Recognition for the passion of our amazing team of volunteers!
Paws2rescue is proud to be an Investing in Volunteers (IiV) achiever, having been awarded the quality mark/standard in 2021. It shows that we value our volunteers and demonstrates our commitment to volunteering within the charity.
We are over the moon at this immense achievement, and the recognition truly reflects the passion and hard work within our charity by each and every volunteer. We are so proud of our team and together we really are the heartbeat of Paws2Rescue
Investing in Volunteers is the UK quality standard for all organisations involving volunteers. Investing in Volunteers aims to improve the quality of the volunteering experience for all volunteers and demonstrates that organisations value the enormous contribution made by their volunteers. Investing in Volunteers is delivered by the three national volunteering infrastructure bodies Volunteer Scotland, Volunteer Now in Northern Ireland and Wales Council for Voluntary Action. Together they enable organisations across the UK to achieve the award.
Paws2Rescue was assessed against six quality areas and proved to excel in all aspects of working with its volunteers. Denise Hayward, Chair of UKVF (the Awarding Body) said “UKVF is delighted to announce Paws2Rescue ‘s successful achievement of this Award, they have demonstrated a real commitment to volunteering, proven that their volunteer management policies and procedures meet nationally recognised standards.”
Investing in Volunteers is unique in that it is the only standard that focuses on volunteers. It is based on the following six quality areas:
1. Vision for Volunteering
2. Planning for Volunteers
3. Volunteer inclusion
4. Recruiting and welcoming volunteers
5. Supporting volunteers
6. Valuing and developing volunteers
Further information about the Standard can be found on investinginvolunteers.co.uk.
Increasingly and over the past two years, our team of volunteers has truly become a close unit, the heartbeat of Paws2Rescue, our dog family, our friends. When coronavirus arrived and we were all locked in our homes… it felt like the whole of the UK wanted to rescue a dog all of a sudden! Not only did our inbox fill with hundreds of applications every day, but we had to deal with the very real problems in Romania too, initially the lack of dog food available in shops, and secondly strict lockdowns meaning that rescuers would have to break curfews to feed stray dogs. Dogs that were starving in the factory areas as the workers all stayed at home and there was no one to feed them.
We knew that our team every one of us a volunteer was working hard, and we used lockdown to also turn our focus internally, and to ensure the wellbeing of our team, engaging with them daily and supporting them through this difficult time. As volunteers were able to offer more time, it enabled us to focus on roles and responsibilities, bringing in new volunteers to roles where we needed more help. IIV helped us to embed our volunteer management processes into practice in a way that did not change the culture of our team. Our team were proud to be a part of our accreditation journey, and their commitment and pride shone through in the team interviews which were held.
Working with our IIV assessor and his wealth of experience, we were able to put to use our formal recruitment and training process, using our Volunteer Handbook, buddy system, shadowing roles and team Zoom meetings. Bringing in a formal structure to our volunteer wellbeing programme, recruitment and training has really helped Paws2Rescue throughout the last 12 months, and even though we are now 32 people strong in numbers, we still remain close knit, every one of us driven by a passion to help the dogs. Focusing every message, every call, every email on our key ethics of professionalism, caring, passion and integrity.
Together, we are the heartbeat of Paws2Rescue.
