Event Volunteers Skills Scorecard Guidance The Your Skills scorecard helps to recognise the various skills volunteers may use in the course of event volunteering. It can be useful for: identifying examples of where and how a volunteer demonstrates particular skills. This could be useful, for example, in preparing for a job interview. identifying, and recording personal learning from their volunteering experience identifying where a volunteer might want to develop their skills further The scorecard was developed with Disability Sport Wales, for use with young people but can be used with volunteers of any age. It will not be appropriate for use with all volunteers and its use should always be optional.
Competences The competencies below are generally relevant to volunteering at events. A simple question has been identified for inclusion on the scorecard in order to explore each of these areas, using accessible language. Competence Examples Related scorecard question(s) Communication Planning and organising Written and oral communication in both informal and formal situations; use of body language. Prioritising, planning of time, thinking ahead, organising of.equipment and resources. Are you good at talking to others? Are you good at planning and organising? Problem solving Research Personal development Decision making Teamwork & motivation finding solutions to issues that crop up; using own initiative Finding information, keeping records, collating & analysing data, gathering feedback, developing confidence and creativity through learning, reflection and experience gained making choices, taking responsibility for decisions made working with others effectively, having a positive attitude and a positive impact on others Are you good at solving problems? Can you use the internet & can you do research work? Are you confident? Are you creative? Are you good at making decisions? Are you good at working in a team? This framework was developed specifically for use in Disability Sport Wales ROAR 1 project. The questions and the scorecard were developed by young people within the ROAR project in conjunction with Volunteering Spirit Wales 2. They wanted a tool which was easy to understand and easy to use. The method has been adapted for more general use.
Suggestions for use You will need 2 copies of the Scorecard for each volunteer that wishes to participate (or one copy if used only post event) Pre-event Each volunteer completes the scorecard before the event, for example at a training or preparation session. You might introduce the use of the Scorecard to volunteers in this way: We are so pleased that you volunteering at this event and we hope that you will get a lot out of the experience. This is a tool that we can use to look at where your skills are and how they develop. [if they wish to proceed, present the Scorecard] Have a look at each of the questions. You have to decide how you would score yourself. Mark that on the card with a tick. You can note your reasons for your score on the chart too. Post-event Each volunteer completes a different copy of the same scorecard after the event You might introduce it in this way: Here is the same Scorecard that you completed before [the event]. Give yourself a score for each of those 7 areas once again. You may be able to think of some examples from your volunteering where you have put these skills to use, or where you could have used them better. Make sure you write these down. Be sure to label /date the scorecards clearly if it is used both pre- and post- event You may choose to use the scorecard just once eg after your event Easy read versions of the scorecard are available
Mentor s appraisal and discussion A mentor/supervisor or peer mentor makes their separate appraisal of the volunteer s demonstrated competencies, using the Peer Assessment Scorecard. This person could be another volunteer. Ideally, they will have been able to observe the volunteer they are appraising, for at least some of the time. The mentor should consider the whole scope of each of the competences in making their appraisal; in some cases, this is wider than may appear from simple question on the scorecard. On completion of the charts (after the event), discussion between the volunteer and mentor is important, in order to: Clarify, explain or challenge what is written Affirm strengths and highlight key examples of demonstrated competences Identify any personal goals for further development The aim should be for the volunteer not only to recognise the skills and competences they possess but also to be able to articulate them clearly, drawing on their practical experience. The mentor s role is to enable the volunteer to do this positively and realistically. 1 ROAR Project The ROAR project is an innovative peer support and mentoring project run in partnership between Disability Sport Wales and the City & County of Swansea Council. It aims to develop young people with a learning impairment by providing leadership development & volunteering opportunities to ensure that those are fairly represented on youth volunteer programmes e.g. Young Ambassadors. Non-disabled young volunteers provide peer-support for young people with a learning impairment with the aim of challenging their own perceptions of disability Disability Sport Wales athletes are recruited as role models, thus promoting positive attitudes towards young people with disabilities. 2 Volunteering Spirit Wales funded by Spirit of 2012, aims to improve the quality of volunteer involvement in public events.