Volunteering

Last Wednesday evening Children North East thanked and celebrated our 243 volunteers for the 8,500 hours they have given this year.

The writer Ivan Scheier defined volunteering from the point of view of the volunteer:

'Volunteering is doing more than you have to, because you want to, in a cause you consider good.'

We tend to think of volunteering as something organised, managed by voluntary organisations. United Nations Volunteers rejects any criteria limiting volunteering and says ‘Most empirical studies are concerned with volunteering undertaken in the context of formal organisations. However, focusing only on this aspect of volunteerism overlooks a large amount of volunteer action. Our definition is broader. It includes many acts of volunteerism that take place outside a formal context.’ (United Nations Volunteers, 2011).

So if you ask people if they 'gave or donated their time to the community, unpaid' (as did research in Australia) they found over 80% replied 'yes'. An example of such volunteering might be helping an elderly neighbour. This is the 'social economy' which would also include unpaid caring work in the family. Other names for it might be 'community', 'society' or 'the common good'.

It is tempting to place a monetary value on volunteering, for example if each hour was paid at the minimum wage, but that is economic thinking rather than social good thinking. The latter means honouring the relationships made between people who volunteer and the people they help; the positive feelings of being useful and being valued; the lessons that both learn about themselves and other people; of life satisfaction and general happiness.

Teenagers are citizens too

This week I've signed an open letter to broadcasters to ask politicians what they will do for children in care in the forthcoming leader's debates. The letter is part of Children England's #ChildrenAtHeart campaign to ensure political parties consider the needs of children in their policies.  I've written before that children are citizens, but its worth repeating. Just because they don't have the vote doesn't mean they aren't important.

The sign of civilised society is one that protects and supports the vulnerable. Children are vulnerable because they are powerless - they don't have political or economic power; and are therefore dependent on the rest of us. The letter is about children in care because they are the most vulnerable of all children and actually the state has more responsibility for them as 'Corporate Parent' having total responsibility for them while they are in care.

Kathy Evans, Chief Executive at Children England recently wrote a wonderful piece in Children and Young People Now magazine reminding us of the hysterical rejection of young people during the first decade of this century - anyone in a 'hoodie' was feared and despised. Of course it's not new that young people in the teenage years have perplexed adults but some public attitudes towards young people would not be tolerated if expressed towards say women, disabled people or racial groups.

Sarah Jayne Blakemore is professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London. She explains how new brain imaging techniques have made us realise the huge, fundamental changes that take place in human brains between puberty and the mid 20's. Changes and growth as dramatic as happens in the brains of babies and toddlers.

Current public policy is to concentrate resources to children and parents in the 'early years' i.e. pregnancy, babies and children up to age 4. The argument being that investment at that stage of life has good long term benefits. This is true, but Professor Blakemore's research suggests an equally strong case for youth services, secondary education (and probably parents of teenagers too). This is particularly important today when council support for youth services has all but disappeared in many local authorities.

I wish that politicians would take note of the growing body of knowledge about young people's brains in formulating policy for this important group of young citizens.

Investors in People

People are sometimes surprised that children's charities are not inspected. A few of the things we do are inspected by Ofsted; in common with all charities we are regulated by the Charity Commission which means we have to file our annual report and accounts with them; and as a registered business we also have to file our annual accounts with Companies House. Apart from that we are free and independent. However in a competitive world it can be hard to know how we compare to other organisations so things like Investors in People, Investors in Volunteers, CHAS etc. are really important ways for us to ensure we are up to the mark.

This week we received the report of our Investors in People re-assessment which spoke of a 'positive assessment process'; Children North East being 'impressive in many areas' having a 'strong golden thread from mission and purpose to objectives' and 'outcomes supported by a strong business planning process which includes, staff, managers and trustees'. The assessors interviewed 29 people, including some volunteers to reach these conclusions. We employ about 60 staff so it was a large sample.

Last year we changed the organisational structure of Children North East mainly because project staff wanted to collaborate more but the former structure of the organisation put obstacles in the way of that happening easily. So I was reassured the IIP found support for the changes from staff at all levels - 'people felt empowered to put forward ideas, develop solutions and collaborate'. Middle managers in particular said the changes were correct and understood why they had been necessary.

So, very encouraging feedback from an impartial, external source and Children North East has 'comfortably met the standard' for the Investors in People award for a further 3 years.

#ChildrenAtHeart

It's too easy for politicians to ignore children because they don't vote, but children are as much citizens as adults. In fact children need and deserve the attention of the powerful because they have no power themselves. Children England, the representative body for charities and voluntary organisations of all sizes working with children, young people and families believes it’s time to tell politicians that children can’t be ignored in anyone’s plans this year. We all have a childhood, and all children should be at the heart of plans for the future.

 

Children at Heart is an umbrella campaign organised by Children England for everyone who cares about children. Children England's members like Children North East have contributed to a manifesto but the campaign is much broader than a list of suggestions. The strength of social media enables anyone to connect with and contribute to this simple reminder to put the welfare of all children at the heart of politicians and voters intentions during the coming months and the next government.

 

My top priority in the campaign is that all parents should be paid the Living Wage. With two thirds of poor children growing up in families where at least one parent is in work, paying them the Living Wage would make a big difference to the lives of all those children. But I'd also like to see the next government commit all new policies to a 'Family Test' that assesses the impact of any initiative on family income, stability and wellbeing.

 

There is another meaning to the phrase 'children at heart' which reminds us that we have all been children, we know what being a child is like. Let's stay close to the unique perspective that children bring and try to be a bit more like 'children at heart' ourselves.

 

With that in mind, and it being World Book Day yesterday here is the Storyteller's Creed:

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.

That myth is more potent than history.

That dreams are more powerful than facts.

That hope always triumphs over experience.

That laughter is the only cure for grief.

And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Families United

Last Friday I spent the day 'on the shop floor' with some of our families and parenting staff at the end of an intensive course of work with several families - parents and young people. We call the course 'Families United' and it runs every day for a whole week during school holidays. The whole family is invited to come along. In the morning session the parents meet in one room while the children are in another room. At lunchtime everyone joins together with the staff for sandwiches followed by fun activities for the families all together in the afternoon.

The morning sessions for parents include some teaching for example about brain development of children, what children and young people need from their family to grow up well and parenting skills but also time to share and reflect on their experiences of growing up, how they learnt about parenting, what it means to them to be a parent, what they feel about their children and so on. If you've ever been on an intensive training week (on any subject) you will know that they can be a very powerful experience.

Meanwhile the children are engaged in creative activities with staff while talking about similar topics. Being so closely involved with the families, the staff can encourage parents and children to try out new ways of relating to each other and to praise attempts to be different. At the end of each day the staff have a debriefing sharing observations and understandings of children and parents so that everyone can encourage and reinforce changed behaviours.

Last Friday was the final day so I was privileged to sit in on the final sessions and hear parents share the things they had learned that they intend to keep going. At lunch it was evident that relationships between some family members had begun to heal during the week. After lunch the staff gave everyone a gift as well as framed photographs taken during the week and certificates to congratulate everyone on completing the week.

One thing which struck me was the importance of respect in family life. Families are held together by very strong attachments and children rely absolutely on their parent(s) for survival until they are old enough to fend for themselves. Yet we cannot take those ties for granted, it is too easy to verbally abuse and continually put down those closest to us just because they are there. Civility and mutual respect are the oil that enables families to meet the needs of everyone in the family, which is after all what families are for.

Decent jobs

On Friday I was interviewed by journalist Tom Esslemont for BBC Radio 4 news about poverty in the north east. The point made by everyone he spoke to was that there are not enough full-time, well-paid, long-term jobs in the north east. Today the front page of The Journal picked up on the same theme. The Trussell Trust (which runs Food Banks) reports that 22% of those seeking help this year were referred because of 'low income' meaning people in jobs and that this is up 6% on the previous year.

To illustrate the point, over the weekend I found out that the retail chain Next recently changed the employment contracts of pretty much all their shop staff to just 13 hours a week apparently to reduce the amount they have to pay for national insurance. Staff who have mortgages, families, childcare costs, financial commitments and could formerly rely on a set number of hours work each week were suddenly and arbitrarily reduced to 13 hour contracts worked over 3 days each week. I am sure Next would say that staff can increase the number of hours they work to suit themselves by exchanging shifts - a system operated online. But the demand for extra hours is so great, shifts are snapped up in seconds.

I heard too that Top Shop only employ staff aged under 18 so that they only have to pay £3.79 an hour Minimum Wage instead of £5.13 for those age 18 to 20 or £6.50 for those age over 21. The Minimum Wage is the minimum employers can legally pay; the Living Wage Foundation recommend the minimum should be £7.85 an hour outside London.

At what point did it become acceptable for any employer to have such limited regard for the legitimate needs of their employees? Mahatma Gandhi listed 'Commerce without morality' amongst his 7 deadly sins:

The seven deadly sins

Mahatma Gandhi

 

Wealth without work,
Pleasure without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Commerce without morality,
Science without humanity,
Worship without sacrifice, and
Politics without principle.

And in 'The Wealth of Nations' (1776) Adam Smith identified five moral problems created by capitalism: impoverishing the spirit of the workers, creating cities in which anonymity will facilitate price-fixing, expanding the ranks of the rich who lack virtue, inducing government to create monopolies and privileges, and separating ownership and management in ways that lead to what we now call agency problems.

Fortunately not all retailers are behaving like 19th century mill owners; I did also hear about cosmetic shop Lush who do pay their staff the Living Wage rate.

The art of helping

I have been re-reading a wonderful book called 'Zen in the Art of Helping' written by David Brandon, published in 1976. Everyone has at some point been both a helper and been helped. We know what good helping is like and we can also tell when some well intentioned person is actually hindering rather than helping us. Brandon's essential point is that the best kind of helper is someone who is wholly present for you - not distracted by other concerns, not needing something from you, not simply following a procedure but willing to enter into your world and try to understand it with you.



David Brandon was a mental health social worker and social work teacher. He was writing shortly after the creation of local authority Social Services Departments (in 1972) when it seemed possible that social work could transform society. He would not recognise the sort of social work practised in local authorities today. Each person in need is processed to 'assess' their need or the 'risk of harm' they present to themselves and others; decide whether or not their circumstances meet the 'threshold' for 'intervention' and if so, 'allocate' a 'package' of support. Bureaucracy replaces the human, helping relationship. The best that can be said for it is it protects the worker and attempts to impose fair treatment for each service user.

Tolstoy wrote the story of an Emperor who wishes to know three things:

What is the best time to do each thing?

Who are the most important people to work with?

What is the most important thing to do?

The sages and philosophers are unable to answer these questions satisfactorily so the Emperor himself goes to visit a hermit in the mountains. The hermit does not answer his questions but in the course of events the Emperor comes to understand these answers:

The most important person to work with is the one in front of you.

The most important thing to do is to make them happy.

And the best time is now.

How do you do that? Well, the psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom said 'It's the relationship that heals, the relationship that heals, the relationship that heals.' Which brings us right back to being wholly present for the person in need.

The voluntary sector does not have a monopoly on good helping but it is common in our sector. It is precious and we must not take it for granted. Pressures of money and time could easily extinguish it and we would end up no better than the public services. As voluntary sector managers we must ensure that we protect and enhance the conditions that enable good helping to bloom.