Volunteer Application Form

Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Volunteer Application Form
If you require assistance in completing this form, or require a different format,

please contact the Volunteer Recruitment Team on 0191 282 0654.

Please ensure that you read the notes page fully before completing the application as incomplete or incorrectly completed from may not be accepted.

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Volunteer Application Form

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Volunteer Application Form

Please find below a short guide to completing the application form. Please ensure that you fully read this guide as incomplete or incorrectly completed form may not be accepted.
Section 1
Please ensure that you provide full details including email address if possible. Our main method of contacting you will be via email, so please ensure that this is correct and that you regularly check your email address. If you are a student, please provide your local address.

Section 2
This is your opportunity to tell us about your experiences. This does not have to be volunteering. It can be from employment or other areas of your life where you have had responsibility.
Section 3
Please indicate which positions you would like to be considered for. More information on the roles can be found on the website. Please note that some roles have limited availability. While we will endeavour to put you in your first choice, this may not always be possible.
Section 4

Some roles require a longer term commitment than others. This section is just to allow us to gauge what role may be most suitable for you in terms of the length of time you are able to volunteer. This is not a firm commitment however as we recognise that changes in circumstances do occur.
Section 5
As with previous questions, this allows us to get to know you a little bit more.
Section 6
All voluntary roles in the Trust are exempt under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. A conviction does not automatically exclude you from volunteering with the Trust. A CRB check will be carried out on all volunteers, so we would encourage you to disclose any convictions at the application stage.

Section 7
To comply with the legal requirements, we do require details of two references. The references must cover a period of at least three years prior to the current date and cannot be friends, close relatives or family friends (unless they are an upstanding member of the community). The references do not need to have both known you for the full three years, but between them must cover at least three years. For example, if you are applying in January 2013 you can have a referee who has known you from September 2009 – September 2011 (a school teacher perhaps) and a second reference who has known you July 2011 – present date ( an employer for example). As the two reference cover at least three years they would be acceptable. Please note, if your references do not cover three years or you fail to provide two references you application may not be accepted. References can come from teachers, tutors, past or current employers, GP’s, religious or community leaders, youth or support workers or an upstanding member of the community. Upstanding members of the community also include trade union officer, solicitor, police officer, Justice of the Peace, dentist, barrister or accountant. Please ensure that you have checked with your referee that they are happy to provide a reference. Please make sure that you fully complete all the details requested where possible. We also ask you if we can request your references prior to interview.

Section 8
This section must be completed to ensure that we have all the information needed to process your application. Please ensure that you tell us which open day you would like to attend. Open days are held approximately every three months and fill up rapidly. If for any reason we are unable to invite you to the next available one we will contact you.

Other notes
If you are applying to become a volunteer as part of your UCAS Application, please ensure that we have your application by the January of the year that you are applying to ensure that we can complete the process prior to you starting the UCAS Application process.

Section 1 – Your Details

Name
Address
Postcode
Telephone Number
Mobile Number
Email address
Date of Birth

Section 2 –Experience
Please give details below of any previous experience in volunteering, employment or other positions of responsibility.

Section 3 – Volunteer Position – see website for full details

Please indicate order of preference (e.g., 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc if applying for more than one position)

Charlie Bear General (Freeman Only) / Mealtime support (Both Hospitals)
Charlie Bear Retail (Freeman Only) / Visitor Support (Both Hospitals)
Community Advisory Panel (Freeman Only) / Administration Assistant (Both Hospitals)
Medicinema (RVI Only) / Companionship & Activity Volunteer(Both Hospitals)

Section 4 – Availability

Please indicate approximately what length of time you wish to volunteer for

4 – 6 weeks / 3 – 6 months
Up to 1 year / Ongoing – no limit
Other – please specify below

Please indicate in the boxes when you are available to volunteer. You may wish to indicate specific times, but please don’t worry if you are not available at these times every week.

Day / Morning / Afternoon / Evening
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Section 5 – Your interest in volunteering

To give something back after you or your family have benefited from NHS services / To fill in spare time
To support a particular Cause e.g. stroke unit, cancer unit etc / To meet new people and make new friends
To explore a career in healthcare / For spiritual fulfilment
To gain some work experience / To help develop specific services
To maintain or improve your health and wellbeing / To develop or maintain your skills and experiences

Section 6 – Rehabilitation of Offenders Act

Because of the nature of voluntary help given in healthcare, exemption under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 applies.

Have you ever been convicted of an offence? / Yes / No
If yes, please supply details of the conviction. All information provided will be treated in strictest confidence. This may be discussed further at interview

All volunteers will be required to complete a Disclosure Application for the Criminal Records Bureau

You will also be required to complete the Trust’s Heath questionnaire which may or may not result in you being asked to see the occupational health doctor as well as complying with all the NHS Employment Check Standards

Section 7– References
Please supply details of two referees. These can be your current employer, teacher, tutor, community leader, GP, youth worker or support worker who have known you for at least 3 years prior to the current date. References from family members of friend will not be accepted.

Referee one

Name
Address
Postcode
Telephone Number
Mobile Number
Email address
Your relationship to referee
How long have you known this person? From to

Referee two

Name
Address
Postcode
Telephone Number
Mobile Number
Email address
Your relationship to referee
How long have you known this person? From to

I consent to my references being sought prior to interview Y / N
By requesting you references prior to interview we will be able to arrange a start date much sooner after your interview.
Section 8 – Further information and Declarations
Please complete all sections where appropriate to do so

Disability information

Do you consider yourself to be disabled? / Yes / No
If yes, what support or adjustments do you think you will need to take up a volunteering post within this Trust?

Nationality and Immigration status

Are you a United Kingdom (UK), European Community (EC) or European Economic Area (EEA) National? / Yes / No

Non-UK, EU or EEA nationals

Not all visas allow you to volunteer. Please supply details of any visa currently held, including visa number, start and expiry date and details of any restrictions. Please confirm that the visa allows volunteering. If you have any doubts you should check with the UK Border Agency.

Which Open Days are you able to attend?
For these dates please visit
Please note that all correspondence will be via email provided in this application. Please ensure that the email address provided is correct and please regularly check the email account.

Signature______

Date______
Please return this form by email to . Please indicate in the subject which volunteer posts you are interested in.

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