Hallmarks of the Millennium Volunteers programme
The following three points are the hallmarks of Millennium Volunteers:
- Committed and responsible young people contributing to their community through active citizenship
- High quality of voluntary opportunities in the host organisations
- An expectation of quality in the services provided to local communities by young volunteers
What makes Millennium Volunteers distinctive?
What difference is there between being a volunteer and being a Millennium Volunteer? Well, it is the following features put together that make Millennium Volunteers distinctive:
- sustained personal commitment through a Volunteer Plan
- community benefit
- voluntary participation
- inclusiveness
- ownership by young people
- variety
- partnership
- quality
- recognition
It is this combination of features that makes a Millennium Volunteer opportunity distinctive from the many high quality volunteering opportunities which already deliver just some of the above features.
Nine Key Principles
The nine key principles are what make Millennium Volunteers distinctive.
1. Personal commitment through a volunteer plan
Millennium Volunteers will set and review their commitment to the programme through a Volunteer Plan, this will describe their personal objectives that volunteering offers them, the benefits to the community, the nature of the voluntary activity and the period of time over which the Plan is to be completed.
Each young person will have the support of a MV Project Worker to help them draw up an appropriate plan
To be a Millennium Volunteer is to make a sustained commitment to volunteering that should be a minimum of 200 hours. The commitment may be expressed as a number of hours in a week or day or a month or indeed a combination of these which allows flexibility in how young people are able to give their time.
2. Community benefit
The Millennium Volunteers programme aims to meet local need and benefit communities. Young person led projects are an important route through which individuals can identify community issues and take action which will both help their self-development and benefit the community
3. Voluntary participation
Participation by young people in the programme is entirely voluntary. No sanctions will be applied for non-participation. Young people will not gain or lose financially from volunteering. They must be reimbursed for the agreed expenses incurred during the voluntary activity.
4. Inclusiveness
Everyone between their 16th and 25th birthday will be eligible to become a Millennium Volunteer. One of the aims of Millennium Volunteers is to reach young people vulnerable to social exclusion and/or not previously involved with volunteering
5. Ownership by young people
All Millennium Volunteers activities must be centred on young people and owned by them. Young people should identify, organise and take decisions about their own Millennium Volunteers activity.
A key element of the Millennium Volunteers will be projects designed and run by young people themselves. These projects may be undertaken by an individual or a team who will take responsibility for their own activity and learning.
6. Variety
The Millennium Volunteers programme needs to be inclusive and offer a diverse range of opportunities, from tailored placements through to self designed projects initiated directly by young people. Millennium Volunteers opportunities and/or projects should embrace activity that young people see as important and that genuinely connect with their lives.
7. Partnership
Delivery Partners are expected to work in partnership with other organisations and sectors to increase the opportunities available for young people. CVNI has excellent relations with a wide range of community organisations and we can support your placement with one of them if what we offer does not exactly meet your needs.
8. Quality
High quality opportunities are those which secure demonstrable benefits for the Millennium Volunteers and for the community.
The benefits for young people will be in terms of personal development, increased confidence and skills development. The Delivery Partner will need to ensure that a process of planning, implementation and review of the activity takes place. Delivery Partners must show how the community will benefit from the activity undertaken by Millennium Volunteers.
9. Recognition
Millennium Volunteers will have their volunteering recognised by:
- A Personal Profile highlighting the volunteering that was undertaken and its benefits to the young person and the community
- A Millennium Volunteers certificate of achievement
- The opportunity to work towards formal accreditation of their voluntary activity
- A written reference that sets out their achievement in detail
- Some form of celebration of the young person's success