Frequently asked questions for Volunteer Involving Organisations.
Questions about Policies and procedures
Questions about volunteer expenses
Questions about involving young volunteers
Dealing with problems with volunteers
Policies and Procedures
What does my organisation need in place in order for vinvolved to promote our volunteering opportunities?
For one day events:
- Health and Safety Policy
- Risk Assessment
- Recruitment Policy
- Payment of reasonable expenses
- A briefing for volunteers at the start of the day
- A named person responsible for the supervision of volunteers on the day
- Access to toilets
For a regular/ ongoing opportunity
- Health and Safety Policy
- Risk Assessment
- Payment of reasonable expenses
- Policies covering recruitment/ supervision and support of volunteers
- CRB/ Safeguarding policies (where appropriate)
- A complaints/ problem solving procedure.
Where can I find more resources about volunteering management and examples of policies and procedures?
Check out Volunteering England www.volunteeringengland.org.uk
We don’t have the time/ experience/ skills to create these policies and procedures.
We understand it can be a challenge at first to put these procedures in place, however we can provide a variety of support to assist you in doing this and it can normally be done fairly quickly. Often it is just a case of writing down what your organisation is already doing.
We have been running our organisation for many years without any of these procedures in place, why should we do them now?
There are several reasons why it can help your organisation.
1) It helps you get the best out of your organisation’s volunteers
2) You can check whether what you are doing reflects current best practice.
3) It helps you show that you have taken reasonable steps to look after your volunteers, staff and service users.
Volunteer Expenses
Why do you want organisations to pay volunteer expenses?
It is recognised good practice to do so, in order that the volunteering opportunities are open to all members of the community and so that volunteers are not left out of pocket by volunteering.
Our organisation can’t afford to pay expenses
vinvolved Bury will only promote opportunities from public sector, and established charities and community groups who reimburse reasonable expenses to their volunteers.
If a small/ new community group that has very little income is unable to pay expenses we will discuss this on a case by case basis. Please speak to Beth Plant on 0161 253 7914.
Involving Young Volunteers
Young people in Bury aren’t interested in volunteering.
We currently have hundreds of young people from schools and universities, those in work and those looking for work experience, who are interested in volunteering for a wide range of causes.
Young volunteers can’t be given responsibility
We encourage the organisations we work with to treat everyone as an individual. We have young people who have run their own projects, organised fundraising events, manage websites and teach compute skills. If you have concerns please give us a call to discuss them.
How can vinvolved promote our opportunities to young people?
Once you register your opportunities with us, we will promote your opportunities on our webpage, on DO IT the national volunteering database, in our newsletter, via text message and in guidance sessions with young people. We don’t promise that we will be able to recruit all your volunteers but we will spread the word to hundreds of young people.
How do you know the young people are suitable for our project/ Do you CRB check the volunteers?
Vinvolved Bury is a signposting organisation. Ultimately it is up to the young person and the organisation to decide if they are right for each other. This is why it is important to have your own recruitment policy and take out references and a CRB check if necessary.
The volunteer you signposted did not turn up on their first day
If a volunteer does not turn up to the first day of their volunteer placement and doesn’t let you know please call Vicky Sullivan the Youth Volunteer Advisor. The young people we work with are expected to give notice to organisations if something has come up and they can no longer attend.
There is a problem with the volunteer that you signposted to us.
If there is a problem with the volunteer’s behaviour/ time keeping/ competence etc, the first thing to do is to speak to the volunteer. You can clarify your expectations and find out if there are any issues that are affecting the performance of the volunteer that can be quickly fixed.
What do I do if the volunteer is not suitable to volunteer with our organisation.
If you have taken steps to solve any problems and still feel that the volunteer is not suitable for your organisation, sit down with the volunteer and explain this to them. Having a problem solving procedure makes this easier and can demonstrate that the volunteer is not being targeted unfairly. It is much better to deal with a problem head on (even though this can be difficult) rather than never phoning the volunteer again.
