The Challenge
To create an engaging and ‘sticky’ portal providing volunteer
information and opportunities and aimed at increasing the
numbers of 16-25 year olds volunteering in England.
The Solution
Driven by the needs and preferences of young people themselves,
via focus groups and extensive consultation, Connect worked closely
with v to translate these into services to which young people can
relate, delivered in a way that is relevant for them, helping to
inspire a new generation of young volunteers and significantly
increase the numbers of 16 – 25 year olds in volunteering.
Personalisation features, blogs, SMS and email alerts, forums and
user-generated content opportunities enhance the user experience
and reinforce the key messages delivered by the site. We also
integrated the volunteering opportunity information from the
YouthNet National Volunteer Database (NVD) to provide a one-stop
shop for prospective volunteers.
The Results
The v project has resulted in an exciting, youth-orientated
website which builds interest in volunteering for the 16-25 age
group. It uses a striking, modern design and makes use of many Web
2.0 features to build a sense of community. For example, there are
blogs from volunteers, links to other social networks (such as V's
facebook and flickr groups), streaming video and content drawn from
campaign-specific Twitter hashtags. The site currently has over
41,500 registered users.
About v (Russell Commission Implementation Body)
v (the Russell Commission Implementation Body) is an independent
charity championing youth volunteering in England and was set up in
response to a major recommendation of the Russell Commission whose
aim was to develop a new national framework for youth action and
engagement, as part of the Government’s commitment to increase
youth volunteering.