Actions taken:
Key facts and figures:
4,475 young red cross volunteers have completed our RED accreditation scheme. On average young volunteers report a 28% increase across all the skills we measure including communication, leadership, diversity awareness, confidence and employability, in 12 months of volunteering.
Over 448 young people have undertaken volunteer internships – 12 weeks, average of 3 days per week; 118 have undertaken educational placements – volunteer placements linked to academic qualifications and 155 have had a week long work experience placement.
Through the European Volunteering Scheme 112 young people from Europe have been hosted in the UK and 66 young British people have been placed in volunteering placements in other European countries.
Story of interest:
The BRC has increased the percentage of young people who are elected as volunteer representatives from 3% to 18%. This happened by ensuring that there were seats on volunteering panels allocated for young volunteers as a proportion of young people in that service. Through Eramus+ funding we set up a programme called Dialogue for Change which supported young reps to learn about leadership and decision making.
Possible challenge
During the period the percentage of young people volunteering with the BRC has dropped from 20% to 15%. Research tells us younger people prefer more flexible, pick up and drop opportunities. Most BRC opportunities require significant training and commitment. A challenge for us will be to grow supporter opportunities which don’t require the same intensity of training.
Photo caption: Some of the 155 young people who accessed a week’s work experience opportunity with the British Red Cross.
