Youth Volunteer Expo

1. Youth Volunteer ExpoNicholas Wood Phone Number: 0401 343 611 E-mail: contact@youthvolunteerexpo.orgWebsite: www.youthvolunteerexpo.org

2. Youth Volunteer Expo • What is the Youth Volunteer Expo (YVE) • Mission Statement and Objectives • Origins • The Campaign • Logistics and Execution of the Expo • Debriefing • Future of the YVE

3. What is the YVE about • The Youth Volunteer Expo is an expo designed specifically for young people who are about to enter mainstream society with the intention of informing them of just how many wonderful organisations are in their local community. • The expo is also designed for charities and non profit organisations (NPO) to network and work together and share ideas rather then working alone as many organisations do.

4. Mission Statement and Objectives • To promote young people engaged into civil society via participation in charity and non profit organisations • To encourage charities and non profit organisations to work more cohesively with each other for the benefit of the greater community • To improve young peoples recognition of local organisations in their community • To empower young people to achieve their goals • To inform young people that they have the power to change society for the better • To assist young people to find out who they are and what they want to achieve in life

5. Origins The YVE concept was born out my personal passion to answer these following questions • Why do charities and NPO’s have to fight amongst each other for limited resources? • Why are some charities and NPO’s unable to put away their differences and work together for the common good?

6. Considerations Charities and NPO’s have been constrained by three major factors. Limited finances Limited volunteer/workforce Limited organisation/time

7. Considerations Continued Whenever any organisation gets an increase to any of their financial resources, the organisation naturally finds ways to expand their operations to absorb the funds. Dialogue, exchange of ideas and cooperation between likeminded organisations that share many common goals appears to be limited or non existent amongst many organisations, because each organisation is so dedicated and focused on; • Securing volunteers, maintaining their volunteer base, growing their volunteer base • Securing funding, maintaining their current funding, and increasing their funding, which then in turn is used to • Starting projects, continue funding existing projects and plan for new projects in the future.

8. Main Reasons Why Organisations Remain Isolated • Perceived lack of benefits that will arise compared to the amount of resources needed to liaison with another organisation. • Organisations believe that the time and money are better spent growing their own organisation, rather then checking up on what the neighbours are doing • Autonomy is a critical reason why organisations don’t talk to each other. No one wants to be told what to do, especially from a perceived competitor • The current climate in Australia forces charities and NPO’s to fight amongst each other for precious resources. They zealously guard their secrets closely, in fear that another organisation may infiltrate them and coerce or steal their donors and volunteers away from their organisation

9. Solutions The Youth Volunteer Expo is an attempt in trying to solve one of the three major problems that are facing charities and non profit organisations. The problem that YVE is addressing is the problem of securing new volunteers Young people, especially those who are 15-18 years of age are at their most optimistic and energetic. However quite often they do not know how to channel this potential energy into a positive outcome. With young people being bombarded with so much information from parents, school, peers and the general media Often charities and non profit organisations don’t have the resources available to reach out to young people, having to compete for media space and time with the corporate sector and being heavily out funded. It is little wonder why young people aren’t aware of just how many wonderful organisations are out there in their community. The Youth Volunteer Expo intends to expose these young bright minds to the possibilities of improving their futures and the future of the society they live in

10. Solutions Continued What young people need to know and more importantly see with their own eyes, is just how many wonderful organisations that are out in our community. At this tender age, young people are the most disillusioned in society. They have been told so many things about life from multiple sources, many can be quite negative. Most young people are in tune with what is the truth and what is a lie. But it is notoriously difficult to get the best and wisest opinions when the loudest voices are drowning out all other voices. They need to be told that they can do anything at all in this life, and that there is an amazing community, with people dedicated to improving the world. This major fact is lost on many young people in this day and age

11. The Campaign • Identify Stakeholders • Garner the Support from Stakeholders • Working out Location, Time and Logistics involved in Implementing a Volunteer Expo • Executing the Volunteer Expo • Debrief with Stakeholders and Evaluate what was good with the Expo and what can be improved. • Decide on the future of the Expo

12. Why Choose Newcastle To Launch the Youth Volunteer Expo? For the same reason why the first shopping centre complex in Australia was chosen in Jesmond NSW, a suburb in Newcastle. Because Newcastle is big enough to matter, but small enough to be its own unique community with it unique independent culture. If it works it Newcastle, it is likely to work elsewhere in Australia.

13. Stakeholders • Young people, primarily targeting the 15-18 year age group • People who use and run the services of charity and non profit organisations • People who teach in our schools and TAFE’s • All levels of government • The citizens of our community • Academics in our universities • The people who represent the media

14. Community Support Community support is a major factor in getting the event together, but certain stakeholders are more likely to come to the table when other stakeholders are involved. This is a plan to garner support for the YVE project, by approaching certain stakeholders with propositions that will suit their agendas. When more stakeholders come aboard the project, the YVE project will work like an avalanche, collecting up more stakeholders along the way

15. Approaching the Young People The young people are the reason why this volunteer expo is being performed in the first place. They are critical, they are the purpose of the event. With all of the other stakeholders working in unison, they will come. The Children Are Our Future

16. Approaching the Politicians Local, State and Federal Politicians all have an agenda on improving their community. Each politician comes from different backgrounds, different specialisations, each with their own agendas and jurisdictions. The key is to figure out which politicians would be most passionate with the YVE project and bring them on board. Having people in government helping you out with red tape and giving ideas on how to improve the organisation is always a benefit and helps out with the evolution of the organisation

17. Approaching the University Community Once you have some passionate politicians on side, approaching the universities would be second on the agenda. The Youth Volunteer Expo will produce a lot of qualative and quantative data that could be very useful for a research paper or a thesis. The YVE project provides research material worthy of academic study on the effects of young people on Australian civic society. Getting an academic involved with the YVE would be a major benefit to the organisation. Even though volunteer expos have been held in the past, none have been specifically targeted for young people and their unique needs. We need to know what happened and we must understand past experiences, to learn from these successes and failures. A major benefit to the YVE project by having university support is a certain prestige which is naturally granted when a university bestows its support to a project. Such support makes it much easier to approach other organisations because they know the YVE has the backing of a prestigious university. Beginning the desired avalanche effect.

18. Just a Few Ideas for Consideration for University Research • Evaluating whether the YVE achieved its goals, where it has succeeded and where is has not • Calculating how many young people sign up their interest to an organisation, how many young people turn up, how many young people continue to turn up 3 months and 6 months down the track. Retention is a key issue • Working out why charities and non profit organisations don’t talk to each other • Seeing if after this project any charities or NPO’s start interacting with each other.

19. Approaching the Schools and TAFE’s Once the YVE starts getting momentum in the community, approaching the schools and TAFE’s individually will be of great interest. Having their students being active in the local community is a part of the Australian school ethos. To give students the best choice of where they would like to go is in the best interest of the schools and the students. Also the idea of having positive media, being part of academic research studies, with the auspices of the government supporting the expo. Any school worth their salt should jump at the opportunity to be a part of the YVE project.

20. Approaching Government Departments With the schools and TAFE’s interests being generated for the YVE project, it is recommended to get the nod of approval from the government departments. Departments such as the department of education, or another department who’s jurisdiction is to focus on community and social inclusion must be brought to the table. It is always good policy to bring governments and their departments to be involved in proactive step which improves their community.

21. Approaching the Media The Media play an important role. Although they come in later in the project cycle, their help will be essential to generate all the hype and spin and positive vibes required to help all stakeholders involved. Much has been written about the negative media associated with young people. Positive stories are always welcome, and Newcastle has a very strong and vibrant local media which can be incorporated to promoting this event.

22. Execution of Expo • Organising a speaker • Choosing the organisations that will participate • Choosing the venue that will hold the first expo • Choosing the time and day when to hold the expo • Choosing the days for the debriefings • Organising marquee, tables, chairs, amenities for organisations • Organising equipment for the speech, which will include video/multimedia • Let the expo run • Pack up and review

23. Organising a Speaker Organising an Expo from 20 to 200 organisations and to just expect young people to volunteer in droves would be naive. More will be required before young people will be keen to volunteer. As the saying goes “ You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink ” Therefore you must make them understand the benefits of volunteering. To do this you must have someone willing to stand in front of a stage and inspire the young people to achieve to their highest potential.

24. The Need To Inspire Young people need to be inspired to volunteer. We must understand the way our culture currently works and the effects this has on young people. Especially with so much emphasis on consumerism culture through our media advertisements. This can have an adverse effect on young people today which contributes to a feeling of apathy and helplessness Young People need to be appealed by these 2 major ideas • Their Good Nature • Their Aspiration

25. The Speaker A good orator would be needed, and it is very critical that this person is highly passionate about youth empowerment. The speaker needs to build a strong repore with the young people in an incredibly short amount of time. If young people aren’t reached within the first 30 seconds they will not listen to the speaker. This is Critical. The speaker will require microphones, equipment and other items to reach out to the audience. This is likely to include multimedia, but this may not be necessary.

26. Appeal to Good Nature A major part of the speech must incorporate the need to improve the world for the better. To acknowledge that the way the world currently works is neither efficient or fair. You only have to witness the wars being wages in our world and the damage we are doing to our environment. Its important to emphasise that young people can and are capable to do something to change the world for the better. Also it must be acknowledged that each person will have certain passions and talents, and these talents may not immerge until they are much older. They might find that something that might not interest them now might become of interest to them later. It has been recognised that people can’t spend their whole lives dedicated to civic society. It is well documented that people will join organisations for a few months or a few years and then naturally decide to leave that organisation to pursue other fields, such as academia, work, family, religion, politics, sport etc. People over time change and require new experiences and volunteer turnover will be inevitable

27. Appeal to Aspiration The other factor is to appeal to their aspiration. A little bit of greed can be a good thing, just as long as its not in big doses. Aspiration is the desire to want better, and we want to inspire young people to want better from their society and realise that they can do something about improving society. We want them to realise the more they put in, the more they will get out. We must emphasise that in this world, its not about what you know, but who you know. This is a very important factor, over 70% of all jobs aren’t even advertised and are filled by word of mouth. Volunteer work is one of the best ways of improving your networks as well as improving your resume. When people view resumes with impressive volunteer records, it counts for quite a lot. More often then not, you will hear about opportunities when you are doing volunteer work for an organisation. For Example: Police, Fire Brigade, Ambulance and Defence Force absolutely love seeing State Emergency Services on a young persons resume, many skills that are learnt from the SES can be utilised in these jobs. Former employees of these service jobs can often be found in the SES, who make excellent referees. Trying to get young people to go out and grab opportunities, because they are everywhere, only if you know where to look.

28. Understanding our Target Audience With many of the young people, many will be in various stages of their lives. • Some young people are in a very happy frame of mind and will gladly jump at the opportunity to volunteer. • Some young peoples frame of mind will be on autopilot and they don’t have a clue what they want to do with their lives. The hope is the inspirational speech will jolt them out of their inertia • Some young peoples frame of mind have been quite devastated by what has happened to them. These strong souls may not volunteer due to overcoming their own personal circumstances. It is important to note that young people for many reasons might not volunteer. This is neither a problem or a failure. Our goal is to inform the young people of the wonderful opportunities available to them, and to show them that there is a beautiful world out there just waiting for them to go out and change for the better, and many wonderful people who are willing to help. We are trying to get a lasting impression on these young minds.

29. Choosing Organisations that will Participate Screening of organisations will be required for three reasons. • Logistical purposes. We are bound to encounter space issues and we have a limit of how many organisations we can have in one hall/room. • Removing organisations that may have ulterior motives that aren’t in line with improving the greater civic community. • To see if their organisation can cater for an influx of young volunteers The primary aim is of the expo is to encourage young people to engage with the civic community. It would be highly desirable to inspire young people to participate in political, business, sporting or religious arenas if that is what they aspire to do. However for the purpose of academic research, it would be easier to focus only on the civic arena and avoid groups that are in other arenas. In the debriefing after the expo has been run, discussions can be made whether to include business, political, sporting or religious organisations

30. Some Issues that Need to be Addressed • Is your organisation a government, charity or non profit organisation? • What can young people offer to your organisation? • What can your organisation offer to young people? • How does your organisation strengthen the community? • With an influx of new young people, how will your organisation plan to incorporate these new volunteers? • What is your short and long term plans on growth and expansion if any? • Does your organisation interact with other charity and non profit organisations? If the answer is yes, can you elaborate on how beneficial is this interaction to both your own organisation, the organisation you interact with, and the greater community? • Do you believe you might find other organisations at the volunteer expo that might share the same goals as your own?

31. State Emergency Services Surf Life Saving Rural Volunteer Fire Brigade Rotary Salvation Army St Vincent De-Paul The Loft (Newcastle City Council) The Wilderness Society Lifeline St Johns Ambulance Department of Youth ANTAR/Indigenous Services Spiritus Oxfam Community Aid Abroad Samaritans Look in the Phone Book for Local Charities/NPO’s Scouts Lions Greenpeace Amnesty YMCA Lead-On Conservation Volunteers Volunteering Websites World Vision Drug-Arm Landcare RSPCA Theatre/Drama Groups Some Government Organisations, Charities and NPO’s the YVE will consider approaching

32. Organisation of Logistics and Resources Each organisation will have different strengths and weaknesses. What each organisation brings to the expo may vary. Some may only have a simple pamphlets and a sign up list with their logo on it. Other organisations may have their own promotional videos, as well as free giveaway in large bags with bonus freebies. Government funded organisations such as the State Emergency Services will have a different pool of resources to encourage volunteers compared to other organisations. We must cater for each organisations specific needs, some organisations may request a power supply, which may or may not be available at a particular location

33. Logistics Time and organisation will be needed to be calculate how long it will take to set up 20-200 organisations, with some organisations having unique requirements and requests • Tables and Chairs • Pamphlets, Paraphernalia and Sign Up Sheets • Posters • Dividers/Boards • Marquee Tops if required • Electrical Supply • Power Boards • Extension Cords • Lighting • Toilets/Amenities • Catering • Noise Barriers This must be completed with the upmost professionalism, first impressions last, and if the expo is still been seen as disorganised and setting up, it is less likely it will be taken seriously

34. Youth Volunteer Expo Funding A considerable amount of this can be done on a shoe string budget. However at some stage we will require a funding injection in order to do the YVE Project with professionalism. Funding will be required once we begin approaching the charities and non profit organisations. The time required to mail, phoning and liaison with these organisations requires many hours of labour as well as financial expenses. Studies have been done that if any individual should not spend more then 14 hours volunteering for any particular organisation. Because if that person burns out and leaves the organisation, their loss will be felt deeply by the organisation which has become dependant on the 14+ hours of free labour they have given to the organisation. The YVE project will demand more then 14 of hours a week to operate once it enters the liaison process with charities and non profit organisations It would be unfortunate to see such a wonderful project fall flat on its feet due to a lack of funding because the volunteer base of YVE has burnt out.

35. Youth Volunteer Expo Funding Continued By this stage, the YVE will have established itself as a non profit organisation and have a bank account, ACN, ABN, shopfront and a website, as well as meeting all other requirements that the government and community demand from any company limited non profit organisation. The YVE is focused on getting funding from both government, and university grants as well as community grants and donations from local business leaders in the Hunter region. We are focused on exporting the expo outside of the Hunter region and will seek funding where ever we can.

36. After the Speech After the speech, we hope that we have fired up some passion inside these young people. In which case, we allow them to go and talk to the various charities and non profit organisations that have been assembled. These organisations will have sign up sheets as well as other paraphernalia in order to keep in contact with the young people.

37. The Show Must Go On Let the show run, execute everything and lets see if we achieve our goals. Most Importantly…. Have Fun.

38. Debriefings Once we have run an expo, it’s time to evaluate the successes and failings of the project. To figure out what can be improved and more importantly to engage all the stakeholders on whether the event was a success. We can not make the assumption that the event was a success or a failure without input from all those involved. All stakeholders will need to be engaged in debriefing, however two main groups will be essential. • Young People • Charity and Non Profit Organisations

39. Deciding the Future of the YVE Now we have run an expo, we must decide on the future of the Youth Volunteer Expo. Considerations must be made whether: • YVE should be given over to governments to run • YVE should be given to another charity or non profit organisation to run • Whether the YVE will grow as an organisation The purpose of this project is to run a successful expo. In the grand scale of things, it doesn’t matter which organisation has full autonomy of the Youth Volunteer Expo. What matters and what is that we find a working model. If the expos are a success, then we can find a way if we can implement these expos outside the hunter region and on a much smaller or grander scale depending on the geographic location.

40. We Welcome Your Participation Youth Volunteer Expo