We are incredibly proud to announce that Centrepoint has been awarded the Investing In Volunteers Quality Mark, received for meeting the standard in April 2024.
Investing in Volunteers (Iiv) is the UK quality standard for good practice in volunteer management. It shows that our volunteers, and future volunteers, will have a great experience with us and feel valued for the work that they do with young people.
We’re so proud to achieve this - a testament to all of the hard work of both our Volunteering team and our amazing volunteers. And with Volunteer’s Week coming round the corner in June, it’s another way we can show the great work that volunteers do at Centrepoint!
How do volunteers get involved at Centrepoint?
We have all sorts of volunteer roles helping our services across the UK.
Our JET Coaches work with young people to access job, education and training opportunities, which will help them to escape the cycle of homelessness long term.
Food Donation Couriers bring food to services so young people can enjoy a good, healthy meal.
Independent Life Skills Coaches might teach young people how to manage their money, or how to cook meals for themselves on a budget.
Learning Coaches can help young people to achieve key GCSEs or A-Levels they missed while their lives were unstable, and open new career opportunities.
A Helpline Advisor might be one of the first people at Centrepoint a young person is in touch with. They could help to prevent them from becoming homeless with advice on how to approach their local council, or guide them to access suitable accommodation if they’re currently living on the streets.
All of our amazing service-based volunteers focus on building supportive, trusting relationships with young people to help them feel safe and psychologically secure while engaging with Centrepoint.
We also offer a range of opportunities for people to support the organisation by volunteering in one of our office-based teams. These roles include assisting the Policy and Research team as a Researcher, helping out with fundraising events like Sleep Out, and answering calls on our Helpline.
Centrepoint volunteers getting out and about at events to help support young people
Hear from our Volunteers
As part of our assessment for the quality mark, an external assessor conducted interviews with a randomly selected sample of people from within the organisation, including 24 volunteers, 8 staff members and 1 trustee. In the interviews they were asked questions about their knowledge of volunteering of Centrepoint, and their experience of volunteering or working with volunteers.
Let’s hear from some of the volunteers who took part in these interviews about how they found it and what the award means to them.
Gill volunteered with us both working directly with young people in services and at a range of fundraising events:
“It's great news for Centrepoint. I would continue as a volunteer without the standard but it’s good to know that the organisation values the contributions that volunteers make and care that they get the right support, training and feel included.”
Andy has volunteered with us to provide a variety of sporting activities and events for young people at Centrepoint:
“I think it is really good from a reputation perspective and shows progress on Centrepoint’s professional commitment to volunteering.” Being involved was a “good experience” and showed that Centrepoint “commit to their volunteers’ continued professional development.”
Sally Orlopp, Director of People, Property and Independent Living at Centrepoint shared:
“We are absolutely delighted! We place volunteers at the heart of our organisation and never underestimate the power of our volunteers in supporting our mission to end youth homelessness.
This standard recognises not only the hard work our internal team do in supporting our volunteers, but also how our volunteer workforce adds such tremendous value to the whole organisation. This award will support our continued journey with volunteering at Centrepoint.”
Get involved with volunteering in 2024
The Investing in Volunteers Quality Mark is not the only exciting update from our team this year - we have many more things planned! Volunteer’s Week 2024 is being held between 3-9 June and it’s an extra special 40th anniversary this year. Stay tuned to hear more about the amazing things our volunteers have been up to.
Want to get involved with volunteering at Centrepoint? See the latest opportunities and find out more about our team.
© David Monteith-Hodge
