Regulated Roles: Current ‘Regulated Work’ will become ‘Regulated Roles.’ If you’re in a Regulated Role, you legally need to become a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme.
New Responsibilities: Both the organisation and the individual are now responsible for ensuring PVG membership if in a Regulated Role. This means if your organisation mistakenly says you don’t need a PVG when you actually do, both parties could face legal consequences.
New Roles Added: Some roles that weren’t previously covered by the PVG scheme, like football agents, talent scouts, and certain hospice positions, now require it.
What You Need To Do:
Check if You’re Doing or Providing a Regulated Role: Identify if your role or your staff/ volunteers’ roles are classed as Regulated Roles.
Get PVG Membership if Required: If your role qualifies, make sure you join the PVG scheme before April 1 2025.
Stay Updated: Check out Disclosure Scotland’s website at www.disclosure.gov.scot for full details of the upcoming changes.
If you are unsure about the changes or have any questions, contact Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services (VSDS):
Our community garden at Dalkeith Country Park had a very welcome visit from the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Division. The team arrived as part of a corporate volunteering day, just in time to help us repair our leaky pond!
They worked together to empty the pond and reline it, even rescuing three frogs and some tadpoles along the way.
On top of restoring the pond, the volunteers took on the task of painting our boundary fence. Despite the hot weather, they worked tirelessly and made a huge difference in a single day.
We are incredibly grateful to the team for their time and effort. Without their support we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish such a big job so efficiently!
Thank you for helping us create a beautiful space for both our community and local wildlife.
On Thursday 6 June, volunteers across Midlothian arrived at Newbattle Abbey College for our annual Midlothian Volunteer Awards. The night was a blast and we want to thank everyone who attended. It is a joy to celebrate the hardworking volunteers in Midlothian each year. We hope you all had as much fun as we did!
Photographs
Thank you to our wonderful photographer, Kris Soul Photography, for capturing the evening.
Click the button below to see photos from the awards ceremony:
In 2024, our mascot campaign is a little different. Each year we usually have a student placement who works with us to organise a competition and campaign with a brand new mascot. This year, we didn’t have a student placement but we couldn’t bear to have Volunteers’ Week without a mascot! We brought back mascots from previous years; Bramble the Bear, Pretzel the Panda, and Ringo the Rhino to keep the tradition going. Take a look at our campaign video down below.
We hope these mascots will find someone to look after them next year!
A BIG thank you to our generous sponsors:
EDF Energy
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Well Done You Ltd
Esk Valley Rotary Club
Midlothian Council
Newbattle Abbey College
Scottish Fire & Rescue Service
Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership
We can’t wait to see you all again for next year’s ceremony!
NOMINATIONS CLOSE NEXT WEEK for the 2024 Midlothian Volunteer Awards! 🎉
The Midlothian Volunteer Awards take place each year, and are all about celebrating the amazing efforts of volunteers in Midlothian. This celebration is a part of Volunteers’ Week, where we appreciate people’s kindness across the whole of Scotland. It is a great opportunity to promote some of the fabulous volunteering projects that exist in Midlothian.
Please ensure you read the FAQs here before you submit.
A big thank you to Boogie & Arlene from Forth One for helping us get the message out!
The Midlothian Volunteer Awards take place each year, and are all about celebrating the amazing efforts of volunteers in Midlothian. This celebration is a part of a national initiative, where we appreciate people’s kindness across the whole of Scotland. It is a great opportunity to promote some of the fabulous volunteering projects that exist in Midlothian.
Please ensure you read the FAQs here before you submit.
Nominations will close on March 22nd, so submit them soon.
Volunteer Midlothian is thrilled to announce the return of their Volunteer Recruitment Fair! Following the success of last year’s event, 2024’s fair promises to be even more engaging and impactful. The event will take place on Thursday 29 February, from 10am to 2:30pm, at the St John’s and Kings Park Church in Dalkeith. It guarantees to be an unmissable opportunity for aspiring volunteers.
It’s not too late to make volunteering your New Year resolution
As this leap year grants us an extra day, Volunteer Midlothian urges everyone to harness this extra time to leap into action and consider the benefits of volunteering.
Personal Growth: Engaging in volunteering encourages you to step out of your comfort zone, fostering personal development, and have fun in the process!
Community Connection: Volunteering brings people together, nurturing a sense of belonging and unity within communities. It can help you create strong bonds and make friends from all walks of life. It is a great way to gain confidence and social skills by meeting new people.
Mental and Physical Well-being: Research consistently shows that volunteering can positively impact mental health by reducing stress and enhancing overall well-being. It also encourages an active lifestyle, benefiting your physical health too!
Professional Development: Volunteering is a prime source for gaining hands-on experience, honing existing skills, and broadening your professional network. It can significantly boost your CV or applications to further education.
Making a Meaningful Impact: The opportunity to contribute to causes you care about is one of the most compelling reasons to volunteer. It’s a chance to effect positive change and feel good about how you spend your time.
What opportunities are there?
Whether it’s mentoring, environmental work, or community outreach, there’s a place for everyone to make an impact. At the Volunteer Recruitment Fair, there will be a variety of organisations with information stalls displaying a range of volunteering opportunities.
Some participating organisations include Equal Futures, Forth Rivers Trust, VoiceAbility, NHS, Girlguiding Midlothian, and many more!
Join Us!
Whether you’re a seasoned volunteer looking for your next venture or an aspiring volunteer with no clue where to start, mark your calendar for Thursday 29 February, from 10am to 2:30pm. Spend your extra day of this leap year making positive change!
Take the leap, make a change, and kick start your volunteer journey this year.
The awards take place every year during Volunteers’ Week and are a great opportunity to promote some of the fabulous volunteering projects that exist in Midlothian.
Video created by Ellis Paterson.
Thank you to our wonderful photographer, Kris Soul Photography, for capturing the evening.
Programme
You can see the winners and nominations from the night in our awards programme:
Mascot Campaign
Our student placement, Julianne, organised our Volunteer’s Week mascot competition this year. She produced this great video that shows our mascot on his journey to the Midlothian Volunteer Awards 2023.
For the competition, we took name suggestions for our mascot from local schools and the winner was chosen by vote at the awards ceremony. The winner was the name ‘Ringo’, suggested by a child at Woodburn After School Club, who received £100, their own cuddly toy rhino and a winner’s certificate.
This year’s theme for Volunteer’s Week is to Celebrate and Inspire, so with that in mind we visited Penicuik to interview one of Midlothian’s most dedicated volunteers. With over seventy years of experience under his belt, BURNS SCOTT is a source of inspiration to current and future volunteers in Midlothian and beyond. Here we share the highlights of his story as told to Julianne, our student on placement from Napier University. We hope that Burns’ achievements will encourage others to volunteer in their own communities too.
Burns Scott’s volunteering journey began after World War II, when he initially volunteered for the Royal Navy in 1946. During his time in the navy, he realised that his desire to volunteer had grown into a long-term commitment. Burns expressed to Julianne that his motivation to continue volunteering stemmed from a desire to give back to his community. This motivation drove him to take on various voluntary roles throughout his working life, and even into his retirement.
A varied, rich and rewarding volunteer journey
Over the years Burns came to recognise that volunteering was ultimately worth it, despite the time it took being involved in so many different voluntary roles. He has accumulated an impressive number of awards in recognition of the difference he has made. When asked about his most memorable experience, he told us how enjoyable his involvement in the annual Penicuik Hill Race had been. The event brought people together from all over Midlothian and beyond, using sport to foster community spirit and promote health and well-being.
The hill race also helped to raise the profile of the Penicuik area, boosting the local economy, and bringing more people into the county too. On one occasion, at the culmination of the event, Burns received a crystal bowl from all the athletes and marshals that had taken part. When his time on the Penicuik Gala Committee came to an end, he was presented with a card that had been handwritten and signed by all the competitors that year. Burns told us that he was extremely touched by the gesture and that it was one of his proudest moments, because people had publicly recognised the contribution he had made.
Connecting with others
Burns showing Julianne his signed card from all the hill racers.
Volunteering encourages us to meet and connect with people from all sorts of backgrounds, and to make new friends. When asked who had made the most significant impact on his volunteering journey, Burns Scott mentioned Charlie Gordon. They were on the Penicuik Gala Committee together and according to his wife Helen, Burns and Charlie ‘would read each other’s minds’. Charlie was somebody that Burns felt he could look up to. Because of their mutual interest in giving back to their community, they inspired each other to continue volunteering. Often, it is the positive energy occurring between groups of volunteers that can lead to the biggest and most impactful gains.
Keeping up the good work
When asked what advice he would give to someone considering volunteering, Burns was quick to answer. ‘Put your heart and soul into it and give 100% of your effort.’ Burns and Helen emphasised that it is important for people to do something they like and not to give up, despite the challenges that can occur. Burns also observed that once people are volunteering and get stuck into a project, the ‘vibe’ rubs off on them. They become more motivated because other people around them feel the same. This in turn can result in a group of volunteers working hard together make positive changes happen for each other, and for others in their community as well.
Every volunteer in Midlothian deserves to be recognised for the effort they’ve made to give something back. In the run up to Volunteers’ Week 2023 and the Midlothian Volunteer Awards ceremony on the evening of June 1st, we hope that Burns Scott inspires new and future volunteers as much as he has inspired us at Volunteer Midlothian.
Our Napier university student Julianne visited Mauricewood Primary School last week with Volunteer Midlothian’s Volunteering Development Worker, Magda, to tell pupils about Volunteers’ Week 2023. The pair delivered a special presentation, with all of the children at Mauricewood listening carefully to what was said and asking lots of very thoughtful questions.
Julianne doing the presentation at Mauricewood primary.
Julianne and Magda took time during their visit to share positive messages with the children about the importance of volunteering. They also introduced our rhino mascot to the pupils, with a short imaginary story about why the mascot has no name and why its mission is to help us celebrate volunteers who make a difference in Midlothian.
The pupils were encouraged to consider what volunteers do within their communities and the benefits that this can bring. Julianne went on to explain the rules for our ongoing ‘Name the Mascot’ competition, which runs from 15th May – 1st June 2023. Children living in Midlothian are allowed to name the rhino, then on the 1st of June the winning entry will be chosen by guests at our annual Midlothian Volunteer Awards ceremony. The winning child will receive a certificate, a rhino toy of their own, and £100 for their school or after school club to spend on new resources.
The pupils of Mauricewood Primary School came up with some great ideas for the rhino during our visit. Names such as ‘Noah’, ‘Hamish’ and ‘Isla’ were among the many suggestions made. We are looking forward to finding out what other entries will be submitted by pupils from other schools and afterschool clubs in Midlothian.
Good luck Mauricewood, as well as all the other schools and children taking part!
The awards take place every year during Volunteers’ Week and are a great opportunity to promote some of the fabulous volunteering projects that exist in Midlothian.
[robo-gallery id=4481]
Winners & Nominees
The winners of the Midlothian Volunteer Awards 2022 are as follows:
Outstanding New Volunteer: Margaret McMekin from Transform Volunteering.
Befriender/Mentor of the Year: Alan Paterson from Thornton Rose Riding for the Disabled.
Active Volunteeringand Climate Change: The Amazing Brains Committee, Art Club.
Service to the Community: Juliette Paris from Rosewell Community Council.
Health and Wellbeing Award: Margaret Canning from Hearing Link Scotland.
Dedicated Service: John McVeigh from Health-in-Mind.
Equality & Diversity: Joanna Haba from Home Link Family Support.
Saltire Summit Award: Sam Ewens, Lucy White, Andrew Hogg, Caitlin Chambers, Kari Calder, Jaylynn King.
Volunteer of the Year: Karyn Mcgrath.
Volunteering Team of the Year: Ageing Well Volunteer Team.
It’s been a month since the 2021 Midlothian Volunteer Awards ceremony took place online, and we are pleased to say that we have now managed to get the trophies and certificates into the hands of all our wonderful award winners and nominees. Here are a few pics of the trophies being handed over. It was a pleasure to work with everyone involved in the awards and to meet the winners in person. We look forward to doing it all again in years to come.
Well done and thanks again everyone – winners AND nominees!
Members of Art Club’s ‘Amazing Brains Committee’ receiving their Covid-19 Community Award.
Ellie and Holly from the Midlothian Breastfeeding Alliance accepting the MBA’s award for voluntary work related to Health and Wellbeing.
Gina from the Penicuik Ambassadors, who won the ‘Volunteer Team of the Year’ award. Gina was able to come to the Glencorse Centre with her daughter to collect the award at the same time as the MBA.
Ricky Lloyd from Dalkeith Rugby Club accepting his award for Active Volunteering. Chris Boyle also jointly won this award for his hard work alongside Ricky.
We wonder who got to take the award home!
A member of the team from Food Facts Friends receiving the organisation’s certificate of nomination for the Covid-19 Community Award. Heather Mortimore from Food Facts Friends won the ‘Outstanding New Volunteer Award’.
We delivered the certificate and trophy on the same day that some of the other trophies were handed over in the Penicuik area. Unfortunately, Heather wasn’t there at the time of drop off, but we hope she liked it when she got it!
Samantha Gough, winner of the Saltire Summit Award for her dedicated volunteering with the children and families charity, Bright Sparks.
We think Bramble the teddy looks very happy snuggling up with Samantha.
Joseph Burke, Midlothian’s ‘Volunteer of the Year’ 2021. Joseph won this award in recognition of the outstanding volunteer work he has done over the past 18 months on behalf of local mental health charity Health in Mind.
The awards take place every year during Volunteers’ Week and are a great opportunity to promote some of the fabulous volunteering projects that exist in Midlothian.
In 2021, we did things a little differently. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the award ceremony was held online. There was also a new category introduced to acknowledge the amazing community-led volunteering efforts that occurred in response to the pandemic.
The ceremony was very different to the one we’re used to at Newbattle Abbey College, nonetheless we were joined by around 150 people to share the appreciation and admiration for Midlothian’s volunteers. We even got a mention in UK Parliament!
2021 Volunteering Team of the Year, Penicuik Ambassadors.
Winners
The winners of the Midlothian Volunteer Awards 2021 are as follows:
Outstanding New Volunteer: Heather Mortimore from Food Facts Friends.
Befriender/Mentor of the Year: The Connect Project Volunteers from Volunteer Midlothian.
Active Volunteering: Chris Boyle and Ricky Lloyd of Dalkeith Rugby Football Club.
Health and Wellbeing Award: The Midlothian Breastfeeding Alliance.
Dedicated Service: Colette Pye from Mayfield and District Breastfeeding Support Group.
Covid-19 Community Award: The Amazing Brains Committee at Art Club.
Volunteer Manager of the Year: Naomi Knights from the Connect Project at Volunteer Midlothian.
Saltire Summit Award: Kyle Anderson, Eva Hesketh-Laird, Louise Gillespie, Melissa Reidie, Samantha Gough.
Volunteer of the Year: Joseph Burke of Health in Mind.
Volunteering Team of the Year: Penicuik Ambassadors.
Photographs
Mascot Campaign
In 2021, as part of our mascot campaign, we ran a ‘Name the Bear’ competition for primary schools in Midlothian.
The bear travelled around Midlothian, visiting different beauty spots and places of interest, posting photo updates on our social media using the hashtag #wheresthebear
At the end of its journey on June 3rd, the bear received its new name, Bramble, as voted for by participants at the Midlothian Volunteer Awards ceremony. The name was based on entries from local primary school children, with the winning entry receiving £100 for the school.
