Paul Dear of Welsh Government at the Wales Volunteering Conference 2014.

1. Wales Volunteering Conference
Cardiff City Stadium 1st
July 2014
A VOLUNTEERING POLICY FOR WALES
Paul Dear – Welsh Government
Head of Third Sector & Community Policy

2. Background and
Recent Developments
• A bit of history
• Continuity & Change – 2013 consultation
• Third Sector Scheme 2014
• The Third Sector Partnership Council
• Role of the TSPC Working Group
• Progress and Plans

3. Definition and Scope
Volunteering:
is undertaken freely, by choice
is undertaken to be of public/
community benefit
is not undertaken for financial gain
…. but this leaves plenty to discuss.

4. What could a new
Volunteering Policy
achieve?
• Supporting volunteering in Wales
• Improving access to volunteering for people from all
sectors of society
• Ensuring unnecessary barriers do not deter people from
volunteering
• Making it easier for people to participate in volunteering
• Encouraging more effective involvement of volunteers
• Raising the status and improving the image of
volunteering

5. What are we
aiming for?
• A concise, accessible document
• To reaffirm a shared commitment to supporting
and encouraging volunteering
• To set out the roles of the main groups of
stakeholders including:
– Welsh Government and the wider public sector;
– Volunteer involving organisations
– Third Sector Infrastructure, especially Volunteer
Centres.

6. Some Hot Topics
• What should the definition include?
• Mandatory ‘Volunteering’?
• Co-production
• Impact of the Recession on
volunteering
• Future support for volunteering

7. Thank You
Paul Dear
Head of Third Sector and Community Policy
Communities Division
Welsh Government
Merthyr Tydfil
CF48 1UZ
paul.dear@wales.gsi.gov.uk
0300 062 8269