Volunteering Voices is a county-wide learning programme that helps organisations understand and explain the difference their volunteering makes.

Each organisation will be matched with an experienced practitioner from one of the partner organisations. Together, you will:

• Explore the difference your organisation makes
• Understand the impact of volunteering
• Gather evidence and stories
• Identify learning and opportunities for improvement
• Produce a completed evaluation report
• Share learning with organisations across Monmouthshire and Wales

The programme combines training, mentoring, peer learning and practical evaluation activities. By the end, organisations will have a useful evaluation report and the skills to carry out future evaluations themselves.

Successful organisations will receive:

• Free specialist training in evaluation and impact measurement
• One-to-one mentoring from an experienced partner organisation
• Support to evaluate a volunteer-led project or service
• A completed evaluation report that can be used in funding applications and future planning
• Practical recommendations to improve services and strengthen volunteering
• Training for at least two volunteers, staff members or trustees
• Membership of a county-wide learning network
• Opportunities to share learning and showcase impact across Wales

The project will use an evaluation method called Most Significant Change (MSC).

MSC is a simple but powerful way of learning from people’s stories.

It helps organisations look beyond numbers and understand:

• What difference their work has made
• How people have benefited
• What changes matter most
• Why those changes happened

Volunteers, participants and community members share their experiences, helping organisations understand and show the human impact of their work.

MSC is widely used by charities, community groups and funders because it captures personal stories while also supporting traditional data and statistics.

Organisations will learn how to bring together stories, feedback and data to create strong evaluations for funding applications and future planning.

We are looking for organisations that:

• Involve volunteers in delivering their activities
• Have a project, service or activity that is ready to be evaluated
• Can nominate at least two volunteers, staff members, trustees or committee members to participate throughout the programme
• Can commit time and enthusiasm to the learning journey
• Want to better understand and demonstrate their impact
• Are willing to work collaboratively with a mentor and other participating organisations
• Are committed to completing the programme and contributing to shared learning

Applications are welcome from charities, community groups, voluntary organisations, social enterprises and other not-for-profit organisations working in Monmouthshire.

Places are limited, so priority will be given to organisations with a strong volunteering offer and the ability to take part fully.

Each organisation must nominate at least two representatives to take part throughout the programme.

These could be:

• Volunteers
• Staff members
• Trustees
• Committee members

Representatives will attend training, join community of practice sessions and work with their mentor throughout the evaluation.

Having at least two people involved will help organisations build evaluation knowledge and keep using what they learn after the project ends.

Step 1 – Apply

Fill in a short Expression of Interest form about your organisation, volunteering activities and why you would like to take part.

Step 2 – Selection

The project team will talk with you about your project and assess whether it is suitable. Seven organisations will be selected.

Step 3 – Training (November 2026)

Your nominated participants will attend three days of interactive training on:

• Most Significant Change
• Community-led evaluation
• Story collection
• Data gathering and impact measurement

Step 4 – Mentoring and Evaluation Design (January 2027)

Each organisation will be paired with an experienced practitioner from one of the partner organisations.

Together, you will design an evaluation focused on volunteering and community impact, tailored to your activities and learning goals.

Step 5 – Evidence Gathering and Learning (January to December 2027)

With your mentor, you will gather stories, feedback and data, and join community of practice sessions with other organisations.

You will receive ongoing support, guidance and opportunities to share learning throughout this stage.

Step 6 – Evaluation Report (November to December 2027)

You will work with your mentor to analyse your findings and produce an evaluation report that can be used to:

• Demonstrate impact
• Support funding applications
• Inform future planning
• Improve services and volunteering experiences

Step 7 – Volunteering Voices Monmouthshire Report (Early 2028)

Learning from all seven evaluations will be brought together into a wider report on volunteering across Monmouthshire.

The report will look at:

• The impact of volunteering
• What helps volunteering thrive
• Barriers to participation
• Examples of good practice
• Opportunities for future development

Step 8 – Evaluating Volunteering Voices

Participants will then be able to use their new skills to help evaluate the Volunteering Voices programme itself.

This final stage will help us understand the project’s impact, identify improvements and shape future community-led evaluation work across Monmouthshire.