spike Island Volunteer Team have got together to produce their own exhibition of work, which will be displayed at Spike Island for 2 weeks in October.
Tan Teddy have been very instrumental in promoting Jamaican Folks Songs across the South West. They have worked as a great time, with great commitment and raised the profile of Bristol over the past year. They have participated in Community Events such as Refugee Week, International Womens' Day and International AIDS day not excluding Afirfest which is an event which is held annually and celebrates the diversity of Culture across Bristol. Their partnership approach is also exemplery and to crown this all they organised a community event last Christmas for 200 young children which was well organised, very successful and draw alot of positive remarks from the parents of the children who attended the Christmas Celebration. They deserve some recognition for the difference they make to the communities of Bristol.
Specific examples are outlines in the above area - however i would draw attention to the Christmas Party organised for Children in 2013 - which took place at KUUMBA earlier in December and was attended by over 200 children all of whom had a Xmas present.
Peer Support Volunteers are all disabled adults who live in or around the Bristol area. Over 70 individuals take a regular, active part in designing and staffing opportunities for other disabled adults to meet up, join in accessible activities and have fun in an inclusive environment. Volunteers now run five monthly drop-in sessions, a range of workshops including a book club and sports sessions and offer friendship and support during visits to sites around the region. As well as hours given to developing their own skills, they use those skills in the many other activities .All volunteers have their own impairments but use their learning and expertise to support others. They support at least 250 of their peers every year many of whom would not otherwise have the confidence to access their community.
The Peer Support Volunteers team is enthusiastic, dedicated and truly a pleasure to work with. This project would be nothing without them! They regularly contribute to WECIL’s quarterly newsletter and the Peer Support blog.
Watch our short film to find out more about the project and the people behind it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxZF0uLxJFs
Our site operations team Paul, Gavin, Mike, Alan and Darren volunteer on the farm 3 days per week, almost every week of the year. Their time here ranges from 5 years to 6 months. They are handy men, literally extending strong and reliable hands to any task, big or small. From demolishing walls, to building paths, to fixing fencing, to strimming vegetation, their hard work is outstanding and essential to the overall development and maintenance of the farm site. The team do the ground work that makes everything else possible.
They are a close knit team. United by the experience of overcoming addictions, they have actively taken steps to better both their own lives and their community, and support each other in doing so. Their team dynamic means they achieve a huge amount, both personally and practically, all with a sense of humour and a cool, calm and collected approach.
