A volunteer is a person who gives freely of their time, skills and experience without expectation of financial reward. Volunteering can take many forms. Some tasks require particular skills, whereas others require none. Volunteering may be for a limited time to complete a particular project, or it may be on an ongoing basis.
This organisation recognises the immense benefits that volunteers bring to the organisation, in addition to the bridges that they build between the organisation and the local community. In return, the organisation hopes to allow its volunteers to exercise their skills in a chosen environment and to undertake new experiences, including appropriate training, where required.
This organisation tries to offer a range of volunteering opportunities and, following its equal opportunities and diversity policies, ensure that the opportunity to volunteer is widely available.
A volunteer is not an employee and will not have a contract of employment with this organisation. The organisation will agree upon a role with the volunteer, with the expectation that the volunteer will meet the role’s requirements and that the organisation will provide tasks for the volunteer. However, the volunteer is free to refuse to fulfil the role, just as the organisation is not bound to provide the tasks. It is also expected that both this organisation and the volunteer will give as much notice as possible if unable to meet these expectations.

Roles suitable for volunteers are identified by the relevant manager, who will draw up a volunteer outline. This will set out the requirements of the role and the skills or experience needed, as well as induction and any training that is required before the volunteering can be undertaken. Volunteers will not be used as substitutes for employees.

A person wishing to become a volunteer will be asked to complete an application form. The selection and recruitment requirements for employed staff (see Recruitment and Selection Policy) will be followed for volunteers to ensure that our service users are safeguarded. References will be required and, depending on the nature of the role, the prospective volunteer may be required to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a health assessment, as required by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) processes. Equality and diversity will be adhered to in all recruitment and selection.

The volunteer will be invited to enter into a volunteering agreement with this organisation. This agreement will identify:

This organisation has a responsibility for the health and safety of volunteers. Volunteers should, at all times, follow health and safety policies and procedures.
Volunteers have a duty to take care of themselves and others who might be affected by their actions. Volunteers should not act outside of their authorised area or tasks. Volunteers should report all accidents to their supervisor.

Volunteers are, by definition, unpaid; however, the organisation will reimburse volunteers for additional travel and subsistence expenses.

Volunteers are expected to comply with the organisation’s policies while they are on its premises or undertaking any of their volunteering duties. These policies and procedures will be explained in their induction.

This organisation will ensure that volunteers are covered for insurance purposes concerning personal injury. The organisation will also ensure that volunteers are provided with professional and public liability insurance. The insurance will not cover unauthorised actions or actions outside of the volunteering agreement.

Volunteers are likely to become aware of confidential information. Volunteers should not disclose this information or use it for their own or another’s benefit, without the consent of the party concerned. This organisation’s Confidentiality Policy and Data Protection Legislative Framework (GDPR) Policy must be adhered to.

A supervisor will be appointed to support and manage the volunteer. The supervisor will review the arrangements after three months, and thereafter regularly. If the volunteer has any queries or would like to change their role, this should be discussed with the supervisor.

The supervisor will normally try to solve any problems informally, but if this is not possible then the volunteer can make a formal complaint, wherein the formal disciplinary and grievance policy and procedure will come into operation.
If a complaint is made about the volunteer then this will be notified to them in writing and the supervisor will decide any action should be taken.

Any volunteers who will be transporting equipment or people using a vehicle provided by this organisation must have a current DBS check and a valid, clean driving license. They will be covered by the organisation’s insurance policy. Where the volunteer will be using their own vehicle, they must provide a copy of the vehicle’s insurance policy and, if appropriate, the MOT certificate.
The volunteer must report any accidents to the organisation. They must also report any motoring offences or police cautions to this organisation; the organisation will not pay any parking fines accumulated by the volunteer.

On commencement of voluntary work, the volunteer will be given a pack containing:

Adult Safeguarding
Confidentiality
Data Protection Legislative Framework (GDPR)
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and (DBS) Referral
Equal Opportunities
Recruitment and Selection

Safer recruitment and Selection of Volunteers:
http://www.vces.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Essential-Guide-to-Safer-Recruitment-Selection-of-Volunteers.pdf

Skills for Care: Volunteering and social care
www.skillsforcare.org.uk

Volunteering Matters:
https://volunteeringmatters.org.uk/report/3172/

CQC Look for helpers:
https://medium.com/@CareQualityComm/look-for-the-helpers-5b6a890cb1ec

All staff, during induction, are made aware of the organisation’s policies and procedures, all of which are used for training updates. All policies and procedures are reviewed and amended where necessary, and staff are made aware of any changes. Observations are undertaken to check skills and competencies. Various methods of training are used, including one to one, online, workbook, group meetings, and individual supervisions. External courses are sourced as required.

Date Reviewed: May 2021
Person responsible for updating this policy: Carly Fortune
Next Review Date: May 2022

This organisation encourages and welcomes volunteers. This agreement sets out the relationship between a volunteer and this organisation.
This agreement is binding in honour only; it is not intended by the parties to be a legally binding agreement, nor is it intended to create an employment relationship between us.

We require you to provide two referees. We may also require you to be checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to comply with our statutory requirements with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The tasks that you will be asked to undertake as a volunteer are: [INSERT HERE THE TASK(S) TO BE UNDERTAKEN]

This organisation will provide you with:

Reimbursement of your expenses. The organisation does not want you to be disadvantaged financially as a result of volunteering. It will therefore reimburse you for any additional expenses or any additional travel costs outside those normally incurred, to be agreed in advance with your supervisor. All expenses must be submitted, with receipts where possible, to your supervisor.

We have agreed that you will be available at [INSERT LOCATION AND WORKING PATTERN, WHERE APPLICABLE]. If for any reason, you will not be attending we would be grateful if you could let us know as soon as possible so that a substitute can be found or different arrangements can be made. If we have no tasks for you then we will let you know as soon as possible.

In the course of your volunteering, you will come across confidential information. You must respect this confidentiality and not use the information to benefit yourself, or disclose the information to others, except where there is a danger of harm or potential harm to Service users, colleagues or self.

You will follow Health and Safety, Diversity, and Equal Opportunities Policies, Safeguarding and the Code of Conduct for workers in the health and social care sector. These can be found via Sphere Specialist Healthcare website or paper copies can be obtained from the office.

You may have ideas for the better performance of your tasks or of ways in which we can meet our objectives as an organisation. Please discuss these with your supervisor.
You may run into problems when performing your tasks. You should discuss any problems with your supervisor.
Your supervisor will discuss with you any issues that they may have with your tasks.
If you would like to change the arrangements for your volunteering or to move to a different kind of volunteering, these issues should also be raised with your supervisor.

Either you or the organization can terminate this agreement at any time, with or without prior notice.

Signed:

Signed by Supervisor:

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