Change Up Supported Volunteering Project

Investigating ways of Supporting Clients with

Mental Ill Health to Access Volunteering
Nicolette Potton, CVSC
September 2006

Background
Volunteer Centres throughout the Coventry & Warwickshire region see a large
percentage of potential volunteers who have or are recovering from mental ill
health. They want to access volunteering for a diverse set of reasons but often to
fill in time, learn new skills or to get back into the workplace. These potential
volunteers can often be denied access to volunteering for a number of reasons:
real or perceived stigma/prejudices, low self-esteem/confidence, and fear/lack of
knowledge of mental ill health. The case studies in Appendix 1 highlight these
experiences.
Through Change Up money the Volunteer Centres Coventry & Rugby where able
to develop a project, over a 9 month period from, October 2005 to June 2006, to
look at the various ways of supporting clients and the costs and benefits of these
support methods.

Aim
Volunteer Centres Coventry & Rugby wanted to identify the barriers preventing
people with Mental Ill health from accessing volunteering and to evaluate
different ways of breaking down these barriers and supporting people into
volunteering.

Method
We aimed to achieve this by implementing a range of methods distinct to each
stakeholder involved in the pilot.

• Local networking with Voluntary & Community Organisations (VCO) &

public sector service providers
• Inform about pilot
• Liaise with VCO’s on any previous engagement they have had with
their clients and volunteering
• Why would they like clients to engage in volunteering
• Concerns they may have
• Ideas for support they feel their clients need
• Identify partners to work with on providing clients for pilot

• Work with Local Volunteer Involving Organisations

• Training, workshops & forum discussions
• Articles in newsletters
• Questionnaire to groups on whether they have had experience,
concerns, barriers to engaging with client group
• Ask what support they would like to receive from us

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• Supporting Clients
• Basic brokerage service
• Provide with placement and provide support with
• Phone calls
• Informal interviews
• Visiting whilst on placements
• Provide access to ASDAN Certificate in Community Volunteering
• Volunteer taster sessions

• Monitoring & Evaluating Pilot

• Through questionnaires to clients who have received varying levels of
support
• Compare this to a baseline of volunteers who haven’t received any
additional support, just basic brokerage.

Findings

Local networking with VCO & public sector service providers

Both Rugby and Coventry Volunteer Centres met with support agencies to gain
an understanding of their view of volunteering. On the whole there was a general
consensus amongst groups that volunteering has several benefits for clients.
These included
• Meeting new people & development of positive relationships
• New functional skills & experience and CV development
• Improving interpersonal skills
• Constructive use of spare time & the development of a sense of
purpose
• Personal satisfaction
• Increased confidence & self esteem

There were however several concerns too:

• Over selling of volunteering and the advantages it can provide, for
example the ability to access work afterwards
• Finding appropriate opportunities
• Lack of support not only in finding opportunities but also in contacting
and starting volunteering
• Lack of information to clients on what to expect, so not knowing they
where going to have to go through formal interview until they turned
up.
• Bad experiences had by some clients and how fast this view can spread
• Formality of opportunities
• Lack of understanding by some organisations of support needs

Work with Local Volunteer Involving Organisations

Over 350 groups were sent a brief questionnaire reviewing their experiences of
working with people with mental health issues, their concerns and barriers to
involving them as volunteers. They were also asked to identify ways in which
Volunteer Centres could better support them to engage volunteers. We received
a response rate of approximately 16%.

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Questionnaire Response

What does mental ill health mean to you?

Range of answers generally showing a good understanding of mental ill health
and being able to list conditions but also a lot of misconceptions. For example
there was a strong theme that a lot of extra support would need to be put in
place. Opinions seemed to suggest that people need "helping" and that this in
practice was a barrier to viewing them as people who can help your organisation.

Have you ever received training around mental ill health and the
implications of working with volunteers?
67% of respondents had received no training formal or informal on mental health
awareness. Several had however expressed that they knew someone who had
had mental ill health. This in itself could be good, as they have had exposure to
the issues people may face but it could also lead to them labelling everyone with
mental ill health as being the same as the one person they know? There is some
evidence of this in the responses.
Of those receiving training on mental health awareness, 20% stated that this
training hadn't related to working with volunteers, training shouldn’t need to but
specific training helps people to contextualise the information.

What barriers do you think exist for organisations when involving

volunteers with mental ill health?
Here are the main answers in order of frequency mentioned:
• Lack of resources to support them
• Lack of understanding of their needs & how to support them/ stigma
• Time it takes to support people with mental ill health
• Prejudices of other staff
• Don't think volunteers will cope with the stress/ environment of our
organisation
• Safety/ risk assessments
• Time keeping
• Benefit rights
• Anger issues

There were also comments such as they need to be able to fill in forms, write
letters – which may indicate there is some misunderstanding between mental ill
health and learning disability issues.

What barriers do you think exist for individuals with mental ill health
wanting to volunteer?
Here are the main answers in order of frequency mentioned:
• Fear of stigma and prejudice
• Being stereotyped & labelled
• Lack of confidence
• Lack of realistic expectations as to what they can achieve
• Finding appropriate opportunities for their circumstances
• Communication
• Fear of benefits being removed

How could the Volunteer Centre help or support organisations?

Here are the main answers in order of frequency mentioned:
• Training/ Awareness workshops
• Case studies of peoples experiences of volunteering/ benefits
• Provide trained staff/support whilst volunteer settles in
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 • Increase mentoring/ buddying
• Highlight good practice / updates on other services
• Induction course /work prep courses
• Form partnerships/ ask support agencies to support clients into
volunteering
• Taster sessions
• Volunteer café/ centre of excellence
• Developing guidelines / policy

How could the Volunteer Centre help or support individuals?

• Positive case studies
• Provide information on services
• Support groups
• Mentoring
• Support when first volunteering
• Workshops on coping strategies/ self esteem
• Appropriate matching with organisations that have received training in
mental health issues.
• Taster sessions/placements
• Do leg work – phone calls etc
The questionnaire was followed up by two workshops, “Adapting to the 1 in 4”,
one in Coventry and one in Rugby. These workshops were delivered by SUIT
(Services Users in Training) a client led training programme. Over 40 delegates
attended the two days. A short questionnaire was completed after the workshops
to see if there had been a shift in attitude or needs.

Overall how interesting or relevant was the training?

90% responded with good/excellent
10 % fair

How informative did you find the training?

100% response said good/excellent

What will you take back to your organisation?

• An awareness of how to respond to people with mental ill health
• How to break down negative perceptions within my organisation
• That people with mental ill health don’t need to be treated differently
• How to deal with disruptive behaviour
• Awareness as to how I can break down barriers for people to access
opportunities
• Networking/contacts
• Ideas to take back to my manager

Will you think about the needs of volunteers with mental ill health and if
so how?
90 % responded yes
Action included:
• Greater awareness/ allow volunteers to be open
• Vary roles to suit volunteers needs/ flexibility
• Encourage mental health clients to volunteer
• Use a buddy system
• Better role descriptions and specifications

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After the training what do you think the main barriers are to
organisations when involving volunteers with mental ill health?
• None
• Lack of education
• Fear of unknown
• Time
• Reliability of volunteer
• Breaking other staff perceptions
Although some of the same issues still came up they were lower in frequency
and also had ideas next to them of how to tackle them or were about managing
volunteers in general as opposed to volunteers with mental ill health. For
example the need for a volunteer co-ordinator or for better role descriptions,
clarity of their needs.

After the training what do you think the main barriers are to individuals
when wanting to volunteer?
These stayed the same and where mainly around stigma and perceived attitudes
towards them.

How could Volunteer Centres help?

• Training
• Contact organisations personally to check out the set up and staffing for
support
• Taster sessions for volunteers.

Supporting Clients

As a brokerage service Volunteer Centres Coventry & Rugby both matched

volunteers skills and interests with possible opportunities on their volunteer
database. The potential volunteer would be given this information and would
then be responsible for following this up. As part of the pilot it was decided that
the Volunteer Centres would look at ways of providing individuals additional
support in their search for volunteering. Support came in the form of:

• Seeing potential volunteers more than once

• Phoning potential organisations for them
• Visiting organisations with the volunteer when needed
• Following up brokerage by finding out how volunteer is getting on
• Providing additional training through the ASDAN Certificate in Community
Volunteering.
• Providing taster sessions for individuals to find out more about volunteering.

Each potential volunteer was asked to fill out a questionnaire to get a base line
of how they felt about volunteering before they started, barriers they thought
they might face and what help they thought they would like.

Why would you like to volunteer?

Individuals were asked to prioritise the following list, their main reasons for
volunteering:
• To socialise
• To access training
• To increase skills

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 • To increase confidence
• To be active
• To lead to employment

Most wanted to volunteer in order to increase their confidence, develop new skills
and to access employment.

When asked what barriers to volunteering they faced they mentioned:

• Lack of confidence
• Lack of knowledge about volunteering
• Worried about benefits
• Didn’t know what skills to give
• Nervous about meeting new people
• Lack of suitable support

Asked what support Volunteer Centres could give?

Help find appropriate opportunities
Follow up contact at different stages of process
Ring & remind me of appointments

ASDAN Certificate in Community Volunteering

The Volunteer Centres delivered an ASDAN certificate in Community Volunteering

to ten clients with mental ill health, of these only five managed to attend all the
workshops and finish their portfolios.

Feedback from those that completed the course included:

• Highly enjoyable – glad I attended
• Course highlighted issues that I could use in future
• Helped by areas such as time management
• Will go back and ensure I define my role and am clear about what I am
trying to achieve
• Too much paperwork – wasn’t prepared for this
• Created added time pressure on them – in turn adding stress

What further help would they have benefited from?

• Many of them had low confidence and would have liked further help on
areas such as interviews and what to expect.
• Ensure roles are clearly defined

Phone and Interview Support

The main extra support provided included; phoning organisations to arrange
meetings and accompanying volunteers to their first meeting with the group.
Though some individuals needed greater support including reminders of
meetings, liaison with organisations to develop appropriate opportunities and
follow up support.

Compared to normal brokerage this resulted in a greater take up of volunteering

opportunities and a greater success rate in continued volunteering. The extra
support given had a huge impact on staff time that would make it unsustainable
as a long-term option without specific funding or partnership working. However
some of the basic support currently given can be increased to include making
phone calls to arrange the first meeting and follow up contact to see how the

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volunteering is going. The Volunteer Centres would also see it as a primary role
to work with organisations to develop appropriate roles.

See Appendix One Case Studies for more detailed information

Taster Sessions
No volunteers took up the opportunity to attend taster sessions. There could be
several reasons for this, time-scales the opportunity was promoted in were very
tight and the range of organisations available was small.
Volunteers therefore may not have heard about the opportunity and have had
time to find out more.
Opportunities may not have covered the areas they were interested in
Clients may not have had the confidence to turn up on their own, would know no
one there and no one would be expecting them.
This area needs to be investigated more as all three groups (clients, support
agencies and volunteer involving organisations) highlighted taster sessions as a
useful way of trying volunteering in a no commitment way. Volunteer Centre
Coventry aims to try these again, but taking into consideration the above points.

Conclusions
Overall the project reinforced some of the anecdotal evidence that already
existed on the barriers to volunteering faced by people with mental ill health.
Through awareness raising and training the project has started to break down
some of these, by raising awareness and challenging prejudices within volunteer
involving groups.
The project also piloted support mechanisms and has a clearer idea of the most
effective ways to support people with mental ill health to volunteer. Overall extra
time and support seemed to be the main key to supporting individuals, however
the time and resources are lacking within the current Volunteer Centre structures
in Coventry and Rugby to do this long term and for all clients who require it.
Though Centres have reviewed what increased support they can do with their
available resources. Each centre is unique but all will aim to offer to phone
organisations on behalf of clients to set up informal interviews, ensure the client
is fully aware of what to expect if they apply. Where a client may have difficulty
choosing an option the Volunteer Centre will aim to see them more than once to
help them through the process.
The next stage would be to work with existing mental health support agencies to
see how we could better work in partnership to address some of the support
needs of the clients.

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Appendix One - Case Studies
Standard Volunteer Centre Brokerage

Volunteer 1 - This volunteer was referred to the Volunteer Centre (VC) by his
occupational therapist. His main reasons for volunteering were to be active and
build his confidence working around others.
He felt the main barriers for him were feeling a lack of confidence and being
particularly nervous about meeting new people.
He came to the VC for information and guidance and eventually felt he would like
a part time paid job. The VC provided him with information on three
opportunities and he decided to try a work party session with the Warwickshire
Wildlife Trust.
Evaluation - When he was contacted to evaluate his experience he felt he
needed more support. When he arrived on the day he was unsure where to meet
the work party and this lead to him not completing his volunteering, because he
didn’t have the confidence to contact the organisation.

Volunteer 2 – This volunteer was a young person who had suffered mental
health problems and was now looking for work experience through volunteering.
He felt his main barrier to volunteering was lack of confidence. He aimed to be
ready for work in six months time.
This volunteer was given three opportunities with organisation details for him to
contact them directly.
Evaluation - When contacting him to evaluate his experience he had not started
volunteering. He stated he’d tried to contact the organisations but couldn’t get
through; he therefore felt it would have been better for him if the VC had
contacted them for him.

Volunteer 3 – This volunteer had a physical disability, which had led to

depression, through his inability to carry on with his paid work. He wanted to
volunteer to socialise and be active and also to experience different work
settings.
Evaluation - He felt his main barriers to volunteering were lack of confidence
and being nervous around new people.
The VC offered him information and advice and when evaluated he was happy
with the service he received. He is currently volunteering as an office worker.

Enhanced Brokerage Service funded by Change Up Project

Volunteer 1 - This volunteer was referred to the Volunteer Centre through her
Occupational Therapist. She wanted to volunteer to build her confidence and
gain work experience.
She felt her main barriers to volunteering were her lack of knowledge about
volunteering; worrying about benefits and not knowing what skills she had to
offer. She felt the VC could support her by keeping her informed on new
opportunities.
This Volunteer received information on three opportunities. The V.C contacted
two of these to arrange times for her to meet the organisations and discuss
volunteering. After meeting these she decided to volunteer at the VC as a
receptionist.
Evaluation – The volunteer felt happy with the service she received and the
level of support, she is still a volunteer at the VC

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Volunteer 2- this volunteer was referred to the VC by Rethink. He wanted to
volunteer to increase his confidence and gain work experience. His mental health
problems meant he needed specific support.
He felt his main barriers to volunteering were lack of confidence and being
worried about benefits.
This volunteer received information on three opportunities and decided he’d like
to volunteer at two of these. The VC arranged appointments for him and his
support worker accompanied him to these and his first few weeks of
volunteering. He also received information on benefits and volunteering.
Evaluation – One organisation for which he was volunteering contacted the VC
expressing concerns about his suitability for volunteering. After discussions with
the organisation a more structured volunteer role was created, which suited the
volunteer, he liked set tasks rather than working independently. He is still
volunteering in this role and is happy with the support he received. Unfortunately
the other organisation felt unable to offer him any more voluntary work.

Volunteer 3 - This volunteer was referred to the VC through his O.T. He had
difficulty with reading and writing and as a result suffered from mental health
issues. He wanted to volunteer to increase his confidence and be active.
He felt the main barriers to his volunteering were lack of confidence, not knowing
how to find information on volunteering and being nervous about meeting new
people. He felt the VC could support him by ringing to remind him of any
appointments and also accompanying him to any interviews. His goal was to get
paid work.
The VC accompanied him to his volunteer interview at the placement
organisation and contacted him to remind him of where and when to go. Because
of his problems with reading and writing he felt this support was needed.
Evaluation – He is currently volunteering as a general support worker at a day
care centre for people with dementia.

Volunteer 4 - This volunteer was referred to the VC by her disability advisor at

the Job Centre. She wanted to volunteer to increase her skills and confidence.
She felt her main barrier to volunteering was her lack of confidence. She wanted
the VC to support her by contacting the organisations for her and maybe
accompanying her to any interviews.
This volunteer received information on a range of opportunities and eventually
decided on a charity shop. The VC accompanied her when meeting the
organisation and arranged the first interview.
Evaluation – This Volunteer did start volunteering but only for a short period.
She felt she would have liked more contact with the VC after her volunteering
placement had started.

Volunteer 5 – This Volunteer wanted to volunteer to socialise, increase

confidence and be active. She also wanted to gain some work experience.
She felt the main barriers to volunteering were being nervous about meeting new
people. She wanted the VC to help her find an opportunity.
This volunteer received information on three opportunities, the VC arranged a
meeting with one organisation and accompanied her to her first meeting.
Evaluation – She felt the information and support she received was good,
however she didn’t feel ready to volunteer at the time.

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