Due to the cyclical nature of program planning, there are more opportunities to preemptively prioritize the accessibility, inclusivity, and adaptive nature of programs. Additionally, as the Town of Tillsonburg continues to grow and welcome diverse communities, all community members of racial, ethnic backgrounds, and faiths should be acknowledged and made to feel welcome in/at programs and events. The Town can do this by, for example, trying to ensure that advertising and communications reaches these groups, advertising features a diversity of people that, Town recreation staff reflects the diversity of the community, and through staff training.
reciprocal relationship between prospective volunteer bases and organizations to build a culture of volunteerism. Volunteer management strategies can be used as tools to help formalize volunteer engagement practices that may be traditionally more informal. As described by the Citizen Information Board (based in the United Kingdom) 2 , sustainable and successful volunteer management strategies also require the organization (including municipalities) to reflect on key questions that inform and influence the volunteer’s experience.
For example, questions can include:
Volunteer Management: Recruitment, Retention & Recognition
2 Managing Volunteers: A Good Practice Guide. Citizen Information Board, 2008. p. 19 https:// www.citizensinformationboard.ie/downloads/ training/Managing_Volunteers_08.pdf 3 https://www.citizensinformationboard.ie/downloads/ training/Managing_Volunteers_08.pdf p. 19 • “Why [do] you have volunteers? • What is their role? • What limits, if any, are there to the range of activities volunteers get involved in? • What can you offer volunteers?” 3 Reflecting on these key components will also support a more strategic approach to recruiting and retaining volunteers. Attracting volunteers requires organizations to consider how they are perceived by the public and how the organization can highlight the positive aspects of
The public consultation process highlighted the strong culture of volunteerism in Tillsonburg, which is valued throughout the community. Although some groups reported having great success enlisting volunteers, others have reported having difficulty engaging volunteers. Encouraging and maintaining this culture should be a priority within the community, as similar trends are not reflected in other cities across Canada. In fact, many communities have experienced a decline in volunteerism, especially since the impact of COVID-19. Although the causes of this decline are multifaceted, developing strategic approaches to combat this decline is beneficial for organizations of any size and scale. Volunteer management strategies can help to support a more
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Town of Tillsonburg | DRAFT Parks and Recreation Master Plan
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