Getting Involved

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Getting Involved
in Westminster

• Marie Broad and Sam Jennings
• Time Talents for Westminster

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Time Talents for Westminsterconnecting
employers to the community...
65 local charities schools
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Neighbourhood Renewal priorities identified by
Local Area Renewal Partnerships (LARPs)
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About your community Westminster

• The most deprived area in England for factors
  relating to child poverty is in Westminster

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Childrens Plan 2020
Government does not bring up children parents
do so government needs to do more to back
parents and families.
All children have the potential to succeed and
should go as far as their talents can take them.
All children and young people need to enjoy their
childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult
life.
Services need to be shaped by and responsive to
children, young people and families, not designed
around professional boundaries.
It is always better to prevent failure than
tackle a crisis later.
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Government does not bring up children parents
do so government needs to do more to back
parents and families.

• In Westminster...
• 33 of children young people live with a single
  parent in the South area.
• Schools Need to support parental involvement /
  inclusion in their childrens education results
  in improved behaviour, social skills and
  learning.

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Government does not bring up children parents
do so government needs to do more to back
parents and families.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Welcome to My Country
• Project Volunteers to facilitate discussions
  with refugee children and parents to explore
  belonging, identity, empowerment and how to get
  involved in school.
• Outcomes Pave way for parental inclusion and
  contribution build bridges between school,
  parents and community.

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• The most valuable contribution... comes from us
  all as local citizens. We are a country of many
  backgrounds and many talents, and to create
  tomorrows future today we all need to commit to
  integration and cohesion being everyones
  business.
• Report published Our Shared Future by the
  Commission on Integration and Cohesion.

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All children have the potential to succeed and
should go as far as their talents can take them.

• In Westminster...
• An engine of UK economy, yet there are still
  pockets high unemployment usually associated
  with low aspirations / low skills
• Developing interest in self employment and
  entrepreneurialism is high on the Council and
  government agenda.

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All children have the potential to succeed and
should go as far as their talents can take them.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Young Enterprise workshops
• Project Volunteers to deliver short and fun
  activities to help pupils understand about work,
  business and money.
• Outcomes Learning by doing. Equip students to
  learn and succeed through enterprise. Volunteer
  can practice their own leadership/management
  skills.

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All children have the potential to succeed and
should go as far as their talents can take them.

• In South Westminster...
• 43 primary school children have English as an
  Additional Language (EAL)
• Over 100 different languages spoken in schools
• Where translating/interpreting facilities are not
  available, this linguistic diversity can result
  in some pupils and parents not benefiting fully
  from opportunities offered by schools.

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All children have the potential to succeed and
should go as far as their talents can take them.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Welcome to My School
• Project a team of volunteers to work with
  children to produce bi-lingual welcome books for
  the school for ½ day.
• Outcomes ethnicity valued and celebrated with
  raising of self-esteem of pupils. Team
  development for volunteers. Lasting resource for
  school.

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• You can learn more in a day on a project like
  this than in many training days... You cover
  practical experience aspects like project
  management, problem-solving, interpersonal
  skills, coaching, and managing people...
• A comment from Dept for Transport volunteer after
  piloting this school project

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All children and young people need to enjoy their
childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult
life.

• In Westminster...
• Little access to safe, outdoor play facilities
• Six wards are in the 20 most disadvantaged in
  England with pockets of disadvantage across
  Westminster
• 48.7 children and young people in the south live
  in overcrowded housing / cramped accommodation.

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All children and young people need to enjoy their
childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult
life.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Playground Makeover challenge
• Project Volunteers to refurbish a playground,
  create mural incorporating childrens ideas
• Outcomes Provide a safe and stimulating space
  for creative play and learning, appropriate to
  the age and needs of children, especially those
  who have special needs or those living in
  deprived conditions.

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The children watched the make over by the
volunteers and were very excited and eager to
play and discover the new
environment. - Nursery manager,
Westminster Children Services
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All children and young people need to enjoy their
childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult
life.

• In Westminster...
• Teachers lack of capacity to give customised
  individual support to each pupil all the time
• Study support raises standards and offer young
  people opportunities for creativity and
  enrichment beyond the classroom.

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All children and young people need to enjoy their
childhood as well as grow up prepared for adult
life.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Engage and inspire school children
• Project Volunteers, whether in team or
  individuals to provide in-class room or
  after-school support for teachers and working
  directly with children
• Outcomes Help pupils become better learners, and
  provide opportunities for creativity and
  enrichment. Volunteers can explore, share,
  develop their own interests.

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Services need to be shaped by and responsive to
children, young people and families, not designed
around professional boundaries.

• The need in Westminster...
• 293 LACs in Westminster (2006)
• In Westminster, 700 children and young people
  with a statement of special educational needs
  (SEN) - speech, language and communication
  difficulties
• Issues faced behaviour of children in the
  community underachievement in education or
  even exclusion from school, low aspirations lack
  of access to opportunities for leisure and
  learning family relationship breakdown

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Services need to be shaped by and responsive to
children, young people and families, not designed
around professional boundaries.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Reading partner or
• playground buddy
• Project Volunteers spend focused time to
  children for ½ hr weekly
• Outcomes In a local schools reading
  programme... 94 of the children made progress in
  reading, 96 raised self confidence in reading,
  92 improved general motivation and attitude to
  learning

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• For the children who have complex behavioural
  issues, often their experience in school is that
  they get a lot of negative attention. Projects
  like this provides a chance for them to be with
  someone who is not an authority figure someone
  listening to them, encouraging them. We often
  find that volunteers can develop good
  relationships with children and make them feel
  special which is just what they need.
• 
  Feedback from a School
  teacher

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It is always better to prevent failure than
tackle a crisis later.

• In Westminster...
• Second lowest in central London number of young
  people aged 16-18 not in education, employment or
  training (NEET)
• 4000 unemployed in Westminster
• One of the hotspot areas for unemployment is
  Church Street (8.8) in South Westminster
• Almost 20 of Westminsters long term unemployed
  residents live in South Westminster

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It is always better to prevent failure than
tackle a crisis later.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Raising Aspiration Days
• Project Volunteers to give a small group of
  young people a tour of DCSF offices and talk
  about different career roles.
• Outcomes Provide real-life and local role models
  to excite, engage and inspire young people.
  Increased morale for employee volunteers around
  their own work

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It is always better to prevent failure than
tackle a crisis later.

• How you can volunteer to help...
• Employability workshop for school leavers
• Project Volunteers to run a workshop for young
  people who are preparing to leave school
  following GCSEs/A-levels on getting employment
• Outcomes Raised self confidence, relevant
  skills and general work readiness

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At first, I was quite nervous as I do not
have much experience of being in front of a big
group of people in my current role. But it
was a wonderful experience how my day
started with fear and ended with complete
confidence! - volunteer from the
Home Office
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Some questions to ask

• What would I like to get out of it?
• What types of volunteering do I do already?
• Is there anything I dont want to do or cant do?
• How much time can I spend on preparation and
  actual volunteering?

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Employer-Supported Volunteering for individuals
and groups

• You might
• find volunteering difficult to fit into your busy
  schedule
• want to volunteer with colleagues, building your
  team
• want to link volunteering with your personal and
  professional development
• You could be supported by DCSF through time-off
  policies, resources, coordination and senior
  level support and recognition.
• Contact Colin Adams for more info.
• 0207 273 6661 or Colin.ADAMS_at_dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
   

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Our contact details

• Volunteer Centre Westminster
• 53-55 Praed Street
• London W2 1NR
• 020 7087 4350
• www.volunteer.co.uk
• Time Talents for Westminster team
• marie_at_volunteercentrewestminster.org.uk
• sam_at_volunteercentrewestminster.org.uk