Blowing your own trumpet: Why it’s good to share what goes on behind the scenes

This autumn, the UK was gripped by the TV programme Celebrity Traitors – a bizarre, slightly morbid, yet fascinating series about three people murdering the rest of the group one by one. In the penultimate episode, one of the traitors said she felt like a duck – that she seemed cool and collected on the outside but was paddling frantically beneath the surface.

I imagine we’ve all heard that phrase before and have also felt the same way, but it got me thinking about two things. One is where you don’t feel as organised or in control as people might think, and secondly, that people don’t always see what goes on behind the scenes – the effort it takes to deliver something.

What people don’t see behind the scenes

Our annual conference is one of the most important events in our calendar. It takes at least nine months of planning and preparation, followed by two intense days of delivery. Over those two days, a core team of nine creates the content, facilitates the sessions, manages logistics, and ensures that everything runs smoothly.

This is definitely one of my duck moments – ensuring the conference runs seamlessly while paddling furiously in the background. Every year, we receive lovely messages from attendees thanking us for our hard work, and that makes it all the more worthwhile.

Whilst the effort to deliver the conference is recognised, I feel we don’t always talk enough about what we’re working on as an organisation throughout the year. But I am taking Blackadder’s advice of “you might at least have told us you had a trumpet” and will highlight some conversations and projects that have been keeping us busy.

Championing the Vision for Volunteering

In 2022, the Vision for Volunteering was launched in England, and AVM was involved at its inception as a partner. Our Chair, Ruth Leonard, was proud to launch it on behalf of volunteer managers. Collaboration, experimentation, inclusion, awareness, and power form the five main pillars of the vision:

We have worked with the Vision for Volunteering staff team and fellow partners in promoting the vision and have contributed towards resources and toolkits. At the moment, the vision partners are reviewing and assessing where the ten-year plan is, and AVM will be there to continue supporting its implementation.

Raising the profile of volunteer managers globally

AVM has also become a member of the International Volunteer Managers Day committee, which is made up of representatives from volunteer management organisations around the world.

Whilst we have a voice on the committee, I must admit we haven’t been loud enough this year, so our bold step will be to do more directly around this celebration, helping our members raise their voices. We are already planning for 2026.

Shaping the relationship between Government and Civil Society

AVM was at the launch of the Civil Society Covenant, where Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke about a new relationship between Government and Civil Society. The covenant aims to reset this relationship, acting as a “principles-based foundation for this new relationship” and symbolising the UK government’s recognition of the sector as a trusted and independent partner.

Supporting digital volunteering in a changing world

For the past couple of years, AVM has been closely involved in developing a digital volunteering toolkit with NAVCA and Volunteering Matters. This aims to provide volunteer managers with tips, tricks, and diagnostic tools to help them make smart decisions about digital and tech, as well as offering networking opportunities and further learning and development to support people in our digital world.

Why blowing your own trumpet matters

Blowing one’s own trumpet can be an uncomfortable thing to do. I’ve found that whenever I’ve asked people to share the amazing work they’ve done, there’s often hesitation. I wonder if there’s a worry about coming across as a show-off or as self-promoting.

Back at our conference this year, we asked delegates to send in a poster presentation to showcase what they had achieved. We had six great examples displayed, and they were inspiring to see. However, that was six out of 200+ delegates. I’m pretty sure there is more good work going on out there, and I implore you to let others know about it.

So, this is me blowing AVM’s trumpet a little – to share the work we are doing, the impact it has, and the “flapping” effort it takes.