All community groups working with vulnerable adults need to be aware of vulnerable adult protection issues and have a duty to ensure staff and volunteers are equipped with the necessary information and knowledge to be able to deal with potential situations and/or to offer guidance and support.

Legislation relating to Adult Protection

The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 includes measures in relation to adults who are at risk from harm. This legislation is in place to help identify and support 'adults at risk' and to achieve an appropriate balance between the rights of individuals to live their lives as they wish, to provide support to them when they need it, and to provide the means to reduce the risk of harm to adults.

The Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 defines adults at risk as individuals, aged 16 years or over, who:

• are unable to safeguard themselves, their property, rights or other interests

• and

• are at risk of harm

• and

• are more vulnerable to being harmed, because they are affected by disability, mental disorder, illness or physical or mental infirmity

Vulnerable adults are also protected under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act where the definition of a ‘protected’ adult covers:

• any individual aged 16 or over who is in receipt of one or more type of care, health or welfare service

What is Adult Abuse?

Adult abuse can be physical or psychological harm, neglect, sexual abuse or financial exploitation.

Your Group’s Responsibilities and Legal Obligations

• Your community group/organisation has a responsibility to promote the welfare of adults and to ensure that vulnerable adults are effectively safeguarded from abuse. You also have a statutory obligation to report suspected abuse

• All community groups working with vulnerable adults need to be aware of vulnerable adult protection issues and have a duty to ensure staff and volunteers are equipped with the necessary information and knowledge to be able to deal with potential situations and/or to offer guidance and support

You should appoint one person on your committee to monitor these issues. They should be responsible for ensuring your policies are up to date, clearly displayed, read and understood by your staff and volunteers. They should also know who the social work contact is in your area and have the phone numbers handy for both social work and police.

By adopting an adult protection policy within your organisation you will provide those guidelines, and it will help your group to review its training needs.

What is Child Abuse?

Child abuse is defined loosely as basic needs not being met, in a manner appropriate to their age and stage of development and being at risk through avoidable acts of commission or omission on the part of relatives, guardians and carers. Professionals working to protect children (that is, police, health workers and social workers) have further defined child abuse according to the categories of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect.

What if your group does not work directly with children?

Even if your group is not working with children directly, there may come a time when a child decides they need a trustworthy and respected adult to confide in and they may turn to a member of your staff or a volunteer. Your group therefore has a duty to ensure staff and volunteers are equipped with the necessary information and knowledge to be able to offer that child guidance and support.

It is important to have one person on your committee to monitor child protection issues. This means they are responsible for ensuring your policies are up to date, clearly displayed, read and understood by your staff and volunteers.

They should also know who the Social Work contact is in your area and have the phone numbers handy for both Social Work and police.

Child abuse is defined loosely as basic needs not being met, in a manner appropriate to their age and stage of development and being at risk through avoidable acts of commission or omission on the part of relatives, guardians and carers. Professionals working to protect children (that is, police, health workers and social workers) have further defined child abuse according to the categories of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect.

Ensuring that the children you work with are safe

If your community group’s activities or services involve children you will need to ensure that you have done all you can to ensure that those children are protected from harm. Part of this responsibility will involve having secure and robust recruitment procedures in place.

If your group or organisation has paid staff - or volunteers - working with children or vulnerable adults in what is defined as ‘regulated work’, the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act makes it mandatory for you to be in receipt of an appropriate and valid Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Record for an individual before they take up their position.

It is an offence for any group or organisation to employ/contract or hire a person to do ‘regulated work’ of any type from which they are barred. The only way you can check if someone is barred from working with children is through the PVG Scheme. This makes it a mandatory requirement for any group working with children to enroll with the PVG Scheme so that they can access PVG Scheme Records. Community Groups should enroll via the Central Registered Body in Scotland (CRBS) to access Scheme Record disclosures for volunteers free of charge.

The PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups) Scheme, is a registration system for anyone who carries out work (paid or unpaid) with vulnerable groups in Scotland. It is designed to exclude people who are known to be unsuitable from working with vulnerable groups and detects those who become unsuitable while in the workplace.

People who are protected by the PVG Scheme are:

• individuals under the age of 18 (children)

• individuals over the age of 16 who are provided with care, health, community care or welfare services (protected adults)

Key points:

• If  your community group or organisation has volunteers or paid staff who are in a regulated role, your committee or board has a legal responsibility to make sure that those people are suitable to work with children or vulnerable adults.

• Regulated roles can be both paid and volunteering positions. This category includes      people working directly with both children and vulnerable adults and others who hold a position of responsibility, such as charity trustees and Board Members.

• Volunteer Scotland have created some helpful guidance to determine who needs to be      members of the PVG scheme. It can be found here

• It is an offence for an individual who is barred to undertake a regulated role. It is also an offence for an employer to offer a barred individual a regulated role unless they can show that they did not know and could not reasonably be expected to know that the individual was barred.

• If your organisation has paid staff or volunteers who are in a regulated role, you need access to scheme records. You must either:

• register with Disclosure Scotland, which will enable them to countersign disclosure    applications or requests

• or enrol with a registered body that can provide countersignatory services for them, Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services can help with this.

Links for more information

Scottish Government - Disclosure Scotland

Types of Disclosure and Fees

https://www.mygov.scot/disclosure-types/

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, CVO

Overview of the PVG Scheme

https://scvo.org.uk/support/running-your-organisation/legislation/pvg-scheme

Very occasionally, things can go seriously wrong for groups involving volunteers. Having good policies and procedures in place to deal with complaints or accidents will help resolve most issues and limit their impact, but some incidents may be outside the scope of these and have the potential to cause legal or reputational damage to your organisation. 

For example: 

• A volunteer turning up drunk and abusive 

• A volunteer who acts inappropriately with a client 

• An assault 

• Disclosure checks reveal a criminal history of a volunteer that causes alarm 

Remember that serious cases are very rare, but in the unfortunate event of you having to fire-fight a problem, it is far better to have a plan in place rather than reacting when chaos is descending. This type of more serious incident should be part of your risk management strategy, making sure that you are prepared. 

Firstly, make sure that everyone within your group or organisation knows their role. Committee or board members, the chair, managers etc all need to know what to do if serious problems arise. It is vital that you have a person who is responsible for coordinating your group’s response. Your board members are the ones who carry responsibility and liability for your group, so their involvement is crucial. 

If your community group or organisation has a manager in place, they need to know that the chair or another appointed board member can act as a second point of call. 

Dealing with a Serious Incident

Gather the Facts

 

It is not easy to handle a crisis if you are not aware of all the facts. If your role is as a leader, you have to be detached from the emotional side of the crisis and rationally take stock of things in order to move on. 

Get People Together 

Meet up with the relevant people within your group or organisation to discuss the situation. This should include committee or board members. This meeting will enable you to start analysing the facts and preparing your united stand on handling the crisis. Agree a timeline and ensure that internal policies and procedures are followed. 

External Assistance

You might need to appoint external experts to access the situation if the crisis is totally unanticipated or you do not feel that you have the skills to handle it effectively internally. 

Handling the Press

Prepare a statement or press release on behalf of the organisation. If you are comfortable (and authorised) to conduct a press interview, make sure that you have the full details - and that you feel confident that you can deliver it in an unemotional and fair way. You want your organisation to look professional, in control and demonstrate that it is handling the situation well. Remember to be forthcoming with reliable information (without giving away confidential information) and try not to speculate. In extreme cases, it may be necessary to manage the press who may be calling for information and comment following a situation. 

Remember to: 

• Identify a spokesperson and make sure that that person is available to the press 

• Make sure that the spokesperson is well briefed with the facts and the key message that your organisation needs to give 

• Ensure that all other staff, volunteers and board understand that they must not and cannot talk to anyone about the situation to anyone external (including family and friends) and that they should be vigilant for press trying to target them 

• The press won’t just go away if you ignore them - consider issuing a statement. A powerful well- crafted statement can help mitigate negative press. Consider engaging a professional if need be. 

• Never say 'no comment' 

• Always be courteous and helpful, but stick to the agreed line, no matter how demanding the press are 

• If you do not know the answer try and find out – always check with/agree with someone senior on what the responses to questions should be 

After the Dust Settles 

It is very important that you recognise the impact that a serious incident can have on the rest of your team. Although the details of an incident might be too sensitive to share, it is important that you have a debrief session with your staff and volunteer team: 

• Meet with the team informally 

• Cover the issue of confidentiality outwith the organisation 

• Give information about the situation 

• Reassure the team and offer additional support It is also advisable that you record the events, in the way you would record any other confidential matter. 

Make sure you have the details of what has happened, the action taken and the outcome.

What happens when the relationship between your volunteer and your organisation is no longer working and has to come to an end? 

‘Counselling out' 

When the relationship between volunteer and organisation breaks down and the decision is made that a volunteer should leave (for whatever reason), your approach should enable that volunteer to see that it is not appropriate for them continue to do voluntary work within your particular organisation anymore. This is sometimes referred to as ‘counselling out’, although there is some debate as to whether or not 'counselling' (or ‘to help others help themselves’) is the most appropriate word to use. 

However it is referred to, the procedure needs to be carried out tactfully and with sensitivity and not be seen simply as a case of ‘getting rid of’ or ‘finishing’ a volunteer. You group should consider including 'counselling out' procedures within your Volunteer Policy. 

Offering Alternatives 

There could be one or several reasons why a volunteer is deemed unsuitable for a specific role. Yet, given the opportunity, the same volunteer may prove more than adequate at achieving other tasks. Attempts should be made to offer volunteers alternative opportunities. Further training may be needed, but investing the time and effort will hopefully bring rewards. If no alternative roles can be found, refer the volunteer on – perhaps to another community group or organisation that may be more suitable. Or suggest that they contact their local Volunteer Centre or Third Sector Interface organisation where there may be a much wider range of opportunities to consider. 

Which other issues need to be considered? 

Complaints Procedures 

Ideally as part of your 'Volunteer Policy', volunteers should have access to the organisation's 'Complaints Procedure'. 

Personal Issues

 

The person responsible for asking a volunteer to leave should do so in a straightforward but sensitive manner. The reasons may well be 'clear cut' but a volunteer still needs something positive to take with them. 

Sharing Information 

There may be instances where an organisation obtains information on a person which they feel needs to be shared with others. For example, there may have been a complaint made against a volunteer by a client. If, after investigation, this is substantiated and the volunteer asked to leave, it may be appropriate to share this information with certain other organisations, despite the issues raised regarding confidentiality and prejudice. 

This situation may be difficult, and will entail careful consideration, however if it is felt there is a possibility of placing an already vulnerable person at potentially even greater risk, then the reasons for disclosing this information will be justified. This does not, and should not, necessarily mean the volunteer is prevented from doing any further voluntary work. Rather, work undertaken in the future should be concerned with not placing clients (or the volunteer) in an unnecessarily vulnerable/stressful situation.

Having grievance procedures for volunteers may sound rather formal, but they intend to promote fairness in the treatment of volunteers and ensure that as far as possible volunteers have the same rights as paid staff. 

Most difficulties can be settled through the normal channels of communication. Where this is not possible, the purpose of a Volunteer Grievance Procedure is to provide for the orderly resolution of joint problems in a fair and open way. 

Informal Discussions 

In the first instance, if any volunteer has a grievance about their volunteering or a colleague they should discuss it informally, as soon as possible, with their line manager (or another manager if the grievance involves the line manager). Their grievance should be taken seriously and everything done to try to resolve the issue informally. The majority of concerns are likely to be resolved at this stage. 

Best Practice Guidelines for a Volunteer Grievance Procedure 

The following are suggested best practice guidelines for Volunteer Grievance Procedures. How your committee or board chooses to tailor or adapt these will depend on the scale and management structure or your group or organisation. 

Stage 1: If a volunteer feels that the matter has not been resolved through informal discussions, they should be able to put the complaint in writing to the appropriate person within your group or organisation. Follow this up with a meeting to allow an opportunity for the volunteer to explain their complaints and share how they would like them addressed. The volunteer will have a right to be accompanied to this meeting. Following this meeting, the line manager (or other appropriate person) will give a written response usually within 5 working days of the meeting outlining how the complaint(s) will be responded to. If the complaint requires further meetings or investigations, the 5 working days limit may need to be extended. The response will follow this meeting and include a reference to the right of appeal. 

Stage 2: If the volunteer feels the issue has still not been resolved satisfactorily, they should raise the matter, in writing, to the committee or board. The volunteer will be invited to a meeting where they can discuss the matter and establish how best to resolve the situation. The volunteer has a right to be accompanied to this meeting. Following the meeting, the Director will give a written response within 5 working days of the meeting outlining how the complaint will be responded to. If the complaint is against another member of staff or volunteer, or requires further investigation, the Director will need to carry out further meetings or investigations. In this case, the 5 working days limit above, may need to be extended. The response will follow this meeting and include a reference to the right of appeal. 

Right of Appeal

If the volunteer wishes to appeal against any grievance decision, they should do so in writing within five working days of the decision. Your board may choose to set up an Appeals Sub-committee to hear the volunteers appeal. The volunteer should be given the right to be accompanied to the appeal meeting. The Appeals Sub-committee’s decision will be final.

No matter what your structures there may be times when the performance or conduct of a volunteer falls below what is expected. Having a clear and established disciplinary process in place will prevent misunderstandings and seek to protect the volunteer and the organisation. This should be shared with all your volunteers.

The aim of the policy should be to encourage improvement in individual conduct and performance, and reduce the need for 'counselling out'. Do not be tempted to use any existing Disciplinary policy that you have for paid staff. Your volunteering Disciplinary policy has to be specific to volunteers.

Best Practice Guidelines for a Volunteer Disciplinary Procedure

The following are suggested best practice guidelines. How your committee or board chooses to tailor or adapt these will depend on the scale and management structure or your group or organisation.

Informal Meeting

Before any policy and procedure is invoked, conduct an informal meeting. Most problems can be resolved by informal discussions or counselling, and often this can avoid the need for formal disciplinary action. This may include mediation or additional training or support for the volunteer.

An informal meeting would not be recorded as disciplinary action and would be seen as a process of constructive dialogue. If the problem cannot be resolved informally with your volunteer, it might then be appropriate to invoke a disciplinary policy and procedure.

Stage 1 - Formal Verbal Warning

A formal verbal warning may be given to the volunteer if, despite informal discussions or training, the conduct or performance still does not meet acceptable standards. This should follow an appropriate disciplinary meeting delivered by the person within your group or organisation who is most relevant - this may be a committee member or perhaps a Volunteer Coordinator/Manager.

A brief note of the warning should be kept but, subject to satisfactory conduct and/or performance, this would lapse after 6 months.

Stage 2 - Written Warning

If there is no improvement in standards within the prescribed time, or if a further offence occurs, the volunteer should receive a letter from their manager inviting them to attend a further disciplinary meeting. The disciplinary meeting should take place as soon as is reasonably possible, but with sufficient time for the volunteer to consider their response to the information contained in the letter.

The meeting should be an opportunity for both the volunteer (with their representative) and the manager to talk about the issues or allegations being made, consider the information with a view to establishing whether to progress the disciplinary action.

Following the disciplinary meeting, if it is decided that no further action is warranted, the volunteer should be informed in writing.

Where the volunteer is found to be performing unsatisfactorily or their behaviour is deemed unsatisfactory they will be given a written warning. A copy of the written warning should be kept on file but the warning will lapse after 12 months subject to satisfactory conduct and/or performance.

Where a written warning is given, the Chair of the Board of Directors  should be advised and kept up to date with any progress.
 

Stage 3 – Final Written Warning

If the conduct or performance still remains unsatisfactory by the stipulated date, or if the misconduct is sufficiently serious to warrant only one written warning, a further disciplinary meeting (where the Director will be present) should be called with the employee and their representative. The disciplinary meeting will be an opportunity for the volunteer to answer the issues raised.

Where this meeting establishes that there has been a failure to improve or change behaviour, then a final written warning should be given to the volunteer.

Final Stage – Dismissal

If the volunteer’s conduct or performance still fails to improve or if further serious misconduct occurs, the final stage in the disciplinary process may be instituted and the volunteer dismissed.
 

Gross Misconduct

Where a volunteer is found guilty of gross misconduct, they would normally be subject to summary dismissal (instant dismissal without notice) and the above procedures regarding progression of warnings should not apply.

Examples of gross misconduct might include:
 • Deliberate falsification of expenses claims
 • Disclosure of confidential information (see confidentiality policy)
 • Convictions of a criminal offence that undermine a person's suitability for volunteering
 • Provision of false information relevant to a person's volunteering position
 • Consistently poor attendance on a project, without appropriate notification
 • Use of abusive or offensive language or behaviour
 • Bullying or harassment
 • Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs
 • Theft of property or misuse of equipment or materials
 • Failure to abide by policies and procedures
 • Failure to satisfactorily perform assigned duties

Appeals

If a volunteer wishes to appeal against any disciplinary decision, this should be made in writing within five working days of the decision being communicated to them, to the relevant person on the board.

Motivating volunteers is a key part of your role as a volunteer coordinator/manager and it is one of the most challenging aspects of volunteer support. Likewise, it is a critical factor in keeping volunteers committed to their roles. The success of motivating volunteers comes from understanding the motivation of volunteers in the first place and managing them according to their needs.

Typical things that might motivate a volunteer are:

• Feeling connected

• Common goals

• Common values

• Mutual respect and trust

• Pride in the team

• Equity

• Having a say

• Feeling effective - able to see something through to completion, having some control

• Feeling unique - having particular individual strengths recognised, being given challenges which use particular strengths

If we understand what motivates both our staff and volunteers, we also need to recognise where motivation may be lagging.

Signs that your volunteers may be feeling demotivated include:

• Increased absenteeism

• Persistent lateness

• Irritability

• Drop in performance or standard of work

• Petty grievances

• Lack of co-operation, seeming to disagree for the sake of it

• General increase in volunteer turnover

Keeping your volunteers motivated

One of the most important aspects of maintaining motivation is to address the way in which you recognise and reward your volunteers. The best way is to encourage and foster a culture of rewarding and recognising your volunteers as early into the development of your volunteer framework as possible.

Fortunately, motivating volunteers is not that hard.

There are tools you can have at your disposal that you can use to reward and recognise your volunteers that include:

• Saying 'thank you'

• Making sure you know and use each volunteer’s name

• Remembering the more personal things about them such as the names of their children and pets

• Giving them time – not just formal support sessions

• Celebrating major achievements

• Involving them in decision making

• Offering relevant training and progression

• Making sure that you settle expenses claims quickly

• Providing food and/or refreshments

• Nominating them for awards, or having your own awards ceremony – remember volunteers’ week is the first week of June each year

• Making sure that the whole organisation recognises what volunteers do and make sure this is reflected in external media

• Mentioning their achievements at committee meetings and in reports

• Remembering their birthday

• Sending cards at Christmas and other appropriate holidays

• Organising social events

• Providing any equipment they may need to do their jobs

• Keeping a record of individuals achievements so you have that information on hand

• Using special events such as Volunteers Week to celebrate their work

• Saying ‘thank you’ again

All volunteers should have a named person who will offer on-going personal support that allows them talk through any issues and problems that they have.

This can be offered in a variety of ways, including:

• Regular, pre-arranged one-to-one support sessions

• Informal day-to-day support, for example, checking in with volunteers at the end of each session

• Telephone support

• Review/development/evaluation sessions at fixed points during the year

• Getting in touch at key points, for example, after a potentially stressful session

• Group support – getting volunteers together to share ideas and experiences

• Peer support – using experienced, long-standing volunteers to support new volunteers

• Training – all volunteers should have the training necessary to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to carry out their tasks safely and effectively

The way in which your organisation offers support to volunteers will be determined by a variety of factors, such as:

• The type of organisation

• The nature of the volunteer task

• The needs of individual volunteers and the resources available

A good support system will incorporate elements of practical, organisational, information and personal support to volunteers. At the start of a volunteer’s involvement with the project you should take the time to discuss what they think their support needs will be and what you feel is appropriate to their role and agree on the best method of providing support.

Remember that a volunteer’s support needs may change during their involvement with you and so it is important to review regularly the way in which support is offered.

A good support system for volunteers will:

• Ensure volunteers can claim their rights

• Ensure that volunteers can carry out their responsibilities in line with their role or task descriptions and the volunteer agreement

• Set objectives

• Assess and identify training needs

• Exchange information and ideas

• Allow early intervention in problems or issues

• Help you gauge the stage and needs of the volunteer

• A time to praise particular aspects of their work or conduct etc.

Making the support effective

When considering how you are going to structure your support and supervision sessions, it is a good idea to think about what factors can affect how effective the session will go with your volunteer, particularly if you need to address something with them.

For a session to be effective you should:

• Schedule enough time

• Ensure there is privacy

• Have clear structure

• Assure confidentiality

• Keep appropriate records

• Set date for next session

• Agree future plans where appropriate

• Finish on a positive note

A good support session is essential and therefore you should avoid:

• Noisy environments

• Late starts

• Appearing like you are in a rush, distracted or allow interruptions

• No summary at end of session

• No agreement when next session will happen

• Finishing on a non positive note

Remember that your support and supervision structure has to suit your organisation and your volunteer roles. It is a chance for you and your volunteer(s) to have space to look at all aspects of their volunteering.

It is also an opportunity to:

• Obtain information

• Empower and coach your volunteer

• Evaluate how the relationship and role is working

• Motivate

Volunteers, like most of us, need some form of ongoing support to help them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Implementing a good support system will help volunteers claim their rights and carry out their responsibilities within your group, and will demonstrate to volunteers that their work and development is important to you. 

What Do We Mean by Support and Supervision?

Supporting someone is about strengthening their skills, helping them to succeed.

The common definitions of the verb ‘to support’ also include:

• To hold in position so as to keep from falling, sinking, or slipping

• To be able to withstand

• To provide for, or maintain, by supplying with money or necessities

Supervision is about overseeing in terms of management or overseeing the performance or operation of a person or group.

Why have a Support System?

An effective support system will provide a means of tackling problems before they get out of hand.

Support is an enabling activity that focuses on the person rather than the task, and involves:

• Giving people the space and encouragement to share thoughts and feelings

• Hearing what people say

• Being reliably there for other people

• Increasing the other person’s self esteem

• Enabling the other person to cope

• Providing practical assistance

As with most areas of volunteer management, there is no single ‘right’ way to offer support to volunteers. Different volunteer tasks will require different types of support and you will also need to take into account the differing needs of individual volunteers.

For example, volunteer management committee or board members will usually need a different induction and support from volunteers delivering direct services. What is important is that an appropriate support system is in place from the beginning of each volunteer’s involvement with you.

Remember that supporting volunteers includes practical issues such as expenses and making sure volunteers have up-to-date and comprehensive information.

Factors to consider when choosing the right type of support

• The type of group you are

• Resources available to you - time, physical space, staff to volunteer ratio etc.

• Type of volunteer task - driving, office based, lunch club, shop, etc.

• Type of volunteers – skilled, inexperienced, higher support need, confident

• Motivation needs of the volunteer

• Numbers of volunteers – capacity of group to deliver

• Think about how demanding your volunteers’ role(s) might be. For example, if your volunteers are working with people with dementia, consider how you will ensure they have space to discuss how they are feeling.

Your responsibility to your organisation is to ensure that anyone coming in to your organisation is suitable, safe and appropriate. This duty of care extends to how your group or organisation screens potential volunteers.

With any form of screening, it is important to make your volunteer applicants aware that this will take place at the earliest opportunity. Also remember that you can use your knowledge of volunteers to screen and select.

For example:
Use a trail period or compulsory training as a means of screening your volunteer’s suitability.

Getting References

It is best practice for you to ask for references for volunteers, but this is not necessarily going to be the same as asking for references for paid employees.

Who will you accept references from?

It is important that you let your applicants know from whom you will accept references:

 • It may not be appropriate to ask for a reference from a former employer - these are often irrelevant to the role and can be difficult to obtain
 • Asking that a referee should be someone who has known the applicant for a minimum number of years can be difficult for some volunteers

When contacting referees, give them information about the role and your organisation and ask them specific questions - you will have more chance of receiving a reference if you give them a prompt. Consider accepting a phone call or email as a reference, this can often speed up the reference and make it easier for the referee to respond.

Disclosure Checks

If your volunteer is going to be working with children or vulnerable adults you have a legal duty to ensure that they are suitable to do so. Make sure that your committee or board members are fully aware of their responsibilities and duties concerning the protection of children and vulnerable adults, the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme and Disclosure checks.

Is this person suitable?

Having met your potential volunteer, read their references, (and accessed a PVG Scheme Record or other type of Disclosure to check their suitability to work with either children or vulnerable adults – if appropriate) - consider how the person matches the skills, knowledge or aptitudes which are essential for the role.

 • If the candidate does not immediately match the role’s requirements, would they have the potential to do so with support and/or training?
 • If they are not suitable for that particular role - are they suitable for a role elsewhere within the organisation?

Saying 'no' to an applicant

Saying 'no' to an applicant is something that anyone recruiting for volunteers should be prepared for. If an applicant is simply not suitable – tell them. Give them the reasons why in as positive a way as possible and help them to consider their options.

Just because they are not suitable for you, it does not mean that they are  not suitable elsewhere. Letting them know this means that they are not put off volunteering and can enquire somewhere else about other volunteering opportunities.

It always best for both of you to actually meet potential volunteers and have a chat.

It is better to shy away from using the term 'interview' when describing what is usually an informal meeting anyway. Over formalising the selection process will put some volunteers off and can create necessary pressure. An 'interview', like an application form is a method of filtering, which is not always appropriate to volunteers.

Meeting with your applicants should be a chance for:

 • You to offer a welcoming experience into your organisation
 • Potential volunteers to see what you do, who you are and possibly meet some of your beneficiaries
 • Potential volunteers to ask questions about volunteering with you and your organisation
 • You to find out about them

Finding out about your applicant

Use this opportunity to find out about your applicants and ask them questions.

What you need to ask should be dependent on the role, but some basic areas to cover should be:

 • What skills, experience and knowledge they have
 • What interests them about volunteering with your organisation
 • What they hope to gain from volunteering with you
 • What level of commitment they can make (time, days and for how long)


You should also consider the things that your applicant might want to know about you and your project or organisation. Consider what points you want and need to convey to your applicant during your discussion that will help them to understand the role and your organisation.

You will need to let them know:
 • About your organisation, who its beneficiaries are, its projects and its future plans
 • What role your volunteers play
 • Specifics about this volunteer opportunity (if applicable)
 • Details of any training support and expenses offered to volunteers
 • Time commitment
 • What happens next - for example, do you require references, PVG Scheme Records/Disclosure checks?


 A potential volunteer will want to know:
 • What your organisation is about
 • What they will be doing if they volunteer with you
 • Who their contact person is
 • What sort of place is it to work in – will they fit in?
 • What the recruitment process involves
 • Will they be safe and secure while they volunteer
 • That you value their involvement

As a follow on from your organisation's volunteer recruitment plan, a well planned selection and screening procedure is an important process to get right.

This process will allow you to match the needs of your organisation with the needs and skills of the volunteers. It will also prevent a volunteer from being placed in a role that does not match their expectations, or that they are ill-equipped to fulfill - which could lead to an unhappy and unproductive experience for everyone.  Screening also ensures that your group or organisation is fulfilling its legal obligation to protect any children or vulnerable adults that your volunteers may work with.

 Key Points:

 • Keep it simple; try to keep the process for your organisation the same for all volunteers
 • Keep it straightforward and appropriate for the roles within your organisation
 • Make it clear from the outset if volunteers require to be disclosure checked for their role and if references are required
 • Look at what will help to draw out the best from your volunteers and ways to make it a fair process
 • If possible, try to steer away from the more formal approach of application and interviews.  There are many methods you can use, so it is worth investing time to make the process accessible and suitable to your organisation

 

If your group or organisation wants to involve volunteers, how are you going to set about recruiting them? Do some research. If you are a volunteer yourself consider what it was that attracted you to volunteering in the first place.

Perhaps you know other organisations that involve volunteers. Ask them how they recruited their volunteers.

If you have recruited for volunteers before, it is a good idea to perhaps revisit what worked and what did not. For example, how many interested volunteers did that advert in the local newspaper produce?

Asking people directly
The simplest method, particularly for small groups, is to start by simply asking people you know. Most people will respond positively to being asked in this way, but remember to be clear about what it is you are asking them to do and the amount of time you are asking them to commit.

Recruiting volunteers from your surrounding areas or from people that are known to you by:

 • Sending out newsletters/flyers to families of those you work with
 • Having an open day for the local community
 • Asking your existing staff or volunteers to ask if anyone within their network is interested in volunteering

The advantage of this form of recruitment is that you are very likely to get people who fit and really get your organisation. Conversely, this can mean that if you use this method too often you will be reducing your options and could lose out on diversity.

For most groups and organisations, the search for volunteers needs to extend further than their immediate vicinity. Below are some examples of recruitment methods you may wish to use:

Cast your net as wide as possible, getting your message out to as many people as possible:

• Advertise your volunteering opportunities here on the Volunteer Academy - opportunities are publicised on the web and on Volunteer Scotland.

• Make use of the many social media platforms available to us for free. By posting your vacancies on social media you can spread message quickly.
• Put up posters/distributing flyers in libraries, doctor surgeries, public buildings, schools/colleges, leisure centres, places of worship, arts venues, supermarkets, and cafes
• Make use of local community events where you can have a stall that will help publicise your organisation and meet potential volunteers

Some more targeted methods of recruitment include:

 • offering to do talks or presentations to groups
 • taking out adverts in particular publications or community newsletters - print media is normally quite costly but do not be afraid to haggle for a deal if you feel a particular printed medium would help you to target.
 • looking into online/web based tools such as Facebook, X, TikTok or Instagram, these are all free and if kept up to date, can be a great way to publicise vacancies for your organisation

Keep an eye on your recruitment budget. Producing adverts or leaflets which appeal to one particular group might mean that they are not so effective for more generic groups, and you could end up duplicating and/or adding costs.

What is the best time of year to recruit?
It is possible to recruit all year round, however it is worth noting that there are key times throughout the year when there are more volunteers looking for opportunities:

 • New Year is a very popular time - lots of people looking for a fresh start or making a positive change for the upcoming year
 • Volunteers Week (first week of June) –a good time to approach the media with some good news stories and a plea for volunteers
 • Summer - although for some this is a time for holidays and taking care of the kids, there are many other types of people looking for volunteer opportunities, including students and people travelling through


More importantly think about your own timescales and schedules. Remember to leave yourselves enough time to complete a selection process and in particular enough time to complete any PVG Scheme requests/Disclosure checks (where relevant).

Following up on interest

Finally, one of the most common complaints from volunteers is when they have enquired about an opportunity and an organisation has not got back to them. First impressions often mean that if a volunteer has left a message (email, phone or letter) and they do not get a reply promptly, you will lose them.

Some of the ways in which you can be prepared to follow up on interest include:
 • Ensuring that your organisation knows what to do with an enquiry
 • Using your website (if you have one) - upload your application pack for volunteers so that it can be downloaded by interested individuals
 • Keeping any current staff and volunteers informed - make sure that those who answer the phone and pick up the emails know what to do with a volunteer enquiry
 • Having some volunteer packs made up ready to send out
 • Letting people know when you have found a volunteer to fill the post
 • Signposting unsuccessful enquirers to your local Third Sector Interface organisation 

The recruitment and selection of volunteers not only involves choosing the most suitable recruitment methods. It also involves meeting legal responsbilities in relation to ensuring that the volunteers you recruit are suitable for the roles they will fulfil within your group or organisation -particularly if they will be working with children or other vulnerable people. Planning for the recruitment of volunteers is a necessary requirement in finding the right volunteers for your group.
 

There is no one magic solution or guaranteed answer, however taking the time to plan will hugely increase your chances of a successful recruitment.  

As well as looking at different recruitment methods, before you start recruiting, ask yourselves:

 • What do you need your volunteers to do?
 • Who is going to deal with any enquiries about volunteers in your organisation and how will this be done?
 • What information are you going to give potential volunteers?
 • Consider what you need to tell them about your organisation
 • What policies do you think volunteers need to know about before they apply, for example, do they require to be disclosure checked because this post involves working with vulnerable people?
 • Do you have a budget for volunteer recruitment?
 • Revisit your Equal Opportunities policy and seek to meet the same objectives as you would for the recruitment of staff
 • Have you considered the timing of your recruitment?
 • Have you thought about how you will manage and evaluate demand?

Drawing up a Job Description and Person Specification

What are you going to ask your volunteers to do? If you have a volunteer role that you wish to recruit for, as a first step, look at how that role would match with the motivation of a volunteer.

Consider this example:

You have designed a volunteer task description for a volunteer to fill envelopes, so if a potential volunteer hears about this role, what do you want them to know about it?

 • That they are doing a job that no-one else wants to do, but it does help the organisation
 • That they are sending out a nice newsletter to a long list of people
 • That they understand they are sending a newsletter to the community supported by the organisation and that this small contact is just enough to reduce people’s sense of isolation and make a real impact on their lives

Which of these do you think is most likely to appeal to a volunteers’ motivation?

A good exercise to do before you start any recruitment for a particular post is to jot down what you believe will motivate your volunteers and think about using the key words in an opening statement for your advert.

A Volunteer Task Description lets the volunteer know what they are there for. It will also help you understand what you need from your volunteers and what you want them to do.

Why do you need one?

To build a good functional arrangement with your volunteers they need to secure and understand what you need them to do. No matter how simple the task, clarity is the key to success. No matter how informal your organisation - people need to know what they are signing up for.

What do you include?
The basic framework for your Volunteer Task Description should include:

What?

 • What is the purpose of the role?
 • What are some examples of specific day to day tasks?
 • What skills and attributes are needed?
 • What commitment is required for this role? is it flexible?

When?

 • When will the volunteering take place?
 • When will the role be revisited or reviewed?

How?

 • How will the volunteer be supported?
 • How will the volunteer be supervised?
 • How will the volunteer be reimbursed for expenses?
 • How their role fits in with your organisation
 • How it will help you to achieve your organisation's aims

Who?

 • Who is the point of contact for the volunteer?

Reference your Volunteer Policy – along with any others which are relevant, for example your organisation’s Confidentiality Policy, Equal Opportunities Policy or Child Protection Policy.

Keep it simple
Do not be tempted to adapt a Job Description for a paid role into a Volunteer Task Description. This rarely works well. Task Descriptions should be clear simple and preferably use informal language - remember that they are for volunteers and you want to make them accessible, not intimidating. Avoid any implication that your Task Description is a more formal contract.

A Volunteer Agreement sets out the things that you expect from your volunteer and what they can expect from you. It will give you and your volunteer a fantastic starting point in your working relationship that clearly outlines how you intend to commit to one another.

When a volunteer begins their new role with you, they will bring their enthusiasm and eagerness but also expectations of what they will be doing and how you will look after them. Likewise, they will have responsibilities to you and your organisation just as you will carry responsibilities to them.

Understanding this relationship is the key to building a safe arrangement between you and your volunteer.

Your responsibilities to your volunteer

You are responsible for letting them know:

 • What you expect them to do
 • When you expect them to do it – how much time you would like them to commit
 • Where they will be doing it
 • What training you will give them
 • What support you will give them
 • That they are safe and insured when working for you
 • How they will be supervised
 • Will they get expenses
 • What to do if they are unhappy or if there are problems

Your volunteer’s responsibilities to you

Your volunteers are responsible for:

 • Doing what you ask them to
 • Working with your policies and practices
 • Showing up when they say they will
 • Attending training and support sessions

When writing up your Volunteer Agreement, think about the language you use. Shy away from you using words such as ‘will’ and ‘must’. It is also a good idea to explicitly state in a disclaimer at the bottom of the final version that explains that the agreement is a not a contract of employment.

Community groups involve volunteers in a variety of ways. Some are comprised entirely of volunteers. Some organisations inherit volunteers by default. Not every group or organisation will be happy about involving volunteers – others simply cannot get enough of them.
 

Why would your group involve volunteers?

For any group or organisation to build a successful framework which engages and supports volunteers, everyone from the Trustees (who after all are volunteers themselves) to a paid member of staff (who may not have any contact with volunteers) needs to understand the reasons why involving volunteers is a positive thing and how it can help your group.

Involving volunteers:

• Helps forge strong links between the group and the community

• Means your group can use them as ambassadors for your cause

• Engages supporters/funders/stakeholders

• Offers a different and unique relationship with your clients that paid staff may not be able to (such as mentoring or befriending)

• Relieves staff pressures

The benefits volunteers bring

Understanding the benefits that volunteers bring, can really help everyone in the group understand why volunteering is so important.

Benefits of involving volunteers might include:

• Enhancement of your services

• Ability to provide a more flexible service

• Support for staff to provide more services

• Support with events – such as fundraising and awareness raising

• Bringing diversity to the organisation

• Bringing a new perspective to your group or organisation
  

When it is clear why your group involves volunteers and what benefits that brings, it is important to reflect this in your group’s core values and aims:

• Is the value and benefit of involving volunteers reflected in the purpose and mission statement of your organisation? If not should it be?

• Are you communicating the importance of volunteers to your paid staff, committees, volunteers, users and the general public?

• You may wish to consider reflecting these values in your practices, publicity and written materials produced by your organisation: for example, annual reports, strategic plans, publicity.

Why not schedule 10 minutes at your next board meeting to ask your Directors or Trustees these questions?

Managing volunteers will not always be plain sailing. It is important that your community group or organisation is prepared for when things go wrong. There will inevitably be times when the performance or conduct of a volunteer falls below what is expected. 

Problems usually arise because of lack of clarity and a breakdown in your volunteer support structure. Clarity is therefore probably the number one prevention. If people know what they are to do, know how to have their voice heard and know what is expected of them and crucially are thanked then it goes a long way to mitigating any problems. 

Although you cannot plan for every eventuality, if you have a Volunteer Framework Structure you can help prevent some challenges and safeguard against others. This will also mean that if they do occur, you will know what to do and deal with them efficiently. 

A Volunteer Framework Structure

 

A good volunteer framework structure should include: 

• Volunteering policy 

• Effective processes for recruitment and selection of volunteers 

• Volunteering agreements 

• Volunteer task/role descriptions 

• Risk assessments for each task description 

• Effective training and support for volunteers 

• Code of conduct 

• A process for dealing with complaints 

• A process for dealing with a disciplinary issue

A basic disclosure is the most common and lowest level of disclosure available. It includes information on any 'unspent' convictions the person has. Anyone can apply for a basic disclosure certificate. Applications for basic disclosure will be processed according to the Scottish rules under the Rehabilitation periods for particular sentences section of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Key points:

• A basic disclosure is a criminal record check. A certificate is issued showing any 'unspent' criminal convictions a person may have. Unspent means that they need to be declared. This certificate can be used to show to prospective employers or other people that need to know this information.

• Applications for Basic Disclosures are usually completed online and cost £25 and are usually processed in 14 days.

• Disclosure Scotland doesn't monitor people with basic disclosure, so the certificate is only valid when it's created and not for a specific length of time.

• Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, some criminal convictions can be treated as 'spent' – meaning they're not relevant to basic disclosure – after a certain length of time. Spent convictions are not included on a basic disclosure.

Links for more information

Scottish Government - Disclosure Scotland

Basic Disclosure Process

https://www.mygov.scot/basic-disclosure/

Every individual in Scotland – whatever their age - has the right to be cared for, protected from harm and to live in a safe environment in which their rights and needs are respected. Some people are more vulnerable than others, and in these cases there are laws which enforce their rights and place a statutory duty on organisations to ensure that they are protected.

Children

A child is usually defined as an individual under the age of 18. In Scotland, the responsibility to protect children extends to everyone. We all should be aware of our responsibility to ensure that children are effectively safeguarded from abuse, to promote the welfare of children and to report suspected child abuse to the relevant authorities. This includes your community group.

Vulnerable Adults

Most of us will at some point in our adult lives be considered ‘vulnerable’ and therefore have legal rights to be protected. The definition of a ‘protected adult’ under Section 94 of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act covers:

• Any individual aged 16 or over who is in receipt of one or more type of care, health, community care or welfare service

• The Scottish Government's Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme implements the provisions outlined in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, strengthening protection for children and other vulnerable people in Scotland.

• The information in this section has been reviewed by the Central Registered Body in Scotland (CRBS).

To be eligible to access PVG information an organisation must be:

• A Qualifying Voluntary Organisation e.g. registered charity, a not for profit organisation

• Providing a service to children and/or protected adults

• Carrying out work in Scotland

If your community group or organisation has volunteers or paid staff which you consider to be in a regulated role, your committee or board has a legal responsibility to make sure that those people are suitable to work with children or vulnerable adults.

It is an offence for an individual who is barred to undertake a regulated role. It is also an offence for an employer to offer a barred individual a regulated role unless they can show that they did not know and could not reasonably be expected to know that the individual was barred. If your organisation has paid staff or volunteers who are in a regulated role, you need access to scheme records.

You must either:

• register with Disclosure Scotland, which will enable them to countersign disclosure      applications or requests

• or enrol with a registered body that can provide countersignatory services for them Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services can help with this

Key points:-

To register with Disclosure Scotland – will incur an annual fee of £125 for up to 5 signatories including the Lead Signatory. This fee is over above the fees for processing the individual applications for paid staff.

• It is free to become a QVO through Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services (VSDS) and once you are registered with them you will have access to free PVG checks

• To join the PVG scheme as an individuals it costs £59 per person and £18 to update an existing record to add a new organisation

A group can also register with Volunteer Scotland or another intermediary body. Volunteer Scotland can advise on this.

Nominate a Lead Person. The lead person will be responsible for completing the enrolment process and ensuring that the organisation complies with the requirements of the Code of Practice.

As part of the enrolment process you will need the following information:

• Details of what your organisation does

• The structure of your organisation and details of your Management Committee/Board (e.g. Constitution).

• Details of how your organisation is funded (e.g. copy of your most recent audited      accounts, last 3 months bank statements or a letter confirming funding from your funding provider).

• However, if you are a registered charity you do not need to submit this information.

• Details of the positions/roles within your organisation that require a standard, enhanced or PVG scheme disclosure record.

• We will send you a secure handling policy with your enrolment form however      the following sample policies and recruitment tools are available on our website. Click the links below to download or click here to browse all resources

The enrolment process:

• The lead person will then complete the form on behalf of the organisation through our telephone enrolment service with a member of our team.

• We need about 15-20 minutes to complete the process and we need you to have the following details to hand

• Funding and management details about your organisation.

• What your organisation does and what its purpose is.

• Details of the positions that will require a standard, enhanced or PVG Scheme disclosure record.

• What services your organisation provides to children and/or protected adults.

Links for more information

Legislation

Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2007/14/contents

Volunteer Scotland

Enrol with Volunteer Scotland

https://www.volunteerscotland.net/for-organisations/disclosure-services/enrolling-an-organisation/

Scottish Government - Disclosure Scotland

Register with Disclosure Scotland

https://www.mygov.scot/register-organisation-disclosure/apply-to-register/