Spark Award Winners: October 2026

Volunteer Engagement innovations aren’t always sweeping transformations. Sometimes, they begin as sparks from simple ideas, thoughtful adjustments or pivotal shifts that improve how we engage with volunteers.

In each quarterly issue, the Engage Journal will celebrate a spark with our new Engage Spark Award, shining a light on creative Volunteer Engagement ideas and honoring the courage to innovate. In this issue, we are proud to announce our first two Spark Award individuals who are reimagining Volunteer Engagement – Susannah Pickering Saqqa and Sonia Burns.

Susannah Pickering Saqqa

Describe the idea, initiative or strategy that sparked a positive change in Volunteer Engagement:

In 2023, I started a small research project with four students and four charity partners to see what reflective practice could offer to small charities needing to motivate and retain their volunteers but with minimal resources. We realised that if you train as a nurse, social worker or teacher, you are introduced to models of reflective practice and expected to use them as a practitioner. However, the charity/NGO/nonprofit sector rarely makes use of or makes time for reflection.

By September 2024, we had developed a resource which offered 27 models of reflective practice with accessible visuals and text and full academic references. Each model aligned with one of our four charity partner volunteering priorities. The resource is now a flipbook set of physical and digital cards, available for free for busy nonprofit practitioners to use with volunteers and for volunteers to use themselves: Volunteer Reflect Grow: Cards to Inspire and Sustain Volunteering (VRG).  

We have rolled this resource out to nearly 200 small charities via workshops across the UK.  Feedback to date shows a really positive response:  "The cards are going to be a hugely useful resource for us to use with our growing teams of volunteers who are supporting people who have experienced homelessness as they start to settle into more permanent accommodation" (Housing Justice). “We think it is invaluable” (Art for Fun).

The VRG resource is also used in my teaching to help students prepare for and make sense of charity-based placements.

I have published about the process of creating the resource via a BOND blog and a co-authored an article in Voluntary Sector Review (July 2026): "A perfect storm: supporting volunteering through reflective practice in small non-profit organisations."

Judges' Reponse:  

Judges loved that this Spark submission started with a realization that led to providing a free resource nonprofits can access. The reflection flipbook is impressive in its ease of understanding while leaving room for organizations to tailor its implementation in ways that are safest and best for their volunteers. This Spark truly provides a deliverable that lets anyone with limited knowledge of reflective practice

Sonia Burns

Describe the idea, initiative or strategy that sparked a positive change in volunteer engagement:

Since November 2023, I have led and developed the volunteer service at Juno Women's Aid, the largest domestic abuse organisation in Nottingham and one of the largest in the UK.

Many of our volunteer applications come from survivors of domestic abuse who have previously accessed support from Juno (or a similar service) and who want to give back. Their passion, empathy and commitment are invaluable and volunteering can play a significant role in recovery by helping survivors rebuild confidence, purpose and connection.

However, I recognised a challenge when it came to gauging the readiness of survivors to volunteer. While Juno already has safeguards – including asking survivors to be out of service for six to 12 months before applying to volunteer, and having sensitive conversations about readiness throughout recruitment – I wanted to better understand how we could assess whether a survivor was ready to volunteer in an environment that could, at times, expose them to potentially triggering situations.

In March 2024, while attending an International Women's Day event, I met an academic from Nottingham Trent University who told me about the Collaboratory PhD programme. Collaboratory is a pioneering eight-year, £7.4m project supported by Research England, and a number of academic institutions in the Midlands. It brings together researchers, community organisations and local people to deliver meaningful change for local communities through research.

Through Collaboratory, I saw an opportunity to address a question about readiness that had significant implications for volunteer engagement, not only at Juno but across the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector.

I led Juno's application to the programme, proposing a research project that explores  the benefits and challenges of volunteering within domestic abuse organisations for people with lived experience. Following a competitive application process, the project was selected for funding as a fully-funded PhD, bringing together Juno Women's Aid, Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham in a unique partnership between practice and academia.

I then worked alongside university partners to recruit a doctoral researcher and support the development of the project. The research is still ongoing and will continue until 2027, with the student recently completing their first year. However, early findings are already generating valuable insights into the experiences, motivations and support needs of volunteers with lived experience.

What makes this initiative innovative is its focus on creating an evidence-based approach to volunteer readiness in a sector where little research currently exists. Our ambition is to develop a practical tool that organisations can use to assess readiness to volunteer, ensuring that volunteers with lived experience can access volunteering opportunities at the right time and with the right support.

Something which began as a simple question – "How do we know when a survivor is ready to volunteer?" – has grown into a research partnership with the potential to influence Volunteer Engagement practice across the VAWG sector. By connecting frontline experience with academic research, I hope this work will lead to safer, more inclusive and more meaningful volunteering opportunities for survivors and strengthen Volunteer Engagement for years to come.

Judges' Response: 

Judges found value and inspiration in this Spark submission. The nominee describes a simple, but important question that inspired her to seek answers. Delivering meaningful change for local communities through research is rarely something busy leaders of volunteers read about or do. This Spark should resonate with the working volunteer professional who may feel their challenges are isolated. Judges also recognized the value in finding a collaborative partner when applying for a grant.