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Kent eVent Team Case Study

Summary

The Kent eVent Team has used the 2012 Games as a catalyst to recruit volunteers for events and one-off sport, leisure and cultural activities across the county, in the build up to the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in London.

What We Did

The Kent eVent Team is a partnership between Kent County Council and the voluntary sector in Kent. Voluntary Action Maidstone is the lead partner, with valuable development and project management support from Voluntary Action West Kent.

Not only is the Kent eVent Team recruiting volunteers and supporting a wide range of events, it is also proving to the people of Kent that volunteering can be fun, flexible, diverse and exciting. It is attracting new people into volunteering who may not have considered it before. The Kent eVent Team has also acted as a conduit, linking up local volunteering infrastructure with sectors it had not fully engaged with before.

In the first 18 months of the project:

  • A project manager and support staff appointed
  • Policies, procedures and systems introduced
  • 700 volunteers and 40 organisations registered
  • 40 events registered and supported including sporting, cultural, artistic and festivals

End Results (Outcomes)

  • The voluntary, community and statutory sectors in Kent will have a larger, better trained and more diverse volunteer workforce to deliver their events
  • Residents of Kent will be more able to access the benefits of volunteering (personal development, self esteem, social networks etc) as the Kent eVent Team will enable them to take part on a flexible basis without having to make a long term commitment
  • The volunteer workforce across the county will be strengthened through the provision of information on a range of volunteering opportunities
  • Volunteering will have a higher profile and more positive image across the county
  • The voluntary, community and statutory sectors will have a more diverse volunteer workforce as the Kent eVent Team will target new audiences and better engage ‘hard to reach’ groups
  • Volunteers in Kent will be better skilled with improved access to basic training
  • The benefits and legacy to Kent of being on the doorstep of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be maximised with regard to volunteering
  • More successful and effective events in Kent, due to the increased and better coordinated support from a volunteer workforce.

Key Learning Points

  • To work in partnership with the voluntary sector within your locality, utilising their expertise and local connections
  • Using the project to  link up sectors, such as sport or tourism, with the existing volunteering infrastructure, brings ongoing benefits such improved volunteer recruitment and shared expertise
  • Marketing the project innovatively, concentrating on the activities and events rather than its nature as ‘voluntary work’ can attract new audiences to volunteering, particularly young people and people from different ethnic backgrounds for whom the term ‘volunteering’ may have negative connotations.
  • The database of volunteers is a valuable resource for the channelling of information efficiently by email, for example about volunteering at the 2012 Games.