Business in the Community
Date : 11 October 2005
Birmingham-based Serco Solutions, the IT solutions division of global services company Serco, has embarked upon Business in the Community's 'Volunteering Plus' programme in order to offer a more formal and recognisable accreditation to its community volunteers.
Currently more than 60 of Serco Solutions' Birmingham-based employees regularly take time out to volunteer in the local community. The company has been a member of 'Business in the Community' for over five years and implemented numerous community projects in the Birmingham area.
But while the benefits of volunteering are clearly visible to the communities that they touch it is sometimes difficult for employees to get the skills they have developed through volunteering formally recognised and applied back in the workplace.
With that in mind Business in the Community (BiTC) has set up 'Volunteering Plus' - a scheme to help companies like Serco Solutions to show their commitment to community volunteering. It sets out a clearly structured programme from which professional and personal objectives can be achieved.
The scheme achieves this by enabling volunteers to work towards gaining a generic set of awards - offered on two levels: Certificates of Recognition and Certificates of Accreditation. Awards are issued by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance - the national examining body responsible for ensuring national credibility and recognition for the 'Volunteering Plus' scheme.
Two Serco Solutions volunteers have already signed up to a pilot scheme of Volunteering Plus. Laura Norris and Stephen Hewitt are volunteering at Meadow Green Primary School mentoring children through Business in the Community's reading scheme, Right to Read. Both candidates are currently working towards 'Volunteering Plus' accreditation and recognition funded by the Serco Foundation and expect to celebrate the completion of their awards early next year.
Suzanne Baxter, Finance Director at Serco Solutions, commented
Volunteering Plus enables us to draw on our experience of working closely with our community and integrate it into our working environment. Even at this early stage of the Volunteering plus programme, Serco Solutions is already beginning to experience the synergies between employee development and volunteering. Community engagement has always been an integral part of our business model. We view the new programme not only as an opportunity to give back to the community but as an exciting addition to the company's wider training and development offering."
Birmingham Post 11th October 2005