Imagination to Impact – Creative Problem-Solving in the Coventry and Warwickshire Voluntary Sector
Imagination to Impact Project Overview
Voluntary organizations provide essential support to communities where the public and private sectors may lack incentives or resources to. Although they often have to find creative ways to aid their communities, little is known about creativity in this context.
Our project utilizes data from 35 interviews with local volunteers and voluntary sector leaders to uncover the barriers and facilitators of creativity in volunteering to produce evidence-based support for volunteers. We will deliver that in several project outputs - A short report of study findings, an award for local volunteers who have demonstrated creativity, a workshop, and a training video. More details are included below.
Highlights from the Creativity in Volunteering Workshop, 25 June 2024
Feedback from our Community Collaborators
"Voluntary and community organisations have a history of finding flexible and innovative solutions, managing against a backdrop of limited resources and capacity. Many are challenged with trying to do more with less and often turn to volunteering to plug gaps in stretched service provision. The Creativity in Volunteering project provided a fantastic opportunity for volunteer involving organisations to come together and explore creative problem solving. The workshop was delivered in an engaging and interactive way, leaving time for delegates to reflect on their own experiences and to practice using a range of problem-solving approaches and tools."
Sue Ogle, Chief Executive of Voluntary Action Coventry
"The Imagination to Impact project has enabled voluntary and community organisations in Warwickshire to be involved in a piece of University research which is directly relevant to them. It has also been an excellent opportunity to showcase volunteering. There is a wealth of research on the benefits of volunteering on wellbeing and data exists on the impact that volunteers make to organisations and communities. However, there has been very little in the way of a spotlight on innovation and creativity within volunteering. We welcome the findings which will continue to show the transformative impact of volunteers and volunteering."
Jane Holdsworth, Area Manager, Warwickshire CAVA (Community and Voluntary Action)
Creativity in Volunteering Workshop and Training Video
On 25th June 2024 we hosted a Creativity in Volunteering Workshop at the Radcliffe Conference Centre on the University of Warwick Campus. The workshop brought together leaders in the local voluntary sector to learn, share, and celebrate creative problem solving across the sector. It included a free training on creative problem-solving techniques and the presentation of the award for creativity in volunteering. Registration for the workshop is now closed. A PDF of workshop materials can be requested by emailing tamara.friedrich@wbs.ac.uk.Following the workshop, we will be creating a training video with some of the key tips and techniques for fostering more creativity in voluntary work. The online training video will be made freely available through this website so check back soon!
Imagination to Impact Network
The Imagination to Impact Network is a community of leaders in the voluntary sector of Coventry and Warwickshire. It was created following the Creativity in Volunteering workshop because attendees were keen to keep the discussion going and wanted a way to stay in touch to share ideas and support. If you are a leader in the voluntary sector of Coventry and Warwickshire and would like to join the network, please fill in the registration form below. The network is facilitated by members of the University of Warwick. In addition to facilitating connections between local voluntary leaders, it is also a channel for the University to share expertise and resources with the local voluntary community.
Creativity in Volunteering Short Report
Our central focus is to understand the unique barriers faced by volunteers and voluntary organizations in unlocking their creative potential. Based on a qualitative analysis of over 35 in-depth interviews with volunteers and volunteer support professionals, we will create a short, user-friendly report. This report will summarise our findings and make recommendations for volunteers and those in roles supporting or leading volunteers on how they can foster more creativity in their work.
More detailed findings will be shared on this website as the analysis progresses and a PDF of the report will be made available. Check back soon!
Creativity in Volunteering Award
This award was established to celebrate volunteers in the Coventry and Warwickshire area who have found new and creative ways to do their voluntary work and better serve their community.
Sixteen nominations were submitted and a panel of experts in creativity, social impact, and volunteering selected winners in three categories - Individual, Group, and Student. The awards were presented to the winners along with a prize at the Creativity in Volunteering Workshop event on 25th June, 2024. Details about the winners are below!
Jessica Eastman
Coventry Resource Centre for the Blind
Creativity in Volunteering Award, Individual
Jess won for her inspiring work as the leader of the creative writing group at Coventry Resource Centre for the BlindLink opens in a new window where she has coordinated the collaborative creation of an audiobook titled "Who Turned the Lights OutLink opens in a new window", a compilation of the stories of the members in her group. Not only did the project provide a vital feeling of community and support for participants, but the book has helped to raise critically needed funds for CRCB. As her nominee stated "...while the group has expanded, nobody wants to leave because they're all having such a great time. The group serves a profound psychological function, helping people come to terms with their sight loss in a healthy creative way which spreads joy and inspiration far beyond the bounds of CRCB."
Lauren Harris & Becky Harris
Let's Talk About Loss, Coventry
Creativity in Volunteering Award, Group
Becky and Lauren won for their amazing work to support young people who are bereaved. They are hosts for the Coventry meet-up group of the national "Let's Talk About Loss" organisationLink opens in a new window. Their creative idea was to bring a grief-inspired event to Coventry and "shatter the preconception that a grief event is people being forced to sit in a circle on a plastic chair talking about their emotions." They curated a day of creativity, joy, and connection for young grievers that included keynote speakers, a panel event, and poetry with Coventry Poet Laureate, John Bernard. One attendee said "From the moment I walked into the event, I felt a sense of understanding and validation for my grief, rather than the sense of pity that is often encountered instead."
Yaseen Akbar & Isabel McCormick (not pictured)
The 93% Club of the University of Warwick
Creativity in Volunteering Award, Student
Yaseen and Isabel (Izzy) won for their work with the 93% club student society at the University of Warwick. The 93% club Link opens in a new windowis a nationwide social mobility focused organisation which aims to represent university students who came from state funded educational backgrounds. Their creative idea was to create a brand-new, one-of-a-kind, Year 12 mentorship programme. They work with local state schools, many with students from under-resourced backgrounds, and provide a mentoring service that encourages prospective university students to make thoughtful applications and learn more about what university life is like from the people who know best - the students. "It is not normal for students to run these schemes due to capacity, safeguarding, and time, but we both knew that there needed to be a student-led initiative that connected school students with role model university students."
Project Reflections
"Volunteers play such a vital role in our communities and we know they have to regularly solve problems in creative ways to address the needs of those they serve. This project has drawn on research interviews with local volunteers as well as existing research on creativity and volunteering, to better understand the creative power of volunteers, support them in sharing their creative best practices, and provide them with evidence-based techniques for boosting their creative problem-solving even more. The workshop was a highlight of the project. The atmosphere in the room is one we won't soon forget. All of the attendees were so engaged in the process of finding new solutions to better serve their communities and their stories and ideas were freely shared - making it a truly collaborative event. Everyone was so excited by the prospect of staying connected to continue the work of the day, that we created the Imagination to Impact network and have intentions of continuing the project in the future. Celebrating the amazing work of the Creativity in Volunteering Award winners has also been fantastic. They were very deserving winners, but the panel had so many wonderful nominations to choose from - highlighting how much amazing work is going on in the local voluntary sector. We sincerely hope the research findings from this project and the tools we created can help support volunteers, not just locally, but wherever volunteers seek to come up with new ways to serve their communities."
Tamara FriedrichLink opens in a new window - Research Lead