HEACF: case studies of good practice

Communications

Communicating with both the internal world (university departments, students' union, careers service, staff and students) and the external world (local media, the public at large, potential volunteering partners) is of vital importance to the HEACF. Firstly, without clear and accessible information available to all potential volunteers, there would be no volunteers. This is heightened by the inclusion of staff as a target group of the HEACF.

Alongside this is the need for volunteering on an internal basis to be accepted and understood by a number of parties:

• personal tutors: their acceptance and understanding of tutees participating in volunteering activities gives students more encouragement to get involved. The skills the students will subsequently gain from these activities will also give personal tutors more information on which they can base reports and references for their tutees
• departmental heads: acceptance and understanding on the part of departmental heads will support the work of personal tutors in encouraging participation in volunteering
• potential partners: it is particularly beneficial to the HEACF if departments of the university which offer external voluntary opportunities are aware of the work of the HEACF team. This enables a coherent approach, both to promoting the opportunities to students and to building the relationship with the local community
• communications and public affairs unit: it may be difficult for the HEACF team to develop relations with this unit, given the 'newness' of the HEACF and the need to build credibility in order for attention to be drawn to their work.

Internal communication in this sense plays a lobbying role within the HEI.

Secondly, and building on the last point, one of the key objectives of the HEACF is to improve the relationship between HEIs and their local communities. While the instigation of a number of valuable or far-reaching community-based projects is admirable, it is unlikely on its own to improve relationships on a scale great enough to constitute the amelioration of the university/community relationship. Communication plays a vital role in reinforcing the positive messages to be drawn from the university's involvement in the local community.

This section explores the different mechanisms for communicating, in the first instance, with students and staff in order to recruit volunteers or raise awareness in local communities, as well as to continue the communication of key messages to all stakeholders during the lifetime of the volunteering programmes.

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