Volunteer Centre Fenland

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Volunteers’ Rights
What you can expect from the organisation you volunteer with:

To be given a clear idea of their tasks and responsibilities within the organisation

To be given the name of someone in the organisation who will look after their interests and who will offer them appropriate support and supervision on a regular basis

To be assured that any information shared with the organisation is kept confidential

To be given the same protection under health and safety regulations and public liability as paid employees

To be offered opportunities for training and skills development, appropriate for the voluntary tasks involved

To not be exploited—volunteers should NOT:

Be used to replace paid workers

Have unfair demands made on their time

Be asked to do something which is against their principles or beliefs

To be given the chance to play a part in decision making within the organisation

To not be out of pocket through doing voluntary work. Travel and other expenses should be offered by all funded organisations

Volunteers’ Responsibilities
What the organisation expects from you:

To accept the organisation’s aims and objectives

To do what is reasonably requested of them, to the best of their ability

To treat information obtained whilst volunteering in a confidential manner—this can be information about clients or other workers, paid and unpaid, or about the organisation itself

To recognise the right of the organisation to expect quality of service from all its staff—both paid and unpaid

To recognise that they represent the organisation and therefore need to act in an appropriate manner at all times

To honour any commitment made to the best of their abilities, notifying the organisation in good time should they be

unable to keep that commitment, e.g. during holidays

To be willing to undertake appropriate training with respect to Health and Safety issues, Insurance liability and general

good practice as necessary for the voluntary work undertaken

To share suggestions for changes in working practices with the Volunteer Organiser

CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) Checks for Volunteers

If you volunteer for an organisation and your work will bring you into contact with children or vulnerable adults, you may be asked to apply for a CRB check. For example, if you are to volunteer as a visitor or befriender to any vulnerable member of the public or for such organsisations who work with sick, mentally ill, old people or children e.g. the Hospital Trust or Age Concern, youth club worker.

If you have been asked to apply for a CRB check, the CRB has developed a guide that may answer some of your questions, called Applicant’s Guide to the CRB's Disclosure Service (DIP 017) . The Volunteer Centre has a copy of this or it is available on the CRB website (www.crb.gov.uk).

If you are worried or concerned about what may be, or has been, revealed by your CRB check you can talk in confidence to the Nacro helpline. Nacro is a crime reduction charity that works with ex-offenders and is able to answer specific queries on good practice in relation to employment and offenders.
(Tel: 020 7840 6464 or Email helpline@nacro.org.uk ).