Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

Consider:

• Training webinars to develop volunteer managers to develop capacity of 'professionalised' volunteers
• Developing specific training courses that include guidance documents and a set number of hours for course completion
• Developing a virtual library of resources to support other voluntary organisations, consider how these will be managed and vetted
• Build resources that complement existing government guidance

This lesson was contributed by a Volunteer coordinator of State in the USA during project data collecion.

In the USA, The Emergency Services research team at NBC Universal developed a Disaster Response Team "Train-At-Home" game. The game is based on Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, though you don't need to be CERT-trained to play. The game is designed to be fun, and for everyone. The game board and cards can be downloaded and printed at home. The aim is to provide tips and reminders to people about disaster response. The cards also hold references to sites where more information can be found.

Disaster management games for younger audiences can also be found here:

https://www.ready.gov/kids/games/data/dm-english/index.html

This lesson was contributed by a Disaster Program Specialist in the USA during project data collection.

For example, instead of doing the usual Easter egg hunt - encourage people to do something more community centric like creating bags for children in need.

Reference: Chief Resilience Officer, USA

Local government should capitalise on new volunteer-to-volunteer relationships, to help provide multi-sectoral delivery of services and to build connections with vulnerable groups that they may have previously struggled to engagement with. For example, foodbanks could partner with organisations to combat wider issues of discrimination.

Reference: Team Rubicon, USA

Local government should capitalise on the digital revolution in volunteering by developing apps, utilising online campaigns, digital marketing and webinars for training sessions. This can help to support recovery and ongoing resilience activities as the public become more connected and engaged with local government and their communities.

Reference: American Red Cross, USA

Local government should provide early implementation of psychosocial support to build mental health provisions that can meet demands later on in recovery. Psychosocial support can be delivered on a self-selection basis, volunteers can be used to process this information.

Reference: State Volunteer Coordinator, USA

Local governments should test volunteers to see if they are infected with COVID-19, and the potential for track and trace, to the risk of resurgence or infection, especially in the vulnerable populations they support. Collecting this information can help to model the transmission of the virus.

Reference: American Red Cross , USA

Local government should capitalise on new volunteer-to-volunteer relationships, to help provide multi-sectoral delivery of services and to build connections with vulnerable groups that they may have previously struggled to engagement with. For example, foodbanks could partner with organisations to combat wider issues of discrimination.

Reference: State Volunteer Coordinator, USA