We hope that you all had a great Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June 2022). We certainly enjoyed celebrating Volunteering and taking the opportunity to say thank you for all that you do for the organisation and all our service users.
GDPR training is important and relevant if you’re in a role that has access to personal data. Having access to personal data could mean using online systems such as the Portal or an MS Society email account. But it also includes simpler, paper-based, activities such as recording attendees’ names, addresses and phone numbers at the start of an event.
When the pandemic first hit and we found ourselves in a quickly-changing environment, we needed a way to keep in touch and have a space where our volunteers could voice their concerns and ask questions. As a result, Volunteer Voice was introduced.
These monthly Zoom sessions have been a great way to come together, to hear organisational updates from our Chief Executive Officer, Nick, and other members of staff, and to hear from each other.
People with MS and their loved ones are experts in their condition. We call them ‘Experts by Experience’, and we work with them to find solutions to the challenges people living with MS face.
It’s only by involving our community in the planning, development and delivery of services that we can be sure the end result will meet their needs. When people living with MS are fully involved in every stage of a project, we call this co-production.
We’ve been made aware that GoodBox, our supplier of devices for contactless donations, is in financial difficulty. It’s hard to predict what the outcome of this might be. They may be able to resolve their issues. Or perhaps their future lies in being absorbed into a larger organisation. The worst-case scenario would be that they go into administration and cease to trade. We can only wait to see how the situation plays out and what it means for us.
The results of this survey (run every three years) help us start conversations with national and local decision makers about the things that matter to people with MS. Please spread the word and share the link through your networks. The resources below should help with this:
Printable A4 poster and A5 postcard
These can be displayed at events, They include language help and scannable QR codes for the surveys. You can find these here.
In an email on 24 March we shared a reminder of how Gift Aid works for our groups. Unfortunately, this contained inaccurate information about what groups should do with cheque donations where there is also a completed Gift Aid declaration. In these cases, the Donation Processing Team are not able to accept cheques (made payable to a local group) and then process Gift Aid claims on the group’s behalf. This is due to issues involved in the administration of this.
We’re continuing to grapple with a number of resource and system issues in relation to providing finance support to our groups. We’re sorry for this, and are working as quickly as we can to find solutions and recruit into vacant roles. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and frustration this will be causing some volunteers.
On Wednesday 8 June, we launched a new joint campaign with the Neurological Alliance - ‘Back the 1 in 6’.
1 in 6 people in the UK live with a neurological condition but there simply isn’t the workforce or services in place to provide the support they need. From delays to life changing treatment and care, to a lack of mental wellbeing support and inconsistent access to information - we know this is something that affects too many people with MS.
