Exploring the role of Jobcentre Plus and Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) advisers in promoting and signposting volunteering to young people aged 16-25
v, The National Young Volunteers’ Service, and CFE have produced a report exploring the role of Jobcentre Plus and Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) advisers in promoting and signposting volunteering to young people aged 16-25.
One of the many benefits of volunteering is that it can be a valuable way for young people to develop their skills and gain employment. But with almost unprecedented levels of unemployment amongst 16-25 year olds, it is more important than ever to ensure that young people are being effectively signposted to suitable volunteering opportunities.
The report, ‘The Road to Volunteering: Exploring the role of Jobcentre Plus and Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) advisers in promoting and signposting volunteering to young people aged 16-25’ is based on a survey of 105 Jobcentre Plus advisers and 132 IAG advisers, a desk-based review of relevant literature and policy, in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, and in-depth ‘hotspot’ research with IAG advisers and service users.
The research identified that there is widespread recognition of the benefits of volunteering for young people as part of a personalised support service. Advisers strongly agree that volunteering can positively impact on young people’s skills and employability, particularly the skills directly related to gaining or maintaining employment. However, there is a reliance on advisers finding information about volunteering opportunities themselves and only limited training from their employer.
Advisers promote and signpost young people to volunteering opportunities on a regular basis where appropriate based on their personal development needs. This tends to involve ‘selling’ the benefits of volunteering to clients and signposting them to resources such as do-it.org. Managed referral to specific opportunities is less common and typically reserved for those young people with multiple barriers to engagement due to funding constraints, although advisers recognise the value of this approach.
Advisers have a varied understanding of the rules and regulations in the DWP guidelines Volunteering while getting benefits. Largely this confusion lies with IAG advisers as knowledge of benefits rules is not a core part of their role but there is evidence of some issues in relation to Jobcentre Plus.
The full report ‘The Road to Volunteering: Exploring the role of Jobcentre Plus and Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) advisers in promoting and signposting volunteering to young people aged 16-25’ can be found here.
For further information please contact Hayley Lamb by emailing hayley.lamb@cfe.org.uk