RSVP Scotland

The RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme) arm of CSV (Community Service Volunteers) exists to encourage the growing number of those aged fifty plus to volunteer in their local area in Scotland. It taps into the wide range of skills and experience of mature people and harnesses them for the benefit of their local communities. The programme is volunteer led and inspired, with local co-ordinators and organisers recruiting teams of volunteers to address local concerns and community needs.

CSV was established in 1962 to involve people in community service and to promote voluntary and community action through eight main programmes nation-wide: CSV Volunteering Partners, CSV Training and Enterprise, CSV Education for Citizenship, CSV Media, CSV's Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP), CSV Environment, CSV Innovations and CSV Consulting.

CSV-RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme)

RSVP began in England in 1988, and has a unique volunteer-led recruitment and management structure. The programme encourages and supports people over 50 who have the time and energy to become involved as volunteers intheir local community. Around 12,000 RSVP volulnteers help in primary schools, hospitals, GP practices, health centre, and other community settings. Volunteers identify local needs, and develop their own projects and partnerships to address those needs. Projects are managed by volunteers and regional co-ordinators and organisers.

RSVP Scotland

RSVP's development in Scotland is underpineed by financial support from the Scottish Government as part of its commitment to the development of volunteering and the wellbeing of older people. The sharp increase of RSVP volunteers in Scotland since 2001 is due to this ongoing grant which has funded a team of development staff based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Lanarkshire and Highland. We recruit from the fastest-growing section of the population - the over fifties, and currently have over 1500 volunteers across Scotland.

RSVP volunteers in Scotland have mainly been involved in four key areas of activity

Schools

Heritage/Environment

Crafts

Health and Social Care

The programme of activities is growing all the time and volunteers are involved in an ever expanding range of activities from Moose in the Hoose to leading health walks.

In 2000, a CSV/RSVP study was carried out for the Scottish Executive to establish a 'snapshot' of volunteering activity and the barriers facing older volunteers, as well as the scope to promote older people volunteering. This led to the Scottish Executive providing funding for a major expansion programme for RSVP, based on the research findings.

The expansion programme, comprising of nine posts, four at CSV's Edinburgh office and four Development Officers in different parts of Scotland, namely Lanark, West Dunbartonshire, Highland and Stirling, has provided the infrastructure to support the recruitment of older volunteers and to generate a wider range of volunteering opportunities.

The Development Officers are concentrating on identifying people who, for various reasons, have been excluded from participating in the life of their community, but who have much to offer.

RSVP has also set up a National Forum on Older Volunteering to share and develop good practice amongst the many agencies using older volunteers in Scotland.

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