A grant to help establish a volunteering legacy in Birmingham following the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Impact & Learning
Key learnings
- Streamlining – United by 2022 by streamlining the existing volunteering infrastructure that was in place post games, integrating the host city and event volunteers together
- A Games for everyone – When considering recruitment, they targeted local volunteers that were fully representative of the West Midlands a region that is known for its youth and diversity.
- Co-design – Volunteers fed into the transition process and gave their motivations for volunteering in via survey, allowing United By 2022 to design a programme that catered to their needs. Their survey found that there was only interest in event volunteering, and that volunteers were most keen to maintain increased pride in place and relationships forged with people they met through the programme.
- Blended digital delivery – Spirit recommended a “portal and person” model, where volunteers could either submit their applications to a support worker or apply for themselves online. They also trained volunteers using a mix of in-person and online training.
- Retention – United By 2022 aimed to deploy volunteers quickly to events like the 2023 Cultural Festival in order to minimise drop-offs in interest, Unfortunately, there ended up being a 10-month gap between the end of the Games and the launch of the portal due to GDPR issues.
- Standards – United By 2022 created minimum expectations for event organisers with regards to access and inclusion requirements (based on feedback form volunteers). Were they not able to provide, they would work with and support these organisers, but would not compromise on them as not to effect the volunteers’ experience.