The first in a new series of Making Connections
First topic: Volunteer sharing and resource pooling
Come with ideas your organisation or community group might consider exploring on the topic of volunteer sharing and resource pooling. We will discuss the potential barriers, actions, overlaps and opportunities. There will also be dedicated time to align and book follow ups there and then!
There are no obligations to take actions forward, but we would encourage those attending to only join if you have the intention of cross-community collaboration.
The event finishes at 17:00, with opportunities to network or continue discussions up to 17:45 for those available. Light refreshments will be provided.
Order of the day
14:00-14:05 Welcome, housekeeping and setting the scene (expectations)
14:05-14:15 Opening remarks by Mark Freeman, Cambridge Council Voluntary Service
14:15-14:30 The basics of volunteering sharing and resource pooling
14:30-15:30 Focus 1: Discussing barriers, examples, overlap, needs and wants
15:30-16:00 Reflection over food and break
16:00-16:55 Focus 2: Discussing potential next steps, alignment and booking in
16:55-17:00 Closing remarks
(17:00-17:45) Optional: Further discussion and networking
Location
3rd floor, EverySpace, Cambridge Central Library, Grand Arcade, Cambridge, CB2 3QD
Food
Light refreshments will be provided.
Making Connections
This series brings into focus the discussions often held in the moments between talks, during networking sessions, and towards the end of events where different community organisers, volunteers and members often identify common issues and interests they'd be interested to collaborate on but don't know when.
Here we take it forward by starting the conversation in that context.
Future focus areas will be:
- Managing capacity and preventing burnout - Saturday 7 Feb 2026 (TBC)
- Collective grant writing - TBA
- Bridging the City-Shire gap - TBA
- Training and support for Community Researchers - TBA
Acknowledgements
Making Connections is a collaboration between all community groups who attend. The event is organised by the Resilience Web in collaboration with Cambridge Zero.
