Social Franchise

Our social franchise model, Giving Time, delivers Volunteer Centre services within the prison establishment and the wider community, by providing service users with access to volunteering placements, and through the gate support.

 

The service offers opportunities, advice, support and training for individuals who are considering volunteering once they are released from the prison environment and for those at risk of offending within the community.

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Giving Time is currently offering the opportunity for replication in other areas via a social franchising model.

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The Giving Time franchise provides a strong delivery framework for the brokerage and placing of people with criminal convictions in volunteering. They provide a delivery method that is safe and supportive of both service users and the charities they volunteer in. The method has been rigorously evaluated to prove its effectiveness in reducing social exclusion and reducing reoffending rates.

 

Why volunteering as a means of desistance?

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Many people with criminal convictions experience extreme social exclusion upon their release. Finding employment can be challenging and positively reintegrating into society is difficult. Volunteering provides the opportunity for people to build confidence and self esteem. To meet people who provide pro-social modelling and to build skills to gain employment. The Giving Time model has been developed based on three key underpinning theories including Pro-Social Modelling, Desistance theory and The Good Lives Model.

 

Who can adopt the model?

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Giving Time perfectly complements the services that are delivered by Volunteer Centre’s and also the inclusion of volunteers within the criminal justice system.

 

Evidence of impact

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Giving Time has a successful track record of placing people with a variety of criminal convictions, in a range of volunteering opportunities, and supporting them within their roles. Read more about the recent evaluation of project outcomes here.

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Social Franchise model

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The Social Franchise model is a licensing agreement allowing the Giving Time project to be implemented in other regions.

We can offer varying packages depending on the need of your organisation and your budget.

 

Giving Time Toolkit

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Our Giving Time Toolkit is available free of charge to all volunteer centres or volunteer managers. The Toolkit offers a useful guide to implementing the Giving Time project, including points for consideration when recruiting volunteers with criminal convictions. Some risk assessment forms are included, along with criminal record declaration forms.

 

Delivery Guide

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A comprehensive Delivery Guide is also available which provides your organisation with all the methods and tools to establish Giving Time in your region. The delivery models outlined have proven to be the most effective approach when delivering the service in West Yorkshire, however these can easily be adapted if necessary to suit the needs in your region.

All relevant forms and templates are provided including; registration forms and checklists, supervision records, risk assessment forms, volunteer agreement forms, lesson plans for serving prisoners, impact measurement forms, plus many more.

The Delivery Guide and forms/templates allow you to easily duplicate the model in your region, using a tried and tested model and ensuring all relevant risk guidelines are followed in full. It provides a cost effective method of recruiting volunteers with criminal convictions.

 

Bespoke packages

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In addition to the Delivery Guide we can also offer a bespoke package of training and additional support for your organisation. This could include a full training upskill course and coaching support, depending on your need, as well as on hand consultancy from our expert team.

The team are also available to support with evaluation and quality assessment.

We can also offer communications and marketing support, including digital badges, branding and social media support.

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To discuss further or to see how we can help, please call us on 0113 2977 920 for an informal chat, it's completely free with no obligation or email Andrina.Dawson@val.org.uk.