INVOLVING YOUNGER VOLUNTEERS

How do I decide on the minimum age for my volunteering opportunity?

There are no legal restrictions when it comes to minimum ages and volunteering, but there are some very important factors worth thinking through to make the right decision about an appropriate age limit for your opportunity.

Of course for the majority of volunteering opportunities, the age of a volunteer will be arbitrary and we would like you to keep an open mind to younger volunteers where you can. About 33% of young people volunteer so that is a lot of skills, enthusiasm and vibrancy for your organisation to miss out on if it’s not necessary to exclude young people from your opportunities.

Having said that, there are important things you should consider. All children in Scotland are protected through the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

The Act deems individuals under the age of 18 to be children, unless they are 17 or 18 and in receipt of particular services (broadly speaking, those aimed at adults). A protected adult is over the age of 16 who is receiving certain services.

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG Scheme)

  • Helps to ensure that those who have regular contact with children and protected adults through paid and unpaid work do not have a known history of harmful behaviour.
  • Any volunteer or staff member who is undertaking “regulated work” with a child or a vulnerable adult needs to be a member of the PVG Scheme, as these individuals are protected under the PVG Act.

(“Regulated work” has a very broad definition. The key factor in deciding if work is regulated is whether the person's normal duties consist of specified activities with an individual who is protected by the PVG Act. For examples, visit the Disclosure Scotland guidelines here).

Please also refer to our Good Practice Guide for further information here.

Points to think about:

  • Does your organisation have a child protection policy? You should put one in place before you engage young volunteers.
  • Might your volunteering opportunity expose a young volunteer to extreme emotional stress or physical vulnerability? If there are any areas of potential harm, can these be removed?
  • When interviewing and inducting the volunteer you can get to know their motivations for volunteering, and assess how much extra support they may need.

(Remember that your younger volunteers, aged 12 to 25, can be recognised through the Saltire Award, for as little as 10 hours volunteering, up to 200 hours and more. This can be back-dated. See the website here. This is managed locally by us.)

If you would like more information about involving young volunteers in your organisation, please contact us by calling 0131 225 0630 or email .