get a better browser
logo
  Home
  Contact
   Background  
  Noticeboard
  Launch
stv logo
 
Home  divider  Sitemap  divider  Help  divider  Media Library  divider  Find a Partner  
divider
Background to Volunteer Centre Southwark
Volunteer Centre Southwark began in 1995 as a result of community activity to begin a volunteer service in the Peckham Partnership area of Southwark, where there was extensive regeneration work being carried out on 5 estates in Peckham.

Then called Volunteers in Action (via), it won funding from the Peckham Partnership to recruit a lone worker who would enable local residents to become involved in volunteering through offering a referral service linking volunteers with opportunities.

In November 1995 Volunteer Centre Southwark also won funding from the previous government’s Make a Difference initiative to expand the volunteer service to other parts of Southwark and in July 1996 a further two staff were recruited, a director and an information worker.

Since 1996 Volunteer Centre Southwark has developed to include a number of services for volunteers and voluntary and community groups:


  • We’ve managed a partnership project since 1998, Business Volunteers(formerly Southwark Cares), which recruits business members and develops a programme of employer-supported volunteering for their employees.


  • We won funding from the Millennium Festival Fund to produce a video, entitled the A-Z of Volunteering, drawing together volunteers from right across London in a bid to show the diverse range of opportunities available in the Capital.


  • We have run training courses for hundreds of volunteers and organisations on a variety of topics. Past courses have included Assertiveness and Communication Skills for volunteers and Volunteers and the Law for organisations.


  • We participate in the National Volunteering Database project in order to get our opportunities on the Internet and increase the numbers of volunteers participating in Southwark.


  • We are a Time Partner for Timebank, the BBC-backed initiative which aims to increase the numbers of people volunteering.


We are committed to developing volunteering within Southwark even further over the coming years, with a variety of new ideas and initiatives, involving the staff, volunteers, management committee and the wider community.