What are they?

MV Awards are certificates endorsed by the Scottish Executive in recognition of a young persons contribution to their personal development, and the community, by volunteering.

Certificates are awarded for 50, 100 & 200 hours of volunteering within a two year period. The 50 and 100 hour awards are signed by Scottish Ministers and the 200 Certificate of Excellence is signed by the First Minister, Alex Salmond.

Awards are a valuable addition to your CV, uni or college application. They provide evidence of work experience and show prospective employers that you got up and gave your time when you didn't have to!

How do I get one?

If you are aged between 16 and 25 and are currently volunteering then you are eligible to register for the MV Award Programme. Talk to your volunteer superviser and they will give you the simple MV registration form to complete. If the organisation you are volunteering with has not yet registered for the Programme don't worry, just contact us and we will sort that out for you. Your superviser will verify your volunteering hours and when you have reached a volunteering milestone you will have the option to receive your award straight away or at our annual MV Award ceremony.

If you are aged between 16 and 25 and are not yet volunteering then what are you waiting for! There are loads of volunteering opportunities for you to choose from and the Youth Team are here to help you choose one that's right for you.

Annual MV Award Ceremony

The Volunteer Centre North Ayrshire's annual MV Award Ceremony 2007 was held on the 1st November at the Gailes Hotel in Irvine and was attended by nearly 150 young volunteers, organisations and special guests. The event gave everyone the opportunity to come together to celebrate the success of young volunteers. The 2007 event was bigger and better than ever with 70 young people collecting 169 Awards. This takes this years total of MV Awards acheived in North Ayrshire to 366.

Many thanks to Kenneth Gibson MSP for personaly delivering and presenting the 200 hour certificates, to Cllr Peter MacNamara (Chair of Youthlink), Alex Pettigrew (Learning Manager for North Ayrshire Youth Services), Angela Morrell (North Ayrshire Youth Strategy Team Leader), Provost Rae, our MV Award 2007 event partners North Ayrshire Youth Services and part sponsors, Cunninghamme Housing Association.

Finally a big thank you to all the young volunteers for making the evening a resounding success!

If you are MV registered and believe that you have reached 50, 100 or 200 hours but have not yet received your certificate, contact your superviser and ask them to send us a certificate request form or alternatively contact Anne-Marie or Charlotte on 01294 475618 us and we will do the chasing for you.

The 2008 MV Awards Cermony will be held on Tuesday 4th November 2008, watch this space for further details.

MV Passport

Volunteer Development Scotland have introduced a new free online passport for the MV Awards. It provides a tool for recording your hours and claiming 50,100 & 200 hour MV Certificates, browsing current volunteering opportunities on-line, capturing your own personal volunteering journey online and sharing your volunteering stories through interactive case studies.

If you are interested in finding out more please text MVP to 07786 200 350 or visit the passport online at: www.mvvolunteeringpassport.org