31/01/12
The Wallich - Investing in Volunteers
The Wallich is delighted to announce that after months of hard work, and a rigorous assessment process, we have achieved Investing in Volunteers status.

Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK quality standard of good practice in volunteer management. We add this to our growing portfolio of professional achievements including Investors in People status.

Jan Balsdon, Involvement and Volunteer Lead Officer for The Wallich, says:

“As an organisation we are aware of the immense added value that volunteers bring and currently have 100 volunteers, delivering over 800 hours a month of added value support to the charity. We are immensely proud of our volunteers and grateful for their time, skills, passion and commitment. Some of our work simply would not be possible without our volunteers and we hope this award will ensure a benchmark against which we can measure our performance and offer consistently excellent support to them.”

We were also very pleased to announce that in their final report, the Investing in Volunteers panel made absolutely no recommendation for improvement to our current systems and processes.

We received some very positive feedback from IiV about our volunteering practices. They said:

“The Wallich imparts a holistic approach to the importance of volunteers throughout the whole organisation, all further enhanced by close and mutually supportive working practices. During assessment, it became apparent that volunteers are treated with the same respect as staff and that the benefits of involving volunteers in their work is of paramount importance to all members of the organisation. “

Some of our dedicated Volunteers were also interviewed by the panel and gave perhaps the most important and heartfelt recommendation of volunteering at The Wallich:

“I have been a volunteer with The Wallich since 2006 and I love my time here. Everyone cares for each other, I feel totally supported and our aim is to always get the best results for our clients. I would rather be at The Wallich than home…that’s how much I love it!”

“I have been a volunteer with The Wallich for eleven years, helping with the breakfast run. Everyone has been amazing and I wouldn’t leave for any reason….think I am here forever.”

This outstanding achievement is evidence of the good practice throughout The Wallich and in particular, that volunteers are given appropriate and meaningful roles, recruited fairly, trained, supported and included in all aspects of the team and organisational activities. As an organisation, we feel that this quality standard is evidence of our commitment to volunteers as well as recognition of the services that our volunteers deliver across Wales.

22/09/11
ABERYSTWYTH BIG SLEEP OUT
To mark World Homeless Day, which is held annually on 10th October, The Wallich in Aberystwyth will stage a sponsored sleep out on 6th October to raise funds for and awareness of street homelessness in their area.

The Wallich has more than 30 years’ experience of helping the most excluded and marginalised people in society; those with no home, experiencing extreme poverty and suffering poor health. It has successfully housed many who have been street homeless, helped those with severe social problems and supported many people in rebuilding their lives after experiencing homelessness

So far, 30 people have signed up to take part and sleep outside, in the town centre behind Matalan, from 8pm until 8am, with nothing to protect them from the elements apart from sheets of cardboard and sleeping bags.

Rough sleeping is usually the result of a series of very traumatic life crises which eat away at a person's self-confidence and self-esteem: the core values that stabilise a person’s life. It is not a choice, nor a way of life that anyone aspires to. Time spent without a roof over your head is frightening and dangerous and can be one of the most damaging experiences a person can go through. The event is designed to remove participants’ home comforts and give them a greater understanding of the reality of sleeping rough in Wales today.

It will be a very humbling experience for those involved who will gain first hand, the cold, frightening and isolating feelings that rough sleepers experience every night on the streets of our towns and cities.

To donate, please click on the 'Virgin Money' logo in the top right of this page, and put 'Aberystwyth Sleep Out' in the message box.

If you or your organisation would like to come along or get involved in any other way please contact Aberystwyth Team Leader Heather Morgan on 07967 581750.



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Editor’s Notes

For more information contact: Amy Lee
PR & Events Officer, The Wallich
amy.lee@thewallich.net
02920 668 464
07974 251 227

The Wallich (formerly the Wallich Clifford Community) is a vital charity providing support to homeless and vulnerable housed people. It works together with clients, other agencies and government to deliver innovative solutions to homelessness that offer much more than just shelter. The services the Wallich offers are as diverse as the people it works with; humanitarian aid for rough sleepers, direct access hostels, longer term accommodation, training, education, job coaching, mediation and support in maintaining tenancies.

To find out more visit www.thewallich.com

21/7/2011
Third Sector excellence Awards 2011 – We’re on the Shortlist!
The Wallich is delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted in the Third Sector Excellence Awards 2011 for our Annual Report 2009/2010.

The Third sector Excellence Awards are now in their seventh year and their purpose is:

“To recognise and celebrate the work of the sector; to showcase the talent, innovation and success of not-for-profit organisations.”

There are 24 awards, covering the whole range of third sector activities from finance, fundraising and communications to management, governance and projects. We have been shortlisted in the ‘Annual Report’ category.

The Wallich did something quite risky, but also totally different and original with our Annual Report this year. We receive dozens of annual reports from partner agencies and wanted to create something that stood out.

The work we do is about people, and we wanted the report to reflect this by telling the story of the people we support. The current mainstream popularity of graphic novels and comic books led us to decide to tell a story in this format. We felt it would be readable, relatable and eye catching.

The report is presented as a graphic novel, beginning on the cover with the story of Adam, a fictional rough sleeper. The first 12 pages are devoted to his story and The Wallich’s involvement, punctuated by facts and statistics about homelessness and associated issues, which tie in to the story. View it here.

We had a very low budget to complete the project, and wanted to make use of our existing resources. Our award winning in-house graphic design and print service, Ikon Creative, not only designs and prints our own publications and website, but also provides this service to other charities and businesses to bring a profit back into the organisation.

Ikon Creative designed and printed the Annual Report, which kept costs to a minimum and it was written in-house by our PR Co-ordinator.

We promoted the report via social networking sites such as Twitter, which created quite a buzz, and put the entire report on our website via the free online ‘Issuu’ service. So far, over 13,500 people have viewed our report online.

We believe our Annual Report is unique and exciting. It tells the reader a lot about our charity, and about the issues facing homeless people, but in a new and original way.

The team who wrote and designed the report will be travelling to London in September to attend the awards ceremony and find out whether The Wallich will win.

Check back soon for an update.