Strategic Framework for Green Health Volunteering in Lanarkshire
Vision
Our vision is of an effective, efficient and consistent approach to green health volunteering across Lanarkshire offering the best support for all stakeholders involved in Our Natural Health Service: the volunteers, Volunteer Involving Organisations (VIOs) and health and social care providers.
Volunteering is currently supported by the two Lanarkshire Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs), VASLan and VANL. They offer support to organisations that involve volunteers and individuals who are interested in volunteering. However, traditionally there have not been a large number of environmental volunteering opportunities registered with the two TSIs, and environmental organisations have not engaged significantly with them in the past. This was highlighted by the work of the previous Lanarkshire Greenspace Health & Wellbeing Partnership in 2017, and the need for a strategic framework for green health volunteering was identified as a vital part of the work of the new Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership.
Aim
The aim of the framework is to enable partners in the environmental, voluntary and health and social care sectors to work together more closely to expand the provision of green health volunteering opportunities, support existing volunteering opportunities, enhance the quality of the opportunities and promote them to a wider range of individuals through health and social care professionals.
Definition of a green health volunteer
The Scottish Government definition of volunteering is:
“…the giving of time and energy through a third party, which can bring measurable benefits to the volunteer, individual beneficiaries, groups and organizations, communities, the environment and society at large. It is a choice undertaken of one’s own free will, and is not motivated primarily for financial gain or for a wage or salary.”
Green health volunteering is any volunteering opportunity that is undertaken outside in a green space, where the green space forms a key part of the volunteering activity and includes both formal and informal volunteering opportunities. Formal opportunities are those that are undertaken through an organisation or group. Informal opportunities are activities that are undertaken by an individual for the benefit of the community. In the context of this framework, examples of formal volunteering opportunities include health walk leader or gardening volunteer in a community garden, and examples of informal volunteering opportunities include an individual doing a litter pick in their street or clearing up a local green patch.
Context
Both TSIs collect information about volunteering opportunities in their area on a database. This information is then available to the public via the TSI websites and also via Volunteer Scotland, and is searchable by location and type. Potential volunteers can register their interest in an opportunity and the TSI then puts them in touch with the relevant organisation. Volunteers can also request guidance on choosing a volunteering opportunity. The main categories that cover green health opportunities are conservation / gardening, sports / outdoor activities and practical / DIY.
There were already several green health volunteering opportunities registered with the TSIs in both North and South Lanarkshire. These included opportunities within local community growing projects such as Larkhall Community Growers, or national organisations based locally such as the RSPB at Baron’s Haugh, Motherwell. However there were also a number of easily identifiable green health volunteering opportunities which had never been registered with the TSI, as well organisations delivering green health opportunities who were not accessing the support of the TSI. The organisations delivering green health volunteering opportunities range from small volunteer led environmental groups who did not have the capacity to engage with the wider voluntary sector, to local statutory partners who had not found an easy way to engage. Environmental groups are often not as linked in with their local TSI as health and social care voluntary groups and therefore their volunteering opportunities are not advertised by them. This means that people who are interested in volunteering can pick or be referred to an opportunity that is not appropriate for them because there isn’t anything registered with the TSI that matches their interests.
Building up a wider range of green health opportunities gives people interested in outdoor volunteering roles a better choice of ways to get involved. Additionally, the structure to register a volunteering opportunity can be too cumbersome for organisations who tend to run one off volunteering sessions, which environmental opportunities often are, and so different methods have been looked at for advertising these opportunities to potential volunteers and to health and social care professionals. Finally it is noted that there can be some overlap between a green health activity and a green health volunteering opportunity, for example Get Walking Lanarkshire, where a proportion of the participants are also volunteering.
Research carried out by the Green Exercise Team at the University of Essex shows mental wellbeing improves significantly in people taking part in green volunteering activities. The participants in the study also reported enhanced levels of physical activity and increased contact with greenspace.[1][2]
In a report to the Scottish Forestry Trust and Forestry Commission on the motivations, benefits and barriers to environmental volunteering, researchers found that in general, volunteers felt emotionally more positive after engaging in outdoor volunteering opportunities. Additionally, environmental volunteering offers a range of opportunities to suit people with diverse interests and abilities.[3]
In Volunteering Impacts, a report highlighting recent work undertaken by The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) to better understand the full impact of volunteering, the analysis shows a significant percentage of individuals reporting an increase in overall wellbeing, physical and mental health through volunteering. The research also found that health improvements were greatest amongst those with the poorest health and also suggests that volunteers who are given training and progress into positions of responsibility report even greater improvements in physical health, mental health and wellbeing.3
The Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership
The Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership (LGHP) was established in April 2018 and has been developed as part of Our Natural Health Service (ONHS), an initiative led by Scottish Natural Heritage. ONHS aims to show how greater use of the outdoors can help to tackle physical inactivity, mental health issues and health inequalities. This diagram shows how green exercise activities that make use of our environmental assets can contribute to the collective responsibilities associated with public health and health and social care, and has been amended to show how volunteering is a cross cutting theme.
In Lanarkshire there were already volunteering opportunities registered with the TSIs that could be categorised as green health volunteering, as well as a range of organisations delivering green health activities. However there were no specific mechanisms in place to identify them. It became clear that there were organisations and volunteering opportunities that were not registered, even if they were already in contact with their TSI.
Some of the practical issues had already been highlighted through the work of the greenspace partnership prior to the current Green Health Partnership:
- Administrative burden: lack of volunteering policies, role descriptions, application process etc and no time to develop them.
- Promotion of volunteering opportunities: green health volunteering opportunities need to be better integrated with existing mechanisms for volunteer promotion.
- Volunteer referral: if opportunities are not promoted through the TSIs then the information is not reaching people who are specifically looking for volunteering opportunities, and organisations might not have their details in the Locator tools, where health professionals are being directed to search for information about opportunities.
- Funding: acknowledgement that investment is needed to support volunteering. Short term funding is a problem for being able to offer consistent opportunities.
- Expenses: A lack of funding means not all environmental volunteering opportunities are able to refund travel expenses for their volunteers which is a barrier for people accessing these opportunities, particularly those from more rural areas and for people already with a financial disadvantage.
Additionally, it has been identified that:
- Improved networking between partners would be beneficial for all sectors. There could be more engagement with TSIs and their networks. Existing NHS volunteers could be tapped into for involvement in green health opportunities at NHS sites.
- There has been a lack of volunteering opportunities, particularly for people leaving nature based therapeutic programmes, as well as for volunteers who want to develop their skills and progress.
Objectives of the Strategic Volunteer Framework
What success looks like:
- Increase number and range of green health volunteering opportunities
- Increase in number of people accessing the opportunities
- Increase in the quality of the opportunities (Volunteer Friendly)
- Co-ordinated green health volunteering network
- Embed green health volunteering in the wider TSI support network
- Improved networking between health, statutory and voluntary sectors on volunteering
- Standardise recruitment / training with a view to progression routes for volunteers
Principles & values
- Choice – volunteering “…is a choice undertaken by one’s own free will…” from Scottish Government definition of volunteering. There also needs to be a choice of opportunities to suit individuals.
- Inclusion – volunteering should be open to all. Additional support might be required; expenses will need to be paid. How can barriers be addressed?
- Mutual Benefit – whilst volunteers don’t receive payment, reciprocity is key to volunteering. What does each volunteering opportunity offer?
- Recognition – valuing the contribution of volunteers in the green health sector.
- Quality – it needs to be a high quality experience for both volunteers and Volunteer Involving Organisations.
- Partnership – need to pool resources, understanding and knowledge across sectors to succeed.
- Appropriate Resourcing – volunteering freely given but not cost free.
Implementation
An implementation plan (this is a live working document and responsive to new opportunities) has been developed and can be viewed in the following section.
9. For further information contact:
Sarah Burgess- Green Health Volunteering Development Officer [email protected]
Vicki Trim - Green Health Partnership Manager [email protected]
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Implementation plan objectives |
LGHP key areas |
Progress |
Recommendations |
Suggested Actions
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Increase number of green health volunteering opportunities Having identified existing opportunities and registered the details, look at ways of increasing number of available opportunities, through identifying new groups, promoting the green health agenda and by training volunteer leaders who can increase the capacity of existing groups to provide opportunities.
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Places & projects Pathways Promotion |
Initial audit of opportunities complete. Information about opportunities available on various platforms, including Locator, Greenspace Portal, Volunteer Scotland, TSI websites. Wider range of agencies providing green health volunteering identified. |
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Promote LGHP / green health volunteering to wider audience i.e. public and professional to increase use of nature as health promoting activities. Identify volunteering opportunities that could be supported by volunteer leaders. |
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Increase in numbers of people accessing the opportunities As well as increasing numbers of people receiving information about green health opps by advertising them more widely, working with a wider range of partners who promote volunteering to their clients including health and social care professionals who may recommend green health volunteering as a way to support improved health.
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People Pathways Promotion |
Information on more opportunities registered with TSIs and other platforms. Significant increase in visits to greenspace portal resulting in spread of information on volunteering opportunities. Increased range of partners across sectors promoting green volunteering to their clients / service users. |
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Assess pathways into green health, including volunteering opportunities, supported volunteering and other green health activities (eg health walks and Branching Out style programmes). Where pathways are successful, identify gaps and look for funding to extend provision and sustainability. Establish a common identifier for green health opportunities making them easier for people to find using online directories. |
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Increase in the quality of the opportunities (Volunteer Friendly Award) Encourage & support existing groups to go through the VF accreditation, and use the framework to develop new high quality volunteering opportunities.
Allocation of adequate resources, i.e. money, management, staff time and materials
Volunteer diversity, equal opportunities, fair recruitment and reference checks
Developing task descriptions, training and the support needs of individuals Celebrating Volunteers' Contributions |
Places & projects Pathways |
A few organisations that offer green health volunteering opportunities or green health activities have already gained the VF Award. It will be promoted to all the organisations that offer green health volunteering opportunities. |
• Work with TSIs to actively promote VF to green volunteering network, and offer TSI support for interested organisations. |
Facilitate knowledge exchange / networking opportunities between likeminded groups with GH focus. Monitor numbers who have signed up for VF and progress. |
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Co-ordinated green health volunteering network Build on existing group that meet to discuss volunteers in greenspace, then look to increase number of groups attending. What is needed to support this in the long term?
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Places & projects People Pathways |
The green health volunteering network is meeting bi-monthly with approx 8 organisations in regular attendance. Delivery of green health volunteering event with 11 volunteer involving organisations delivering activities, including approx 50 volunteers. |
Facilitate knowledge exchange & networking between groups with GH focus. |
Promote the network and develop understanding that GH volunteering opportunities are part of a wider movement to improve health through green activity. Agreement from GVN network of Terms of Reference including support for hosting and administration tasks. Explore other methods and formats of communication, between groups to share and exchange information e.g. google groups. |
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Embed green health volunteering in the wider TSI support network Use current TSI procedures (different in north / south) to register opportunities / promote volunteering; ensure green health is understood by all TSI volunteering staff.
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Places & projects People Pathways |
Use Volunteers’ Week to promote green health volunteering, through local events and promotional materials. |
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Continue regular meetings with TSI staff to improve green health awareness internally and regular promotion in newsletters & social media e.g. suggestion of “Green Health Tuesdays”.etc. to build the link with TSIs and green health agenda. Ensure green health groups are aware of training and support available through TSIs and level of uptake is being monitored.
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Improved networking between health, statutory and voluntary sectors Promote existing networks across sectors; look at where gaps exist and create new networks where necessary.
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People Pathways Promotion |
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Engage with ward staff at University Hospital Wishaw and sourcing of resources to bring “nature indoors”. Identify which localities have cross-sector groups e.g. Greening CamGlen, that cover green health and where there are gaps, look at ways to fill them including using the support from the Green Health Partnership and relevant members. |
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Standardise recruitment / training and formalise sharing of resources. This could also help build progression routes for volunteers if requested. Shared approach to recruitment and training where possible will maximise use of existing resources; higher levels of training will enable volunteers to take on more responsibility which will lead to an increase in capacity for groups. |
Pathways
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Initial discussions about how this could be done at green vol network but needs to be explored further. Training opportunities shared in network & LGHP implementation group. |
GHVDO is a member of the East Kilbride volunteering collaborative and will track progress of their remit around volunteering in health passports and look at the possibility of replicating it for Green Health. Training is a standing item on the green volunteer network agenda. Progression pathways to be discussed as and when raised. |
GHVDO continue to attend EKVC meetings and feedback to LGHP / GVN. Training opportunities that are currently offered by groups in the green volunteering network to be collated and discussed regularly at GVN meetings. Assess where progression pathways exist or would be valuable. |
The health and wellbeing impacts of volunteering with The Wildlife Trusts Green Exercise Team University of Essex & The Wildlife Trusts Authors: Mike Rogerson, Jo Barton, Rachel Bragg and Jules Pretty June 2017
Environmental volunteering: motivations, barriers and benefits Liz O’Brien, Forest Research; Mardie Townsend and Matthew Ebden, Deakin University, Australia July 2008
Volunteering Impacts drafted on behalf of TCV by Mike King of Resources for Change. March 2014
Find out more
On the Get Outdoors Lanarkshire website there is reports for Years 1, 2 and 3 for the Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership.
