RCO Volunteering Toolkit

As part of a wider project including the delivery of volunteer opportunities in a green environment a research consultation was carried out by Groundwork Birmingham and Solihull to discuss ways Refugee Community Organisation’s (RCO) can strengthen their capacity to support asylum seekers through volunteering programmes and discuss problems they face. The over-arching aim of the project includes a toolkit booklet accompanied with a CD of policies, procedures and volunteering templates.

This research consisted of in-depth interviews with ten organisations and three training workshops around policy and procedure. Overall the research took place over three months and involved 33 individuals from Refugee Community Organisations. Throughout this research consultation, members were actively involved in participating in the workshop, developing additional skills and gaining knowledge.

Due to the existing relationship and trust, we worked with organisations Groundwork Birmingham and Solihull had previously worked with and therefore these groups were most likely to answer with honesty and provide information that they would not normally give to an organisation that they had not worked with.

Some of the key findings in this research included problems RCOs encountered whilst working with asylum seekers, RCOs perspective on volunteering and an understanding of how well their organisational infrastructure is developed and how it can be improved.

Download full project report (Word File 1.8MB)

Download the RCO guide toolkit booklet (PDF 3.8MB)

Download toolkit templates and policies (Zip file 3.3 MB)