Managing volunteers
We are here to help you get the most out of your volunteering programme. We do this by sharing good practice. By ‘good practice’ we mean what has been shown to make volunteering work positively for everyone involved.
The national volunteering organisation Volunteering England has excellent guidance on good practice and the Asssociation of Volunteer Managers has interesting debates on what good practice is (see Useful links). Good practice isn’t set in stone. We develop good practice at the Volunteer Centre by learning both from our own volunteering programme and from the organisations we work with. Please Contact Us to share your positive (or challenging) experiences so we can pass on what you’ve learnt to others.
You may find the following useful. Click on the title to open:
- Writing a volunteer policy
- Nuts & Bolts – a Guide to Involving Volunteers
Whether you’re just starting a volunteer programme or reviewing one, this is a really helpful step-by-step guide. It functions as a checklist and workbook to make sure you’ve thought everything through and have all you need in place. - Screening and police checks
- Safe involvement of volunteers with children and vulnerable adults
- Paying volunteer expenses
Volunteering England’s good practice bank has excellent guidelines, examples include:
- Legal issues involving volunteers
- Volunteering and state benefits
- Induction of volunteers
- From barriers to bridges: involving a broader range of volunteers
- Retaining volunteers
For information on working with refugees and asylum seekers click on Involving refugees & asylum Seekers
Click on Training & networking and Useful links for other support.
If you have unanswered questions or concerns or would like help with shaping or running your volunteer programme contact:
Julia South
Volunteer Centre Manager
j.south@vas.org.uk
0114 253 6648