Vault Volunteering
Support and resources for voluntary and community organisations
If you work with volunteers as a Volunteer Manager, Coordinator or in any other capacity, we have a package of training and support than can help you in your role.
One-to-one support for voluntary organisations
You can get tailored one-to-one support around managing your volunteers or to help with a particular problem you’re experiencing.
Our highly experienced team will work with you to help you find solutions.
We can also help you with updating and writing your volunteer policies, agreements and handbooks.
Advertising your volunteer opportunities
You can advertise your volunteering opportunities on our notice board.
Our volunteering team are always happy to help you with write attractive and engaging volunteer roles.
DBS checks for volunteers
It’s important to ensure that your volunteers are suitable and legally allowed to carry out their role within your organisation but not all volunteers need to have a one. You may need to complete a DBS check if the role is a ‘Regulated Activity’ as defined by the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Regulated Activity means certain jobs or volunteering roles which involve regular and unsupervised contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults.
The Disclosure and Barring Service provides guidance on the application process for volunteers.
Volunteering and state benefits
You are allowed to volunteer and receive state benefits but there are some rules that you need to be aware of to ensure that your volunteering does not impact your benefits.
NCVO’s guidance aims to help you start volunteering by giving an overview of what you need to know and providing some answers to some of the questions you may have before you start volunteering.
This doesn’t cover every situation and you may have questions about your individual circumstances. If you’re unsure about where you stand in relation to the rules, you can contact your local Volunteer Centre, or you should speak to your job coach or benefits adviser. Your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau may also be able to help.
Safeguarding
Keeping people safe is important and is something that all organisations need to do.
NCVO has a number resources on safeguarding to help you make plans and carry them out.
Volunteers and General Data Protection (GDPR)
Unless your volunteers are volunteering informally or as a one-off activity your organisation will need to keep details about your volunteers. If these details are under the definition of ‘Personal Data’ of the Data Protection Act 1998 then you must follow the rules on how your organisation collects, stores, uses and discloses the information.
You must also ensure that all volunteers are trained on how they handle personal data, and it is advised that volunteers receive training as part of their induction around the eight principles of data protection.
More information is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Guides, Resources, and Reports
Volunteering is a fantastic way for young people to learn more about, and engage with, their local community.
While recruiting and working with young volunteers can sound scary, in reality, it’s not as daunting as you might think.
We’ll help you to make sure you’re really ready to involve young volunteers.
We work together to support volunteer managers and recruiters to better understand the barriers that prevent people from participating in volunteering, and help you to perfect your practices, process, policies, and procedures around volunteering so your organisation can be inclusive to all.
If you’re a new organisation, or you’re looking at involving volunteers in your organisation for the first time, there are a few things you’ll need to think about before you start advertising and recruiting.
We’ll help you so that you’re fully prepared to recruit, select, and support your volunteers to the best of your ability.
Know Your Neighbourhood March 2023 - Barriers to Volunteering
We cannot underestimate the amount of support that people need and the time it can take to increase confidence and trust before people are ready to successfully volunteer. This report details how we carried out consultation and engagement work to further identify the barriers to volunteering people in Stoke-on-Trent are facing.
By engaging with people and finding out what they need, we were able to identify the best ways to break down those barriers to create accessible and inclusive volunteering experiences for all.
Know Your Neighbourhood June 2024 - Inclusive Volunteering
Continuing on from our research in February and March 2023 around people’s perceptions of volunteering, we secured further funding to develop and deliver a 12-month project focusing on inclusive volunteering.
This funding enabled us to build on our core volunteer brokerage and provide bespoke support to people to break down the barriers they face, build their confidence, and to connect with others through enriching volunteering opportunities