Engagement Manager

Engagement Manager – Newcastle
Job Ref: V530
Hours per week: 28 hours per week – (Flexible days/hours)
Salary: £20,000 plus attractive employee benefits package (£25,000 FTE)
Start date: ASAP
Location: Newcastle – Hybrid (WFH, Office, Community)
Closing date: Wednesday 11 December 2024 – 10am
Interview date and Location: 17 December 2024 – Online

Volunteering Matters and our work across Newcastle

Volunteering Matters is a social change charity, supporting communities to overcome adversity, tackle isolation and loneliness, improve mental and physical health, develop skills and opportunities, and ensure that people can lead change by volunteering. We passionately believe everyone in the UK should have the opportunity to thrive, and that volunteering changes lives.

We have been operating Volunteer Centre Newcastle (VCN) since 2005. VCN provides a wide range of support around all things volunteering to 1250+ charities, organisations, and groups across Newcastle. Each year, we also support 2000+ members of the public who are interested in volunteering and need support to get started.

We also lead the innovative Newcastle Volunteer Passport Scheme, and the Home from Hospital project which supports older people with their transition home following a hospital admission.

Newcastle Good Neighbours Project

We are working in partnership with Newcastle City Council, and other partners, to launch a new “Good Neighbours” project. We would all like to live in a place that has a sense of community, where people look out for their neighbours. This project aims to foster a feeling of positive wellbeing and independence for those who may be socially isolated, or who don’t have many people around them, giving that “little bit of help”.

The project will help people in the community feel safe, supported, and more able to live an independent life, whilst preventing, reducing and delaying the need for formal support through Adult Social Care. It will also provide people the opportunity to volunteer a little time, in a flexible way, to make a difference in their own community. We know volunteering can lead to enhanced skills, and positive wellbeing. Volunteers will provide practical or social support, completing “one-off’ or short-term tasks, supporting a neighbour. This may include things like grocery shopping, collecting prescriptions, driving someone to a GP appointment, helping with odd jobs around the house, light gardening, or checking in with someone for a cuppa and chat.

The role of Engagement Manager

You will lead the day-to-day delivery of the Good Neighbours project. Initially running as a 2-year pilot, we aim to attract and recruit as many volunteers as possible, whilst ensuring that people who could benefit from the service know about it, and can receive support quickly and easily.

The right person for this position would be someone with a good knowledge and understanding of “best practice” in Volunteer Management. It is essential that the postholder can work flexibly, is an excellent communicator, and can build strong working relationships with a range of people. In this role, you will:

• Work alongside other Volunteering Matters colleagues/projects in Newcastle, in a joined-up way, ensuring we attract volunteers to become a “Good Neighbour”

• Recruit, train, induct, and provide ongoing support to a network of “Good Neighbours” across Newcastle, ensuring each volunteer has a positive and rewarding experience

• Develop strong working relationships with colleagues within Newcastle City Council, and other partners and stakeholders, to raise the profile of the project as a new service locally

• Match volunteers with the right volunteering tasks, at the right time, which suit their goals and interests.

This will include the use of the innovative Volunteer Management system “Volunteero”

• Ensure the project runs smoothly in line with Volunteering Matters policies and processes, compliance needs, meeting ambitious goals/outcomes around number of volunteers involved, and people supported

To apply for this role

1) Prepare an up-to-date CV

2) Prepare a supporting statement. Your supporting statement should NOT be a simple cover letter. Instead, it should be a detailed description of why you are a suitable candidate. You should consider the job role, and the skills and experience that we are looking for. A minimum of 1 A4 page is recommended.

4) Send CV and Supporting Statement by email - you will find more details on our website