ADD2342 Team London Emergency Volunteer Mobilisation Support

Team London has successfully delivered an annual Team London Ambassador (Visitor Welcome) volunteering programme every summer since 2012, deploying 600 volunteers across nine locations for the six busiest weeks of the summer. Volunteer retention rates are very high with 65 per cent of volunteers starting with Team London in 2012.

In addition to the Ambassador Programme, Team London has worked with over 80 major sporting and cultural events since 2012 to support their volunteering programmes and brokering over 8,000 volunteering opportunities. In 2018 Team London worked with a wide range of events, such as Lumiere London, London Marathon, Ride London and the Shrouds of the Somme. Through this Major Events Programme, Team London is building an excellent reputation for volunteer delivery at major events across London.

Team London continues to recruit new volunteers to the programme and creates opportunities for young unemployed people to build their skills through the opportunities the programme offers. Volunteer and visitor satisfaction rates have remained continually high with volunteer and visitor satisfaction rates consistently above 90 per cent.

Expenditure of up to £705,000 towards planning, delivery and management of the Team London Ambassador programme (and events which fall within the Team London Major Events Programme) over 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 was approved under cover of MD2188. Subsequent to the approval of MD2188, additional projects were allocated to Team London. Euro 2020 and other major events require a system with increased functionality, and therefore additional funding for a new Volunteer Portal was approved under cover of DD2316.

Team London volunteers have supported high-volume crowd events since 2012 and are experienced in being the friendly face of London and providing practical assistance. They have also been deployed at short notice in order to support London at times of high need, such as post the Grenfell fire.

The tabards will be procured using a competitive process to ensure fairness and value in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Due to the anticipated value of the purchase, it is expected that the route to market will be to research quotes for similar items and to proceed with the organisation offering the best value. Vests will be stored offsite alongside the Ambassador uniforms, using an existing contract. Vests must be ordered in advance of any events due to the lead times associated with such products, which is generally several months as they are produced off shore.

Team London volunteers will need to be visible and clearly identifiable at high profile events which may bring millions of people from all over the United Kingdom and indeed the world.

Such events require a large number of volunteers. This will give us the opportunity to engage with more Londoners in giving back their time to support their city. This will ensure that #LondonIsOpen for all and the volunteer programme is representative of London’s communities.

Having a visual presence in some of London’s top tourist locations helps to support the local stakeholders in reducing petty crime in the area with regards to pick- pockets, and ticket touts.

By encouraging young people, disabled volunteers and volunteers with alternative language skills we are making the programme more inclusive and open to all.

Equal opportunities are enshrined within Team London’s programmes. Team London volunteering projects aim to ensure that all Londoners can access volunteering opportunities. The programmes eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and indeed by doing so support other Londoners equally throughout the city.

Team London volunteer opportunities are open to all that apply, regardless of race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment. The programme is fully inclusive with regards to its selection process, training and deployment ensuring those who require additional support are supported throughout. Our 2018/19 recruitment was amended to ensure further uptake from volunteers with protected characteristics.

Our work also embraces London’s diversity by connecting Londoners from a variety of demographical and geographical backgrounds together in support of common causes and events. We are currently building more methods ensure greater applications from volunteers with protected characteristics.

We work with major events that support deprived areas of London, such as The Big Half which takes place in the boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark. We support volunteer centres to recruit volunteers from the local area, which will create a new pool of active citizens and give some volunteers valuable experience to develop their life skills to use when starting a path towards employment, education or training.

1. Risks to the programme could include:

The expenditure of up to £15,000 will be funded from the GLA’s Reserves. All necessary budget adjustments will be made.