Rising to the challenge

I often hear people referring to volunteering as the “fluffy” stuff which looks and sounds great but actually adds little value. It is often recognised as an altruistic activity which involves the sacrifice of time and effort in order to help achieve positive outcomes for an individual, group or community.

The true benefits to the volunteers and to the business are not often measured or recognised. In the current climate, it is imperative that everything we do has measurable outcomes, delivering real value both in terms of business and community benefits. 

In addition, more than ever, we need happy, motivated, high-performing staff to see us through these challenging times. 

As housing providers, we are well placed to have that overarching view of both individual customers and wider communities. We can influence where volunteering efforts are focused, either directly from our own volunteering programmes or via delivery from other partner agencies.

At Gentoo, we have a range of volunteering opportunities and associated training available for our own staff, customers and staff from other organisations, which we refer to as “corporate” volunteering. 

“Volunteering is very much a two-way street and can benefit the volunteer as much as the cause they support.”

Some of the opportunities include reading programmes and maths mentoring in schools, working on a one-to-one basis with young people who are underachieving, befriending programmes to alleviate loneliness and social isolation and many more projects which are aligned to our overarching aims and objectives. 

The benefits to those accessing the programmes are obvious: improvements in reading age, people feel safer and less isolated, improvements in health and well-being, improved confidence and so on.

However, volunteering is very much a two-way street and can benefit the volunteer as much as the cause they support. 

There is a wealth of evidence demonstrating significant benefits to individual volunteers in terms of their health and well-being. For example, research for the National Well-Being Evaluation (2011) found links between volunteering and improvements in happiness, life satisfaction and improved physical health.

Happy customers

Peter, 79, is a Gentoo customer and has been volunteering with us for over a year. After losing his wife, Peter felt very isolated and lonely and wanted to get out of the house and do something meaningful. Peter is now one of Gentoo’s befrienders and so far he has befriended four of our customers, whom he visits weekly. 

Peter recognises the personal benefits this has for him. He said: “Being on my own I decided to help others. I enjoy talking and listening to others less fortunate than myself – it makes me appreciate things I once took for granted. I have gained more confidence from meeting and talking to people that I wouldn’t normally meet.

“After losing my dear wife I can understand the loss of others. I try to be cheerful and encourage others to be cheerful too.” 

Volunteers’ stories are many and varied. Even from this small example, it is clear that the benefits of this type of relationship far outweigh the minimal costs involved in facilitating it. It is a win-win situation. Peter is happier being involved as a volunteer befriender and those customers he visits are happier as a result of the service they receive.

Happy staff

A recent survey of our own staff volunteers revealed that the majority of them felt that being involved in volunteering had increased their loyalty to the business and had also increased their knowledge about Gentoo, particularly those staff that work in the central business support functions and are now involved in community projects.

In 2014/15, 95% of staff reported “increased job satisfaction” and 78% agreed that “their knowledge of Gentoo had improved”. Since April 2015, 73% of staff have “gained new skills” and 57% have reported “improvements to their emotional health”.  

However, it is difficult to quantify the cost benefits of these improvements. From a customer service and performance perspective, we all know that happy staff equal happy customers and happy staff usually perform better too.

During this difficult period when many organisations are going through a time of change and instability, it goes without saying that having staff that feel valued and an increased sense of loyalty to the company is invaluable. The increased confidence and skills they acquire also equip them well for the challenging times ahead.

Michelle Meldrum, managing director, Gentoo Operations