The overall positive experience of the HCVs provides a strong platform to ensuring a volunteering legacy from the project. Although an already committed group of volunteers, the HCVs were encouraged by their experience as part of the Games to be more involved in volunteering in future. Retaining this enthusiasm will require providing in the near future opportunities for all HCVs to continue to volunteer – and for mechanisms to be set up to ask them to participate. Bringing together a group of volunteers in the relatively short period of time available to the HCV team that reached out into the target groups inevitably was going to be challenging. The use of existing networks and partner organisations was relatively effective in ensuring the profile of the HCVs included many from these groups. The support provided of these groups and the wider HCV team was supportive, encouraging and appreciated by those involved and all assisted to ensure for the vast majority of HCVs the overall experience was positive and gave them a sense of pride in the role.
The overwhelmingly positive experience for the volunteers was testimony to their enthusiasm, their commitment to make the most of the opportunity, and the time and effort of the HCV team to support them in their roles. Although not everyone’s experience was entirely positive, the criticisms provided – mainly in a constructive way – offer important insights into how relatively small changes could improve the experience for the volunteers and the effectiveness of the project as a whole. In giving the HCVs a voice, this report has sought to illuminate some of these points.
Recommendations for the HCV project
The overwhelmingly positive experience for the volunteers was testimony to their enthusiasm, their commitment to make the most of the opportunity, and the time and effort of the HCV team to support them in their roles. Although not everyone’s experience was entirely positive, the criticisms provided – mainly in a constructive way – offer important insights into how relatively small changes could improve the experience for the volunteers and the effectiveness of the project as a whole. In giving the HCVs a voice, this report has sought to illuminate some of these points.
Recommendations for the HCV project
The approach taken to recruit targeted groups across the city through existing networks was effective in reaching out to many of these groups. However, in so doing it failed to reach many first time volunteers and instead the HCV programme drew heavily on existing volunteers. More time and resources may in future have to be allocated to use networks within other partner organisations to reach and support those who have not previously volunteered to become engaged in a HCV type project. For those with no volunteering history suggests that the support mechanisms in the HCV team enabled their first experiences to be positive and encouraged them into future volunteering.
The transformation of the volunteers into a ‘team’ is
most likely to be achieved by appealing to the volunteers’ main
motivations for involvement. Alongside being part of the event, the
desire to have fun and enjoyment, to socialise and meet new people, and
to feel some self-fulfilment is important. The HCV training team
recognised this but not all the team leaders were effective in taking
this forward during Games time. Greater training of the team leaders in
their supporting role should be considered in future.
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Recognition of the time commitment made by volunteers and the potentially limited amount of time available to volunteer was acknowledged in the shorter and more flexible shift patterns of the HCVs. This was appreciated by volunteers, and comparison made with the less flexible approach for Clyde-siders. This approach enabled most of the HCVs interviewed to participate and longer shifts would have excluded several who had other commitments
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The overall positive experience of the HCVs provides a strong platform to ensuring a volunteering legacy from the project. Although an already committed group of volunteers, the HCVs were encouraged by their experience as part of the Games to be more involved in volunteering in future. Retaining this enthusiasm will require providing in the near future opportunities for all HCVs to continue to volunteer – and for mechanisms to be set up to ask them to participate.
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· Much greater recognition needs to be given to the volunteers for their role and contribution within the context of the wider event. At a minimum this needs to be of a similar level to that provided to other volunteers associated with the Games and to be made publicly to the volunteers at the end of the Ceremonies or Games. The HCV team’s own approach to providing recognition within the HCV project was positive and well received but the HCVs were part of the Games and this was not sufficiently acknowledged.
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