This agreement sets out guidelines towards good practice for Volunteer Involving Organisations in the recruitment of volunteers. There may be aspects of this agreement that your organisation is currently unable to fulfil. The Hampshire Volunteer Centres will encourage and support your organisation to embrace and implement this agreement.
Once you have decided to recruit volunteers into your organisation you should be able to answer the following questions:
- Why are we looking for a volunteer?
- Have we a real role for a volunteer?
- Can we support a volunteer?
- Are all staff aware of the need, reason and role of a volunteer within the organisation and have we their total support? All these questions need a positive answer
- Are any of the volunteering roles more suitable or appropriate to a paid member of staff? If the answer is yes then it is not a volunteer’s role
It is important that the aims of your organisation and your requirements from a volunteer are clearly defined and discussed at the initial conversation with the Centre. If specific restrictions or special circumstances apply to a volunteering role then they should be made clear to the Centre when registering the opportunity.
It is also important that potential volunteers have as much information from the start to avoid disappointment.
Good Practice Guidelines
The following points form part of the Good Practice Agreement that will be promoted by your organisation when recruiting and working with volunteers. Your commitment to these points will form part of our agreement with you when promoting your volunteer opportunities and other services provided by the Volunteer Centre:
- New and prospective volunteers will be given a named contact within your organisation. This will help a new volunteer to settle and become part of your organisation
- Good role descriptions should be provided and where circumstances change the Centre should be informed immediately
- References will be obtained for all new volunteers and, where appropriate CRB checks will be made as part of your recruitment process
The recruitment process will also include new volunteers being made aware of policies and procedures within your organisation. These should include: Health and Safety and relevant Risk Assessments, Fire Safety, Equal Opportunities, Confidentiality, Travel and Expenses Claims and Insurance Liabilities. Your Volunteer Centre can provide advice and information on all of these.
It is important that your organisation has a good Volunteers Induction Procedure. This should start from the first conversation with the potential volunteer. All volunteers and staff should be aware of this procedure.
Our commitment to you as an organisation is:
1. To promote your organisation and your volunteering opportunities within our area
2. To keep you informed of any interest shown in your opportunities and follow these up within 5 working days
3. To gather feedback from any potential volunteer and keep your organisation informed of the results.
4. To add any new opportunities to our database and review old ones annually
5. To offer your organisation and your volunteers individual support, training and development. This may be provided by signposting your organisation to other relevant and appropriate organisations
Your commitment to us on registering is:
1. To support and work towards meeting the Best Practice Guidelines set out in this agreement
2. To provide us with a named person in your organisation and up-to-date, well described volunteering opportunities
3. To advise us of any change in circumstances affecting volunteer recruitment within your organisation as soon as possible.
4. To respond to enquiries from volunteers within one week and advise us of any delays or problems that prevent you from doing so
5. To keep the Volunteer Centre advised of any new volunteer placements and provide us with any relevant feedback received from volunteers
6. To work closely with your Volunteer Centre and respond to any enquires from us wherever possible
We would be grateful if you could fill in this agreement to acknowledge that you have read and understood these Good Practice Guidelines and that you will work towards achieving the highest possible standard for recruiting, managing and developing volunteers within your organisation.
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