Royal Trinity Hospice in Clapham.
Leading on great volunteer management
Contents
1.
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1
2.
Volunteering at Royal Trinity Hospice .................................................................................................... 2
3.
Flexible volunteering............................................................................................................................... 2
4.
Creating a trusted and fun environment is the key to development ..................................................... 2
5.
Volunteer Activities ................................................................................................................................ 3
6.
The value of corporate (employee) volunteers? .................................................................................... 3
7.
What is your recruitment process?......................................................................................................... 4
8.
Volunteer retention ................................................................................................................................ 4
a. Engagement and skills-development .................................................................................................. 4
b. Inspiring commitment and reliability .................................................................................................. 4
c. Making sure your volunteers are getting a good experience ............................................................. 4
d. Are your volunteers learning and growing? ....................................................................................... 5
1. Introduction
Royal Trinity Hospice in Clapham Common has a high reputation for providing an
amazing level of care and service – not just for the patients but for their families too. The
hospice offers a unique and welcoming environment for all visitors. You can pop in the
Mulberry café for tea and cake and have a relaxing walk around their award winning
gardens.
Trinity also has 25 retail shops throughout London which raise vital funds for the hospice,
and in July 2016 they launched an online boutique at
www.royaltrinityhospice.co.uk which is packed full of exclusive fashion donations, retro
one-offs and quirky finds for the home.
The Hospice itself serves seven London boroughs and recruits around 500 volunteers to
support their activities across the following five areas:
 the Outpatient’s Team in the Hospice itself in Clapham
 one of their 25 shops across London
 their new online e-commerce business
 their befriending service
 their retail office in Balham.
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2. Volunteering at Royal Trinity Hospice
Gina Kerr joined Royal Trinity Hospice in 2011 as a shop manager. In November 2015
she became Retail Volunteer Manager and now oversees the volunteer activity across
their 25 shops and their retail office.
Gina says; “At Trinity we are extremely grateful for the support our volunteers give us.
Their dedication is inspiring and without them we would not be able to offer the
community the service we do.”
3. Flexible volunteering
Gina’s passion made her determined to
ensure that volunteers were as happy
as possible at Trinity and this led to
some changes in their volunteering
strategy.
“We previously had a minimum time
commitment of 3-6 months (in the retail
area) but I soon realised that this was a
barrier for some. We look to utilise
specific skills that our volunteers bring
and provide a wide range of different
roles to suit. There really is something
for everyone!
“People looking for work experience or
an opportunity to fill gaps in their
employment history for instance often
cannot make that sort of commitment
and so we removed that barrier.
“Our process is quick and easy and our
volunteer retention is high. Volunteers
fill in an application form, supply two
references and then we invite them in
for interview.
“Being willing to offer flexible volunteering, putting the volunteer at the heart of our
activities, allows us to recruit students and volunteers who have busy lifestyles but still
want to donate some of their time to us.”
4. Creating a trusted and fun environment is the key to development
“Being part of the Trinity family is an honour and every day brings something new.
Volunteering is a great way to build your confidence at your own pace in a warm and
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friendly environment and I am confident that our volunteers are succeeding by having fun
learning teamwork, meeting and greeting people, developing skills and finding their
motivation – all great qualities to have as you enter life and the job market.”
5. Volunteer Activities
“Our volunteers get involved in all of the activities our staff do so there is great teamwork:
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Meeting and greeting our customers
Using a till
Receiving donations, sorting and preparing stock to sell
Writing product descriptions for clothing on our online shop.
Visual merchandising
Creating a great environment by supporting the staff
“Volunteers have also contributed enormous value to our new online boutique,
(www.royaltrinityhospice.co.uk) modelling the clothes, uploaded content and product
descriptions, prepared clothes for delivery and organised the warehouse. The ecommerce team even put on a big thank you party for volunteers that helped with the
project, which was a lot of fun!”
6. The value of corporate (employee) volunteers
“It may surprise people to know that Trinity offers volunteering opportunities for corporate
volunteers in their retail shops and at their hospice as well.
“Trinity was already targeting employee volunteers on the Team London website when
Gina became Volunteer Manager in 2015 and so she embraced the concept.
“Using corporate volunteers in our retail division has been very rewarding indeed. This
year over 1095 hours has been given by corporate supporters (266 individuals to be
precise). We can accommodate groups of between 8-10 volunteers and they usually
come in for around seven hours.”
“A really substantial amount of work can be done with a team of volunteers in one day
and many of them are up for labour intensive activities such as sorting and tidying. But
there is aspect of employee volunteering which is of such great value. The skill sets we
have benefited from have been really amazing. Corporate teams have brought with them
experts in marketing, customer service, financial management, search engine
optimisation and retail experts with valuable advice and skills.”
Derek, AOL
"The nine volunteers from AOL UK had a fantastic day volunteering with the Royal Trinity
Hospice. Our host was brilliant and made us feel very welcomed. We all have a better
understanding and strong appreciation of the Royal Trinity Hospice shops. Additionally,
this corporate volunteering day allowed us to bond with our co-workers and meet new
colleagues from across the business."
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7. What is your recruitment process?
Volunteers complete an application form, supply two references and are called to an
interview. Gina is responsible for recruiting retail volunteers, through from the very first
enquiry that comes in, right up to the day she hands them to the manager of the shop or
department they will be volunteering in.
Recruiting is done mainly through Team London, Do-It.org, V-Inspired and the Royal
Trinity Hospice website.
Time commitments and age restrictions for volunteers:
In our Trinity shops and our retail office we can accept volunteers from 16 years. In our
hospice our volunteers need to be 18, and there is a minimum time commitment due to
the training involved.
8. Volunteer retention
We have good retention. Volunteers spend time in our shops and then they may come
and get involved in other areas too. If you visit the online boutique you will see photos of
staff members from our management team, our fundraising department, volunteers from
our shops and staff from our retail office modelling some wonderful clothing and
accessories. I think the following are important to foster commitment:
a. Engagement and skills-development
Making sure volunteers know that there is someone to talk to and have access to
support and training is important for building confidence. Organising and keeping
them informed of any volunteer events, such as our summer and Christmas
parties for our volunteers is important. Encouraging them to try new things,
whether dressing a window or learning how to use a till and making sure we are
finding them a role that suits them are all ways we build value into our programme.
b. Inspiring commitment and reliability
Making sure your volunteers have a great induction. Explaining about the
expenses and making sure they are reimbursed. Sharing successes and,
fundamentally important, is saying thank you!
c. Making sure your volunteers are getting a good experience
There are certain things we must think of when we have a new volunteer starting
with us. Firstly, why do they want to volunteer? There are two main reasons that
come up a lot when I am speaking to people: to give back and support a great
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cause, and to gain experience. Recognising your volunteers’ skills and interests is
also very important.
d. Are your volunteers learning and growing?
It is a wonderful thing when a volunteer has spent time with Trinity and then
moves on into a job that they love. It just shows that volunteering is such a
positive and rewarding experience.
Here two volunteers answer this question themselves:
Carlos Castillo was an e-commerce volunteer based in our retail office. He
volunteered with us whilst he was looking for a job in marketing.
Carlos Castillo – E-commerce volunteer
Volunteering with Trinity was a very rewarding experience. I helped the charity
setting up the new website and collaborated with them to lay out their Ecommerce
plans. I met both volunteers and charity workers, which made a difference to each
day working at the charity. I did put my skills to test and I learnt new skills from
collaborating with RTH.
Anna volunteered in our Clapham shop. Here is what she has to say about the
experience. Anna Bea Goetz – Volunteer in our shops
“Initially I was attracted to the charity’s ethos and had heard about it on previous
occasions so was very curious to find out what volunteering in a Trinity Hospice
shop could be like. After passing my application process my first day as a
volunteer was arranged very quickly and so I began by sorting clothes, pricing
items and filling up the empty shelves as the team sold item after item. The energy
was positive and felt great so it was easy to keep on coming back weekend after
weekend. Eventually I was shown how to use the till and became increasingly
involved in the sales side of the shop. Looking back on my experience as a
volunteer today I can only say how much I have appreciated the enthusiastic and
positive nature of the teams and remember the Summer Garden Party at Trinity
Hospice as a real highlight. I feel the charity values its volunteers and would
recommend becoming a shop volunteer to people of all walks of life. If you are
interested in finding out about charities, the retail sector or volunteering –
especially how all these complement each other to support better care – shop
volunteering can offer you a great starting point and bring you joy for what it is.”
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PRIDE IN LONDON FESTIVAL - 2016
Dallas Pounds, Chief Executive of Royal Trinity Hospice, said, “By marching in
the Pride in London parade, we hope to send a strong and clear message that
hospices are here for everyone, whatever their background or community,
whenever you need us. We also aim to show that hospices are inclusive and
accepting environments for people from LGBT communities who wish to work
for us. The unanimous feedback from everyone taking part has been hugely
positive, and the response from the crowd unbelievable.”
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The Royal Trinity’s award-winning gardens
For more information about volunteering with Royal Trinity
Hospice visit the Team London website or contact Gina Kerr
at
[email protected]
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