Spotlight on Sam: Creating connections through volunteering

As a video producer and communications consultant in the social sector, Sam has had the opportunity to work with non-profit organisations in Ireland, the UK and Sub Saharan Africa. Through volunteering as part of his Dot Dot Dot guardianship, Sam has been able to offer his skills to organisations that couldn’t otherwise afford his services.

We caught up with Sam about his experience of property guardianship so far and how he volunteers.

Using his unique skills to help others

In June last year, Sam moved from Dublin into one of our east London properties. Without the pressure of high rental costs, he’s found that he has more time to support the organisations he cares about.

“I’ve been volunteering since I started my career, but in Dublin I didn’t have time to volunteer in a planned or consistent way. I had to pretty much solely focus on paid work to pay the rent. Now that I’m a Dot Dot Dot guardian, I am paying half less than what I was paying in Dublin. I have more time to dedicate to organisations I care about.

I love being able to offer my professional skills pro bono to organisations that would otherwise be unable to afford my services. As my work focuses on social justice communications, I enjoy volunteering my time with a range of projects linked to my primary work.

My volunteering work focuses on marginalised communities particularly LGBT+, disability, and migrant issues. I’ve helped a variety of organisations in different ways from planning websites, to producing visual content and creating mental health resources.”

As someone who works in the social sector, he was also intrigued by the idea of living in the social economy.

“I have a postgraduate in Social Enterprise so I was drawn to the fact that Dot Dot Dot is a social enterprise itself. I’ve not been a property guardian for very long, but from what I’ve experienced so far they exhibit a high level of standard and responsibility to their guardians.”

Building new social connections

Dot Dot Dot guardians volunteer for 16 hours each month with many doing much more than this – Sam is one of these people. He splits his volunteering hours between pro bono work and volunteering locally which he’s found to be a great way to build social connections in a new city.

“One of my latest volunteer projects has been with Blueprint, an initiative supporting people who might not normally have the opportunity to become arts producers. I’ve been working with them to capture their story, and the really exciting arts festival they created. The story we’re telling will hopefully help connect with others to get involved with the programme, and make these arts opportunities more diverse and inclusive.

I’ve also been working with Friends of the Joiners Arms, an organisation passionate about protecting and creating queer spaces. They are now looking to open up the UK’s first community run queer venue. I’ve been working with them on plans for ensuring inclusivity and accessibility, and ways to communicate better with members so they can engage more with this great work.”

Although property guardianship is a temporary form of living, this hasn’t prevented Sam from forming friendships:

“Property guardianship is a temporary lifestyle,” he says. “As property guardians we are meanwhile people in meanwhile spaces. I’ve just moved to the UK, and I am looking to build connections while not being rooted anywhere for too long. So this property guardianship is perfect for me in this period of transition in my life.”

“As a guardian, you are at the heart of the community. I’m new to the UK and I’ve already got to meet lots of people from different backgrounds through neighbours and volunteering. I’ve helped my neighbour fix a few things around their flat, and we’ve become friends. There’s a social awareness that comes with being a guardian. And that’s been one of my favourite aspects so far.”

How to get into volunteering

As a veteran volunteer, Sam has some words of advice for guardians starting out on their volunteering journey.

“16 hours can sound like a really long time. But you can break it up by finding blocks of time that fit around your schedule. I’ve found it really useful to split my time across multiple different organisations.

If you’re looking for local opportunities, you only have to keep your eyes peeled and ears open. In my first few weeks here, I came across loads of volunteering opportunities through posters in my local cafe and speaking with my fellow guardians.”

Spotlight on Jessica: Knitting hats for newborns

While working as a student midwife, Jessica came across Bliss, a charity that supports parents and babies in neonatal care. After becoming a Dot Dot Dot property guardian, she started volunteering with the organisation. Jessica now knits hats and delivers them to local hospitals for premature newborns to wear.

We chatted with Jessica about what drove her to volunteer with Bliss when she became a Dot Dot Dot guardian.

 Staying connected to past passions 

While training to become a midwife,  Jessica often helped to deliver premature babies. This was when she first became aware of Bliss, which stocked baby clothes at the hospital where she worked. But it was only when she started looking at volunteering opportunities as a property guardian that she started volunteering for the organisation.

“When I became a Dot Dot Dot guardian, I saw Bliss listed on their volunteering resources for new guardians. I was inspired. I had forgotten about the amazing work Bliss does, and I knew straight away that I wanted to volunteer for them.

I loved being a midwife, but I realised over time that the job just didn’t suit me. Volunteering for Bliss has been such an amazing way to honour midwifery and stay connected to my past work.”

 Adding a little love to a tough situation 

Premature babies often come as a surprise. Parents won’t have had the time to pack bags or baby clothes. The clothes which Jessica makes by hand will often be the first outfit these babies wear.

“Delivering a baby prematurely can often be extremely stressful and upsetting. The hats I knit don’t take away that stress, but I hope they do add a little bit of love to a tough situation. They bring home comforts to a starkly medical setting.

I pick up knitting patterns from a local shop, and I get knitting. Once I have made a few hats, I pack them up and deliver the bundle to the hospital. I’ve only just started this journey. But I am hoping to start knitting socks, and then jumpers in the near future.”

 Making the time to give back

Jessica is busy retraining as a software engineer, but she’s found a unique set up which allows her to volunteer and focus on her career.

“I get to knit the hats at home so it’s really easy to fit in my volunteer work around my work schedule. One of the best things about Dot Dot Dot is that they hold you accountable. I used to volunteer, but I stopped when life got too busy. As a property guardian, I’m now making the time to give back to my community. I love that I am able to still support the women I used to work with as a midwife.”

Why being property guardian is right for Jessica 

Jessica lives with her partner in one of our west London flats and both of them are currently changing career paths. So they were looking for an inexpensive living solution when they heard about property guardianship through a friend.

“Being property guardians with Dot Dot Dot has helped our situation enormously. There’s no other way we could afford our own place while we’re both retraining. Property guardianship has given us the freedom to focus on the careers we want.

The flexibility that comes with being a guardian means that we can move out whenever we’re ready – we only need to give Dot Dot Dot 28 days’ notice. It’s also a huge bonus that we can decorate the flat how we want.

One of my favourite things about being a guardian is the sense of community.  We all know each other. Everyone is really sweet, and we all share a passion for volunteering. It’s nice coming home and saying hi to your neighbours.”

Spotlight on Angelika: Building a network of support for the LGBTQIA+ community in Poland

During Pride this year, we spoke to London-based guardian Angelika, who recently moved to the city. She was drawn to Dot Dot Dot’s volunteering-based approach, having helped set up the Tecza Po Burzy Foundation in Poland, which exists to support LGBTQIA+ people with their mental health.

Building the Foundation in the face of adversity

“I study neuroscience and have done LGBTQIA+ activism in the UK before so I felt compelled to get involved and redirect my focus on Poland specifically. The political situation has worsened in Poland, and the government is actively making it worse so it’s really important to offer support there.

When we set up the organisation last July, we did a lot of research into what support looks like for LGBTQIA+ people to understand how we can better cater to their needs. There are a number of LGBTQIA+ organisations in Poland but none which focus specifically on mental health support. The ones that exist have some initiatives, but largely focus on legal representation and assistance, cultural and artistic events. We needed to know what obstacles people face and what they required of an organisation that is trying to offer support.”

“It took us ten months to get registered as an organisation –  we can’t say it was due to homophobia, but they were definitely making it more difficult.”

Setting a vision as CEO

“As the founder and CEO, my role is to make things work! My focus is on the  bigger picture –  figuring out how we can do this long term. I talk to a lot of people, and try to find the right ways to communicate our mission and vision. My work for the organisation is varied. I spend time coming up with a strategy for funding, and I sometimes get involved in social media work.”

Creating a ‘map of support’ in the health sector

“There is a real lack of knowledge when it comes to the physical and mental health of LGBTQIA+ people. It is shocking to find out that 83% of medical professionals don’t know much about what it means to be a trans person, for example. We are working on a long term project to help combat this. When you’re distressed and you have to spend hours and hours looking for help and support online, it is even worse when you don’t know if you can trust the person who is sitting in front of you.

We’ve built and keep developing something we call the ‘Map of Support’. It is a database of trusted mental health professionals (therapists, psychiatrists, sexologists etc). We check how trained they are, and in what areas (i.e. same sex couples therapy, neurodivergent patients etc.). We want to make sure the people who say they are LGBTQIA+ friendly are actually helping and not traumatizing people further.”

Initiating important conversations

“One of our visions is to create something educational and meaningful for the community. We are currently working on a magazine that brings artists and therapists together. The first issue was about relationships. We wanted to focus on role models for the LGBTQIA+ people as there aren’t many in current mainstream media. In the second issue, we are discussing spirituality. As LGBTQIA+ people, we are often excluded from conversations on and exploration into the world of spirituality. The magazine includes interviews and articles from therapists as well as book and film recommendations. There is always a ‘guest from abroad’ section in English.”

Join upcoming ‘Stories of queer Poland’ live event

The Tecza Po Burzy Foundation is hosting an event, ‘Stories of queer Poland’, on Wednesday 22nd June at King’s College, London. This live panel event will also be hosted on Zoom. Register to attend the event. 

Angelika and the team at the Tecza Po Burzy Foundation would also love to hear from anyone interested in helping out with the organisation. Email info.teczapoburzy@gmail.com.

Amplifying her volunteering efforts with Dot Dot Dot guardianship: Karin and the Open HR Forum – Students

With the added support of Dot Dot Dot guardianship, west London guardian, Karin, has been able to amplify her volunteering efforts to enable students to access mentoring from real world working professionals. Karin’s initiative, the Open HR Forum – Students, operates on an international scale to create opportunities for HR students to become leaders in their field.

Developing a passion for communication skills

“One of my first voluntary roles was supporting students and teachers in Slovakian primary schools to develop their interpersonal skills. Since then I’ve been passionate about improving communications between students and working professionals in order to bridge the gap between learning and practical experience in the workplace.

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, I began a course in human resources with the Open HR Forum, to support my continued learning and development around communications in my home country of Slovakia.

I soon noticed a marked gap in the potential to access career consulting and work experience in Slovakia compared with the UK – the only options were for vast sums of money that were unaffordable for most of the students that I knew, including myself.”

Initiating a platform for students to gain real-world experience 

“I identified the need to establish a sub branch of the Open HR Forum specifically for students to gain practical experience and career consultancy. My main aim was to facilitate opportunities for people to be leaders in their field, something that was driven by students, for students, to dictate their own learning and development.

The initiative I’ve created helps to bring HR students together on an international scale, offering them mentoring and support from large professional organisations for free. Each student is paired with a working professional ‘buddy’ who is able to guide them towards applying their theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios.

They can also receive free advice form HR professionals during webinar sessions which has been really successful in helping to feed international knowledge back into the Slovakian education system.”

Utilising guardianship to re-divert time and energy towards volunteering

“Paying lower monthly living costs as a Dot Dot Dot guardian compared with the private rental sector means that I can afford to spend more of my spare time volunteering.

Dot Dot Dot recognising the value of volunteering is really powerful and was one of the deciding factors for me when I became a guardian in 2021. For me, volunteering comes naturally and is something that I’ve always felt comfortable doing – I’ve always cared about giving something back to my community, but being a guardian allows me to amplify my contributions and the amount of time I  dedicate to my initiative.

Guardianship is not for everyone, but there are many advantages to becoming one. I currently live in a large 4-bed townhouse in Hammersmith, west London, and share the property with a teacher, a human rights lawyer and a scientist. I absolutely love my guardian housemates and am so glad to have had the opportunity to meet them – we all have busy work and social lives, however we still find time to meet and relax as a household.

My relationship coordinator, Dominique, has also been fantastic. We feel supported by Dot Dot Dot and their emphasis on being there for the people as well as the property.”

How we work with LB Brent to turn empty flats into inexpensive homes in Queen’s Park

The regeneration of South Kilburn in Queen’s Park is a 15-year project aiming to deliver over 2,400 new homes as part of a sustainable and mixed neighbourhood. Flats are vacated in phases to prepare blocks for demolition. However, leaving them empty can risk them becoming the target of anti-social behaviour or can mean maintenance issues that could affect existing residents aren’t spotted.

Life for local residents can become worse just when timelines are most critical and when housing teams are most stretched. For Dot Dot Dot, this can be an opportunity to add most value. With a depth of experience in regeneration projects, and a commitment to delivering positive social impact, we work with housing teams to manage voids in a way that maintains flexibility and positivity in the decant process.

Assessing if a property can be used for guardianship

Dot Dot Dot and LB Brent worked together to establish a process whereby properties could be identified as potentially suitable for guardianship and handed over – or returned if unsuitable – in an efficient, transparent manner:

1. Property in pipeline: LB Brent allocates a property as available for potential guardian use, and invites Dot Dot Dot for a pre-assessment site visit. LB Brent and Dot Dot Dot agree properties which appear suitable for guardian occupation, and LB Brent undertakes any necessary work to ensure that the units pass their EICR and gas safety inspections, are weathertight and have secure windows and doors.
2. Property ready for triage: LB Brent notifies Dot Dot Dot when they’re satisfied the property is at the handover standard, and sends over gas and electricity safety certs and asbestos documentation.
3. Key collection and triage authorisation: Both parties agree a timeline for Dot Dot Dot to put the property through triage i.e. assess its suitability for guardianship. LB Brent signs a Triage Authorisation Form and hands over keys. Dot Dot Dot inputs the property and its accompanying authorisation is into a property tracker visible to both parties.
4. Triage: Over a maximum two-week period, Dot Dot Dot will assess the suitability of the property for guardianship e.g. the amount / cost of work needed to make it viable for occupation in line with our minimum property standards.

Either the property will be accepted by Dot Dot Dot, in which case LB Brent will give authorisation for set up to be finalised and guardians to be housed. Or, Dot Dot Dot will determine that the property can’t be used for guardian occupation, provide the reason for rejection, return the keys and a Property Handback Form to LB Brent, and designate the property on the tracker as being handed back.

Housing guardians to keep properties safe

Once authorised to house guardians, Dot Dot Dot will take on the Council Tax and utilities accounts, add safety certs to our online folder that’s shared with LB Brent, and obtain a selective licence for each property.

Prospective guardians will be vetted, with key considerations being their financial security, ability to move out if given 28 days’ notice, and their desire to volunteer.

Councillor Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet member for housing and welfare reform at LB Brent, explains: “The first temporary guardian was housed in South Kilburn in April 2021, and there are now 19 guardians across four different blocks. They will be joined by dozens more over this year as the regeneration progresses. They have already volunteered over 1,500 hours to good causes, including at local community kitchens, Covid-19 vaccination centres and the Compass network which represents the LGBT+ community within the armed forces.”

The final stage – vacant possession and handback

Using guardians means property owners are able to ask for their buildings back at any time and for any reason – all they need to do is give 32 days’ notice. In turn, Dot Dot Dot will give its guardians the 28 days’ notice required by law.

Once notice has been served, guardians will begin to activate their move on plans, and Dot Dot Dot will offer rehousing options when available and appropriate. The properties are returned to LB Brent in a clean and clear condition, and after inspecting the property, LB Brent will sign a Property Handback Schedule to confirm its return. Dot Dot Dot will close the Council Tax and utilities accounts and transfer them back to LB Brent.

This entire process can occur over a period of a few months to several years, and can flex with the timelines of the council’s regeneration plans. In choosing to work in partnership, Dot Dot Dot is able to provide its guardians with inexpensive homes in a desirable, diverse and dynamic part of the capital, and LB Brent can keep its buildings safe, support its communities and generate positive social impact through volunteering.

Spotlight on: Cate and Charlotte, International Women’s Day

This International Women’s Day, we’re throwing the spotlight on two Dot Dot Dot guardians who are doing fantastic work to both support and lead the way for women in their careers and voluntary work.

Discover how our Manchester guardian, Cate, has powerfully forged her own artistic career path in light of an autism diagnosis. And how our west London guardian, Charlotte, who is volunteering with XLP – a charity focused on supporting young people to recognise their full potential – is helping to  create positive futures for women growing up in inner-city estates.

Cate, forging her artistic career path

From our Manchester guardian, Cate 

During the pandemic I was diagnosed with autism and began to find the work I was doing problematic, especially when I had to take on new responsibilities due to Covid. I started to feel that I needed to fundamentally change what I was doing and work on something new, with an emphasis on supporting others.

Equipped with my experience of being diagnosed with autism and the challenges I’d faced in light of this, I left my job to begin focusing on initiating an art agency. My goal was to create a platform for fellow creatives who struggled to gain normal agency representation due to having specific working needs like myself. Through this support, many artists have been able to go on to set up their own websites and control their own publicity.

Knowing Manchester to be a real hub of creativity and so a place where my arts agency could thrive, I left London behind to embark on a new stage of my life in West Didsbury as a Dot Dot Dot guardian. Soon after, I got a bar job in a pub in nearby Burton Road where there is a hive of artisan shops and businesses with whom I could connect and engage with.

This opened up another new avenue for me. The owner of the pub I was working in decided to utilise an empty unit space next door, and so myself and a female friend worked together to bring the space back into use as a gallery. The aim was to showcase art from local talent, many of whom are women, in rotating exhibitions to help them to publicise their work. Since then, we’ve had three exhibitions and have helped to raise the profile of 24 different artists in Manchester to a global audience through social media.

It’s been a huge learning curve for me as I’ve always wanted to do an MA in art curation but was held back by the cost. However, being so heavily involved in the running of the Next Door Gallery means that I’ve been able to gain first-hand experience in curation, practically executing my own MA. I’ve liaised directly with buyers across the globe as well as learned how to properly store and ship artwork internationally – something I never would have had the chance to do in my old life in London where my energy was zapped by other commitments.

Following the success of the gallery, I’ve been able to scale back on the amount of time I spend working to allow myself more space to focus on my own freelance artwork. Transforming part of my Dot Dot Dot flat into my art studio has been a lifeline for me to be able to develop and produce my work. I’ve recently been part of an art show at the Antwerp Mansions in Manchester and am currently in talks to hold my first solo exhibition on the subject of autism and what that means on a personal level.

Charlotte, XLP

From our west London guardian, Charlotte

For six months now, I’ve been volunteering as a mentor to a 14 year old girl with a charity called XLP. They’re focused on creating positive futures for young people who are growing up in inner-city estates in London and facing challenges in their home lives, at school and in employment. I work with young people in my own career as chair of the Women Employability Resource Group with YMCA, and it’s something that I love doing – but I wanted to work with women in a different capacity when volunteering. XLP was a perfect way for me to draw upon my existing skill set in order to support and provide mentorship to young women.

My role is to empower and support the young woman I work with to begin to lead and shape her own future. We do many things together such as grabbing a coffee or going for a walk – anything that facilitates a conversation with her in order for me to provide guidance. XLP are even organising a weekend away with fellow mentors and mentees, and so I’ll be helping to push her out of her comfort zone, giving her opportunities to experience things she wouldn’t have in her everyday life otherwise.

There are challenges involved that relate to mentees socio-economic backgrounds and a lack of positive female role models in their lives, and so my role as a mentee really hinges on building trust and providing a listening ear for her. Specifically as a woman, I hope to have a positive impact in broadening her worldview and demonstrating to her that she is allowed to make space for herself. I am there to help her break a pre-existing bias, encouraging her to realise that she belongs in this society just as much as men and boys, and to empower her to take up space in her community.

For myself, I’ve learnt so much from this young woman – you couldn’t do this role without really seeing and feeling the impact it has for her. It’s a privilege and an honor to have a space in her life and share her challenges and sit with them in those times. I feel incredibly grateful that I am a trusted person in her life, and I hope I can continue to enable her to create positive goals and put her mind to achieving them.

How our guardians will be supporting vulnerable members of the community this winter

With the arrival of the holiday season it can be easy to forget that for many, the winter period spells isolation and hardship. But there are plenty of ways in which you can help to share joy with others over the coming months. We sat down with some of our guardians to find out how they’ll be volunteering to combat loneliness and poverty, and to get some ideas on how we can all get involved to spread festive cheer.

Spotlight on: Charlotte and Shout, a free, 24 hour mental health text support service

“I’ve been volunteering with Shout for more than two years now and it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done. People can text into Shout if they have no one else to talk to, are feeling isolated or they have relationship problems. Myself and my fellow volunteers are there to provide a listening ear, de-escalate situations and also to empower the texter to seek the support they need.

In my day job, I co-run a mental health app for the LGBTQIA+ community called Kalda. Its mission is to help people to connect with others who might be facing similar issues and to attend weekly mindfulness sessions via our app, which you can search for on IOS and Android.”

Discover volunteering opportunities with Shout and how you can get involved to support their mission.

Spotlight on: Eke and Connection Support, a befriending service working to ensure no one feels alone this year 

“I’m currently linked with six elderly clients who are at risk of social isolation. I get in touch with them to listen, have a chat and brighten their day. If they ever had a problem or needed help with a daily task at home then I’m always on hand to help them out. Connection Support’s team of volunteers also help out with anything from gardening to shopping to picking up prescriptions.

Volunteering as a befriender means that you build strong relationships with the people you’re linked with and provide vital support to those who don’t have families or are on their own, particularly over the Christmas period. They always say it’s so nice to have someone to speak to and to feel valued. That’s what it’s all about.”

Find out more about Connection Support and their available voluntary positions.

Spotlight on: Jack and the Royal Voluntary Service, providing critical support to the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic

“As an NHS volunteer responder for the Royal Voluntary Service, who collaborate with Good Samaritans, I put myself on duty to take calls and support vulnerable people in England who are at most risk from the COVID-19 virus to stay well. This is to help support the NHS and social care sector during the ongoing pandemic.

Mostly, I have acted as a ‘Check-in and chat volunteer’, providing short-term telephone support to individuals who are at risk of loneliness as a consequence of self-isolation. I have spoken with mostly elderly individuals who live alone and are suffering from ill health or isolating, giving them an ear to listen to and assuring that they are not in danger and have everything they need.

It is a really valuable experience because often the individuals I speak to are suffering from loneliness and to help cheer them up and offer them a form of socialising, it’s rewarding.It’snice that even a short telephone call can boost someone’s spirits and hopefully make them feel better about what they are going through.”

The Royal Voluntary Service are always in need of new volunteers to join their team. Head over to their website to sign up.

Learn more about how our guardian community is dedicating their free time to a huge range of good causes across the country.

Want to apply to be a property guardian? Find out more.

Delivering food parcels in his community: Daneel Phillips and Made in Hackney

We spoke to Poplar guardian Daneel back in April this year about his volunteering with Made in Hackney, a community cookery school that, when the pandemic hit, turned its hand to supporting vulnerable members of the local community.

We recently caught up with Khin, Volunteer Manager at Made in Hackney, to see how they’ve adapted over the past 18 months and how volunteers like Daneel contribute to the direct impact they are making in their community.

“When Made in Hackney started around nine years ago we were the first fully plant-based cookery school and charity in the UK. When the pandemic hit, we realised that we could offer our support, and that food was more important than ever. People still need meals, especially those who are vulnerable, and we could use our knowledge to run online classes for people at home.

“We crowdfunded like crazy to offer a community meal service, going door to door and delivering vegan meals by bike. We still continue our delivery service today, and meet at the Queen of Hoxton kitchen space each Tuesday and Thursday, where professional chefs cook 1,000 meals each week. Cyclists like Daneel come by at 4 o’clock and deliver to between 150 to 200 households.

“Daneel has done so many hours for us and we’re so grateful to him – he’s a terrific supporter! He’s even running the Hackney half marathon with some of our other volunteers, who are raising money for Made in Hackney.”

Property guardian Daneel has contributed almost 700 hours of volunteering during his time with Dot Dot Dot, with many of these going towards his work with Made in Hackney.

“This is my first time volunteering consistently. I’d been meaning to do it for such a long time and the fact that it’s part of my guardianship is great as it gave me the drive and encouragement I’d been waiting for. Now I know it makes me feel good, improves my mental health and enables me to meet different people.”

Addressing health inequalities and food access in Hackney

Made in Hackney is about more than just food delivery. “Our ethos is really about addressing our community health crisis – on both a local and environmental level – to address issues with health inequalities, food access and climate change. The meals we cook and deliver are all local and sustainable – that’s why we use bicycles, too – and we are lucky enough to get donations from local providers like Edible London and Street Box.

“What we’re hoping for is that more people will be like Daneel and volunteer with us, especially cyclists and people who can come and help out in the kitchen. There’s all kinds of things you can help with, not just cooking – you can help with carrying supplies in or with portioning and packing up meals. We also need volunteers for our cookery school where you can join us as a class assistant. We induct volunteers into our school and teach them about vegan cooking. We are now able to hold our cookery classes in person as well as online at our kitchen in Clapham Common.”

If you’d like to find out how you can get involved in Made in Hackney, check out their volunteering page. If you’re interested in becoming a property guardian, take our short eligibility quiz. 

Spotlight on: Karolina Gerlich – from volunteer to CEO of care workers charity the National Association of Care and Support Workers

Karolina became a Dot Dot Dot guardian in 2017, living in Canning Town, east London. When she wasn’t a full-time care worker, Karolina was spending much of her free time volunteering with the National Association of Care and Support Workers, acting as CEO. Find out from Karolina how guardianship and volunteering enabled her to gain a full-time paid role as the chief executive of the charity she had dedicated her spare time to.

During the first two years of my guardianship with Dot Dot Dot, I was working full time as a care worker. At the same time, I was dedicating a huge amount of time to volunteering as the CEO of the National Association of Care and Support Workers. I was spending much of my time helping to give care workers a voice, representing the workforce and participating in meetings with stakeholders. Ultimately, all of my voluntary work was around championing those in the profession as skilled professionals who make a huge contribution to the economy and to society. 

Being able to dedicate so much of my time to representing care workers with this organisation meant that as of March last year, I was given a full-time paid role as CEO. In my role as chief executive, I run the charity and develop stakeholder relationships and engagement. As care workers are a low-paid workforce, we give out financial grants to to support their wellbeing and mental health – there’s a lack of funding in the sector and so due to many having to self-isolate during the pandemic, there were also a huge amount of care workers were missing out on fair pay. Last year we gave £2.2 million to over 3,200 care workers. 

I first found out about property guardianship in the Evening Standard. When I did my research, Dot Dot Dot stood out from other organisations doing the same thing because of the volunteering element – lower costs combined with volunteering was an idea I could really get behind. Other companies seemed to prioritise profit over people, but at Dot Dot Dot, they’re much more focused on doing the right thing and putting their guardians first. 

I viewed a 2-bed property in east London that I ended up moving into – there was lots of space and the value was unbeatable for London. If I’d wanted to privately rent somewhere of the same size, it would have cost me double the amount. I ended up being a guardian for almost three years, which was an overall positive experience for me as it meant that I was able to use my money more wisely rather than most of it going towards living expenses. If I was looking for affordable housing in the future, I’d definitely look to live with Dot Dot Dot again.

Read more stories from our 10 great guardians who we’re highlighting as part of our tenth birthday celebrations. 

The value of Dot Dot Dot’s social impact over the past 10 years: How we calculated it

In June, Dot Dot Dot celebrated its 10th birthday, and August marked a decade since we housed our first guardian.

We’ve worked out the total value of our guardians’ volunteering over the past 10 years is £4.3m and the value of the impact Dot Dot Dot has made is £1.8m. These two figures make us very proud, but how did we get to them?

The value of all our guardians’ volunteering

In the 10 years up to June 2021, our guardians volunteered a total of 339,058 hours, and 77.7% of those hours were volunteered by guardians living in London.

We use the National and London Living Wages as the basis for calculating the value of each hour volunteered. Aside from the fact it’s good practice and Dot Dot Dot is a Living Wage Employer, those wages are equivalent to that paid for entry-level roles in charities, and we think it’s reasonable to assume a majority of our guardians are undertaking work of at least this value.

If our guardians were working and not volunteering for free, then their employers would be paying costs associated with employing people e.g. National Insurance, pension, sick pay contributions, and a good rule of thumb is that these add a further 30% to a salary. So, we:

1. Broke down all our volunteering by the year in which it occurred
2. Assumed in each of those years 77.7% of the volunteering was done in London
3. Worked out the London and National Living Wage rates plus 30% on-costs for each year
4. Calculated an hourly wage for both London and non-London based volunteering weighted across the 10 years we were looking at.
5. Multiplied those weighted hourly wages by the number of hours volunteered in and out of London over 10 years

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Value of London volunteering (263.448 x £13.09) + Value of out-of-London volunteering (75,610 x £11.31) = Value of all Dot Dot Dot guardians’ volunteering: £4.3m

Working out our social impact

We are very proud that the total value of our guardians’ volunteering was £4.3m over the past decade. However, we really wanted to understand the impact that Dot Dot Dot had made in 10 years i.e. what was the value of the volunteering that only happened because guardians were housed by us.

To do this we needed to get some data from our historic and current guardians to calculate:

Hours volunteered x monetary value of those hours x %age of volunteering at Dot Dot Dot which was/is additional to any they did before being housed by us x %age of volunteering at Dot Dot Dot which was/is attributable to being housed by Dot Dot Dot

To make this as robust as possible we needed data from a representative sample of guardians – we needed to be confident that not just the people who volunteered a high number of hours had responded. So:

1. We asked all current guardians to tell us how many hours they volunteered in the the couple of months before joining Dot Dot Dot – in order to compare the difference between the hours they now volunteer
2. We also asked them how important a factor being housed by Dot Dot Dot was in any extra volunteering they did
3. We asked all former guardians the same two questions

We compared the average hours volunteered by current guardians with those of former guardians, and found them to be very similar, within a couple of percentage points. Fundamentally, we were confident in the representativeness of our sample.

Now we needed to look at the additionality and attribution points, and calculated that:

• 66.85% of volunteering was additional
• 62% of that additional volunteering was due to people being housed by Dot Dot Dot

We received replies from enough people to give us a strong confidence level of 95% with a confidence interval of 5.5% in their answers. So, for example, for the numbers above, we were 95% confident that, if every guardian had responded to our survey, then between 61.35% and 72.35% (66.85% ± 5.5%) of their volunteering was additional.

Which meant we could do our calculation, and found the value of the impact Dot Dot Dot has made in support of charitable causes in its 10-year history is £1.8m.

Read more about the value of our social impact over the past 10 years.

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