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Answer:

Voluntary and community groups can be great places to work, with their positive values and contribution to making a difference in society. They can also be stressful and difficult if the organisation is working with few resources and with communities experiencing trauma. Looking after your team is vital.

Think about how you will support your team. You could consider building the cost of reflective practice sessions or counselling into funding applications. Give employees chances to meet with others through team meetings and social events. Recognise the different needs of your team and make sure that everyone is included. That might include days off for Eid or other religious holidays, social events that everyone can take part in, and designated places to pray.

Practical ideas to embed wellbeing into your team

  • Being clear with people that you do not expect them to work outside their hours (and modelling this behaviour yourself).
  • Consider holding online meetings for 50 minutes (rather than an hour), as that’s likely to give people a break between meetings (make sure you start on time though.)
  • Consider holding a standing meeting or encouraging people to move around and change positions during the meeting.
  • Embed a short wellbeing exercise (a ‘mindful minute’) in some meetings.
  • Saying thank you. You may think you already do, but acknowledging when someone does a good job is a very powerful way to make them feel good. However, saying ‘thank you for your hard work’ could be improved by making it more specific, e.g. ‘I really appreciate how you put in the extra effort to get that newsletter out on time’, or ‘thank you for taking the minutes – I liked the way they were simple and direct’. It’s also a good idea to give these acknowledgements as near to the time as possible.
  • If you can afford it consider signing up to an Employee Assistance Programme, to offer support around a variety of issues including stress and anxiety.

Other wellbeing resources

Answer:

The notice period that an employee must give should be set out in their contract. When someone resigns you should ask for their resignation in writing. Please confirm with them the last day of their employment and whether there is any outstanding annual leave for them to take before that date.

Set a date for an exit interview and ask the employee for their feedback. The idea is to enable them to leave positively and for you to learn if there is anything you could improve.

Redundancy

Sometimes redundancy is necessary. There are rules about how to do this fairly and ACAS sets these out here: Redundancy | ACAS.

Managing volunteers

Volunteer Centre Tower Hamlets has many excellent resources for managing volunteers: Managing Volunteers - Resources - Volunteer Centre Tower Hamlets. They also offer training, a bulletin and 1-1 support free to any voluntary and community group in Tower Hamlets.

Answer:
  • If someone says they are stressed at work, take it seriously. You could carry out a stress risk assessment.
  • If someone says they have too much to do, take it seriously. Their line manager should work with them to understand the work they have to do and help them to prioritise it. Please ask your staff if there are any adjustments that they need.
  • If someone is struggling with their mental health Mind offers a wellness action plan which gives structured questions to help you discuss mental health with your employee. Anyone can use it.
  • To identify potential risks that could affect an employee’s physical and mental health you could consider an occupational health assessment. This might be used when someone returns to work after a significant illness.
  • Provide resources to support your employees, for example for urgent mental health support: Urgent and other support – Thrive LDN.
  • ACAS offers an early reconciliation service: ACAS Dispute Resolution.
  • Sometimes if things you wrong you may need support. Tower Hamlets CVS can provide the names of some HR advisors who can give the expert advice you need.
Answer:

In order to measure the impact that your work has you will need to collect information at the beginning and end of a project to measure progress. One way to do this is to design your own feedback form which asks questions from your service users. You should let them know how you are going to use the findings. If it contains any personal data you will also have to explain how you are going to store the data securely. Survey Monkey and Microsoft Forms can help you to create easy online forms. There are many existing tools that you can use to capture information such as:

  • Strengths and difficulties questionnaires. These are behavioural screening questionnaires for children aged 3 to 16 which can be used at the beginning and the end of a project to measure progress. All versions can be found on the Youth in Mind website.
  • Warwick-Edinburgh scale. This widely-used scale can be used to evaluate projects which aim to improve mental wellbeing. It is free to registered charities and Community Interest Companies and can be used at the beginning and end of a project to measure progress.
  • The Outcomes Star. This is a family of evidence-based measurement tools using a person-centered approach, tailored to specific sectors such as mental health, homelessness, community, education or adult care. You can see a full list on their website. Everyone using the Outcomes Star must have a licence and have completed their core training, so it can be expensive to use in small projects.

Try to set aside enough time to analyse the data you collect. You will need systems in place to respond to the findings if you find anything challenging. If the data shows that you aren’t making the difference you hoped, think about what steps you can take to make changes to the project.

Answer:

The actual act of collecting data can be done by the project workers and/or volunteers. This can include recording attendance at activities or events, conducting surveys and doing interviews.

This data can then be analysed by project workers or service managers and included in reports or fundraising bids. There are no rules here about who does what; it is very much dependent on you and your organisation. It is also possible to commission an external organisation to do the work of monitoring and evaluation.

The work of monitoring and evaluation can be done both internally and externally to the organisation.

 

Answer:

An external evaluation can offer a thorough and independent evaluation of your project. This can be very useful to demonstrate your impact and has the following benefits:

  • It is independent.
  • It would be run by experts if you engage the right external evaluators.
  • It allows you to focus on the delivery of your project.

The main drawback of this method is that it can cost more money than running your own evaluation. If you are planning an external evaluation then you should write this into your budget at the fundraising stage. Funders are often happy to see that you have considered this at an early stage as it means they will have the information they need to know if their funding has been impactful. Even if you have an external evaluator you will still need to agree your outcomes and outputs, how to measure them and regularly collect the data to evaluate. If you don’t it is like inviting a chef to help you make dinner but not providing any ingredients.

Answer:
  • Your board or committee is responsible for ensuring that your organisation is run properly and effectively. In a charitable organisation board members are called trustees, and their role is usually expected to be entirely voluntary.
  • Define clearly the roles and responsibilities, including strategic oversight, financial management, and risk management (see our resource about Trustees).
  • Charity trustees should review their legal duties under the Charity Commission’s guidelines.
Answer:
  • Essential policies for governance like safeguarding, health and safety and financial controls are important for accountability.
  • Create relevant policies, ensure all stakeholders adhere to them and review them regularly.
Answer:
  • Transparent, accountable decision-making ensures that your organisation’s interests are met.
  • Track decisions by taking meeting minutes and records to maintain accountability and continuity.
Answer:
  • Organisations must meet reporting requirements to maintain trust and comply with regulations. This includes reporting to the Charity Commission, Companies House, and funders, as well as providing financial statements.
  • Understand reporting obligations and develop a system to make sure that reports are submitted on time.
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