1. VSkills volunteering-based learning 25 October 2015

2. what is VSkills about? Volunteering affords many opportunities to acquire new skills; VSkills identifies and captures evidence of learning and skills acquisition through volunteering. Just as work-based learning offers employees the opportunity to learn on the job, so VSkills offers volunteers the opportunity to learn from their volunteering. 25 October 2015

3. how does VSkills work? 25 October 2015

4. a volunteer’s journey 25 October 2015 support from volunteer manager support from peers (other volunteers) use of online learning resource assessment by SQA approved centre achievement of the award Volunteer begins volunteering

5. VSkills for Employability Prototype: VSkills for Employability, funded by the Scottish Government, Lifelong Learning (2009 to 2010). Any volunteering experience offers scope for the volunteer to practise and demonstrate generic employability skills (self management, team working, problem-solving, communication etc). Employability = a good showcase of VSkills potential. 25 October 2015

6. The SQA Employability Award 25 October 2015 Employability Award Mandatory units Preparing for Employment: First Steps Building Own Employability Skills Employability Award Optional units Responsibilities of Employment Dealing with Work Situations

7. VSkills on Learning Community

8. other outcomes for VSkills? The VSkills approach is replicable to any volunteering experience where there is a related occupational award. Examples could include:  a volunteer worker in a charity shop generating evidence for a retail qualification  a volunteer carer generating evidence for a care qualification 25 October 2015

9. moving forward What can we do to enable more volunteers to benefit from VSkills? Support from managers Support from peers Use of online resource Links to SQA Approved Centres 25 October 2015