Organisation Support e-bulletin – May 2026
Welcome to our Monthly e-Bulletin for May – keeping you informed with the latest news, updates and information from Volunteer Glasgow’s Organisation Support team. If you have something relevant to Volunteer Managers that you would like us to include in the next e-Bulletin, please get in touch.
Upcoming Events
Networking Opportunities for Volunteer Managers
Join fellow Volunteer Managers and Coordinators from across Glasgow at our popular networking events.
In-person Networking
Sales will end shortly but there are still spaces available for tomorrow’s in-person event taking place on Tuesday 12th May at Roystonhill Community Hub. If you would like to attend, you can book a space via Eventbrite before 2pm today or email emma.mclean@volunteerglasgow.org to let me know that you plan come along.
The facilitated session will run from 10:30–12:30 and offers a valuable opportunity to connect with others who engage with and support volunteers —both locally and nationally. Share ideas, exchange updates, and discuss common challenges in a supportive, peer-led environment. It’s a great way to stay informed and explore practical solutions with experienced colleagues.
Online Networking
If you’d prefer to attend online, we will be scheduling an event for anybody who engages with or supports volunteers to take place in June – please keep an eye on the Volunteer Glasgow Eventbrite page and social media pages for further details.
Sharing your volunteering opportunities
We have an online networking event for our Referral Agency Partners on Thursday 14th May, and this could provide the ideal platform for your organisation to share and promote your existing volunteering opportunities. Our Referral Agency partners are working with groups and individuals who could benefit from volunteering, and they are always looking for support to help people to access inclusive volunteering opportunities. If you would like to join the session to promote any roles you have available, please email emma.mclean@volunteerglasgow.org ASAP.
Supporting More People to Benefit from Volunteering
We know some of you wear multiple hats and may also be working with individuals who could benefit from volunteering. If so, you may wish to join this online session as it provides a valuable space to connect, share knowledge, and exchange ideas, experiences, and resources.
By working in partnership, we can help ensure that people who often face barriers to volunteering are better supported to access opportunities—and to gain the full benefits volunteering can offer, both for themselves and for the communities they support.
Online Networking & Peer Support Session for Referral Agency partners
Thursday 14 May 2026
11:00 – 12:00 on Microsoft Teams.
You’ll receive a joining link by email in advance—no Teams account is required to take part.
What do we mean by emotional intelligence and how can we practice it in small, visible ways?
We are supporting COPE Scotland in their delivery of this unique workshop during this year’s Volunteers’ Week and would love for you to encourage your volunteers to sign up.
As part of its Glaswegian Way to wellbeing, COPE Scotland will be exploring what we mean by emotional intelligence and awareness and why they can be helpful for our wellbeing. This will include an introduction to a new resource, along with practical ideas on why emotional awareness matters and how we can learn to use our emotions to help us, even when they feel challenging.
All our events are now available to book via our dedicated Eventbrite page.
Attending our events
As a small team, we invest significant time and energy into preparing and delivering our events. Our aim is always to create a valuable space for you to connect with peers from other volunteer-involving organisations and to get the most from engaging with Volunteer Glasgow.
We understand that plans can change, and that last-minute cancellations are sometimes unavoidable. However, we kindly ask that if you are no longer able to attend, you let us know in advance or cancel your place via Eventbrite. This helps us to manage our sessions more effectively and offer spaces to others where possible.
We appreciate your understanding and look forward to welcoming you at future events.
A Smarter Way to Manage Volunteers
“Overall the training was excellent and I liked being able to think through each Dynamic Model stage as part of the training. It supported my knowledge, whilst adding in other areas that I had not considered fully. It created a process for me to work through which was great, resulting in a new approach within my organisation”. (Participant, May 2025)
Volunteer Glasgow’s Smarter Volunteer Manager programme gives you the tools, based on our Dynamic Model of Volunteering, to create meaningful volunteer experiences that benefit your organisation, your volunteers, and the communities they support—key to successful recruitment and retention.
Spaces are still available on our next programme, starting Tuesday 26th May. Can’t make that date? We run programmes throughout the year — check out the dates below to find one that suits you.
2026 Dates:
- May – July 2026: Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00pm
(Session Dates: 26th May, 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd June, 7th July) - July – August 2026: Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00pm
(Session Dates: 15th, 22nd, 29th July & 5th, 12th, 26th August) - September – November 2026: Tuesdays 10:00 am – 1:00pm
(Session Dates: 22nd, 29th September & 6th, 13th, 20th October and 3rd November) - October – November 2026: Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. – 1:00pm
(Session Dates: 14th, 21st, 28th October & 4th, 11th, 25th November)
2027 Dates:
- February-March 2027: Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m.
(Session dates: 10th, 17th, 24th Feb & 3rd, 10th, 24th March)
Please note: a two-week gap is provided before the last session of each programme to prepare for participants’ ‘Present Your Vision’ session.
You can find out more and book your space now via our dedicated SVM webpage here.
Latest Service Developments
We’re preparing people better = better outcomes for you
Our Volunteering Information Sessions are now underway, at Skills Development Scotland in George Square. We had a good ‘soft start’ last week, supporting people to feel more prepared and confident before moving into volunteering.
📣 If your organisation involves volunteers, here’s how this can support you:
We help people to:
💬 Understand what volunteering involves
💚 Build confidence and motivation
🔎 Identify roles that suit their interests
🤝 Feel ready to take the next step
Session details:
📅 Wednesdays at 11am
📍 Skills Development Scotland, Monteith House, 11 George Square G2 1DY (next to Greggs)
⌛ 1 hour
👫 People can attend with a support worker, friend or family member—and come along as often as they need.
📌 No sessions on 27th May, 3rd June or 26th August
➡️ Drop-in support will still be available on those dates.
You are also welcome to signpost individuals who you are supporting along to our sessions.
You can read more about this new service by clicking this link to our dedicated blog post.
Involving Refugees & Asylum Seekers
The next Volunteering Information Afternoon at Scottish Refugee Council will take place on Friday 29th May, 2:00–4:00pm.
This session is designed for refugees and people in the asylum process who are interested in exploring volunteering opportunities, and for Volunteer-involving organisations who like to meet with them and present their opportunities in a sociable setting.
📍 Location
Scottish Refugee Council Office
17 Renfield Street
Glasgow, G2 5AH
If you are a volunteer-involving organisation interested in engaging refugees in your volunteering programme and would like to attend, and you are available to come along,
Click here to download the event poster.
Action Earth 2026 Grants are now available!
Volunteering Matters Action Earth has small grants of up to £250 for volunteer groups across Scotland in urban areas or near population centres who are boosting biodiversity through planting and habitat builds.
This could include creating or improving community gardens, shared greenspaces, wildflower meadows, local ponds, community woodlands and other wildlife homes.
They are keen to receive applications from any group and will prioritise applications from volunteer groups of 20 or more who:
- Work in areas where there is substantial social and/or economic deprivation
- Improve and develop the health and wellbeing of their local community
- Involve people with disabilities or defined health issues and those at risk of exclusion
- Make major environmental impacts and/or involve mass participation.
For full details, links to useful resources and to make an application please visit: https://volunteeringmatters.org.uk/project/action-earth/
You can see examples of recent projects on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/volunteeringmattersactionearth/
If you have any queries at any stage, please contact: robert.henderson@volunteeringmatters.org.uk.
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions about the Organisation Support offered at Volunteer Glasgow, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at emma.mclean@volunteerglasgow.org.
