• Recruitment of events manager will boost activity for training and development of volunteer managers
• Growth in AVM activity will support growing demand for support and development of volunteer manager professionalisation

The Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) has recruited its first full-time employee as an events manager. Abigail Cooper joins from Informa PLC Pharmaceutical Training International where she has extensive experience of working in the commercial events sector. She has started in her role this month.

AVM is planning to grow its range of events, seminars and conferences to meet the growing demand from the sector for professionalisation of volunteer management. 

At the same time AVM will be reviewing its membership model to include organisations, not solely individuals, in order to create a sustainable platform for growth.

Rachael Bayley from AVM said:

"We have been working on our plans for over a year. Abigail Cooper will be a huge asset to our work, and allow us to do more events, in more places, on more topics. We know there is the demand for the growth in volunteer management and leadership expertise from both large and small organisations and we aim to fill the gap in the market and support volunteer managers. We believe with a greater programme of events, we can grow our income, increase our impact, and support the appetite for training and CPD from the volunteering development sector. We think it's a win-win for AVM."

Fiona Wallace from nfpSynergy who also sits on the AVM board said:
 

"We know how difficult and how risky it is for small organisations to take on hiring their first employee. We want to make that easier for AVM. So we have offered them free office space and administrative support. We will be doing their monthly payroll and we have underwritten the costs of hiring somebody for the first year. We will also be offering support in event organisation, through our own staff volunteer scheme. Having already given substantial support to CharityComms over the last decade we are really excited to now support AVM."

 

Media Comment:  For further comment from nfpSynergy’s Joe Saxton, please contact him directly on 07976 329212 or joe.saxton@nfpsynergy.net. If you cannot contact Joe, please contact Anna Chistyakova (02074 268 868; E: anna.chistyakova@nfpsynergy.net) for further assistance.

For further comment from AVM, please contact Ruth Leonard on 07473439184 or RLeonard@macmillan.org.uk

 

Note to editors:  The Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) (www.volunteermanagers.org.uk)  is an independent membership body that aims to support, represent and champion people in volunteer management and leadership in the UK, regardless of field, discipline or sector. It has been set up by and for people who manage volunteers.

AVM aims to:

• facilitate and support effective peer-to-peer networking of those involved in volunteer management locally, regionally and nationally
• campaign and speak out on issues that are key to people who manage volunteers
• develop information and good practice resources on volunteer management

 

nfpSynergy (www.nfpsynergy.net) is a research consultancy dedicated to the not-for-profit sector. They aim to provide the ideas, the insights and the information to help non-profits thrive. They provide a unique insight into the social and charity-related views of everyone from public and parliament to media and business, not to mention not-for-profit organisations themselves. nfpSynergy has a vast and ever-growing knowledge pool and shares this with the non-profit sector, through both paid work and regular free reports and seminars.