Aim: An Event to bring together like-minded people interested in getting involved with volunteering for CSSC. To give members the opportunity to speak with Head Office staff and current volunteers about what is available in terms of funding and support; and the various volunteering options.
Organising and Promotion: The idea was to include the promotion of the event with our Members' Survey that was going to be emailed and posted to all our members. Not only was it to gauge what members wanted from their membership, it was to find out if they were interested in volunteering. Therefore, I put together a brief description of what the event would be and if people were interested to please register their interest with me or Carley, our newly elected Volunteer Co-ordinator. This is what was sent to the members with the survey:
Be a Part of Something… Our TEAM!
Manchester Area Volunteer Night
On 31st March 2011, we are planning a fun filled, fully funded event to provide you, the member, with an opportunity to speak to both new and existing volunteers about the outstanding benefits of being involved with CSSC. Whether you are currently involved with running events or would just like to take part, please register your interest with Carley Cooke or Jennifer Cuthbert.
When I received any surveys back from people who were interested in volunteering I contacted them via email or phone to ask whether they had considered attending the volunteer night. From this I began to build the guest list which reached 15 attendees, and 8 people that were interested in the office communication role. We sent out a reminder of the event via email to all the members a few weeks before and got a few more responses from potential attendees.
The Venue: The venue was a city centre pub/restaurant, name the Jabez Clegg. We managed to sort a private room for free as one of our members was the Bar Manager there previously before joining the Civil Service. In addition to a free room, they also kindly put on a mini buffet and drinks at extremely reasonable prices.
The Event: The evening started at 6pm, with people arriving casually up until about 7pm. It was very informal, with chairs throughout the room, which allowed people to mingle with one another and get chatting. At around 7.15pm, John Hogg, the BDE for the North West, gathered everyone's attention and gave a brief overview of the CSSC and the purpose of the evening. I then took the floor and spoke about my objectives for organising the evening and also for the forthcoming year for the Manchester Area. Then we opened it up for a Q&A session for the members to ask questions or voice their opinions. Finally, the evening ended with going back to the informal, social layout, where everyone talked amongst themselves which allowed them to network for the future.
Outcome: During the Q&A, some people used it as a time to share any of their past experiences with the CSSC. Some of which were maybe not as 'seamless' as they hoped for, however it was a great chance to clear the air and identify these issues to rectify, move forward and hopefully avoid in the future. After the speaking session, those people that voiced their concerns or comments actually took the time to say how beneficial that discussion had been for them because they feel confident that past mistakes have been addressed and they are now happy to move forward.
Additionally, the people that came along who are new members or may have been members for a while but not really participated or been involved, also took the time to mention that the evening had been very beneficial for them. Mainly because they learned more about CSSC as an organisation, how it works and how they can get involved. The people said that their main reasons for attending were that they are looking to get more active in their lives, looking to make new friends and to have fun!
As for the 'signing up', I can honestly say that we have definitely secured 15 new volunteers for the Area, which all will offer their time and skills in a variety of ways. It was mentioned by various people that this number of volunteers has the potential to grow even more so because they are keen to go back to their offices and enlist their friends and colleagues! They feel this will not be a hard task because once they tell everyone what a great time they had and how easy it is to get involved, the good news will spread, and will in turn, optimistically, attract more potential volunteers for our next event.
We have already put thought into planning another similar event for May to prepare for our recruitment drive in the summer, which we will need all hands on deck for to build the calendar of events, to hopefully, attract new members!
Jennifer Cuthbert
Area Development Executive (Manchester)
CSSC Sports & Leisure
