Volunteering Policy

Contents

1.Policy statement

2. Supporting information

2.1 Purpose and scope

2.2 Key principles

3.3 Definitions

4. Further guidance

1.Policy statement

Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) recognises and values the contribution of volunteers to the work of our organisation. This contribution includes enhancing the lives of the people we work with by providing added-value support to individuals, beyond the limit of their statutory funding package. This is an essential element in achieving our charitable aims.

LCD is committed to involvingvolunteers in enhancing the quality of life for service users, and to support the organisation. LCD will endeavour to match volunteers to tasks that reflect their skills, interests and experience, and seeks to ensure volunteers have a rewarding experience. Recruitment of volunteers from all sections of the community will be actively encouraged and promoted; LCD is particularly committed to encouraging applications from disabled people and supporting disabled volunteers. This includes supporting service users if they wish to become volunteers.

Managers of services and projects where volunteers work are responsible for the conduct and safety of volunteers, and for ensuring adherence to this policy. Volunteers must comply with LCD policies and abide by the instructions of the manager of their service or project. Volunteers will be provided with training, in line with statutory and mandatory requirements, to enable them to carry out their tasks safely and effectively.Where relevant, employees of LCD will be trained to work with volunteers as part of their induction training.

Volunteers must not be deployed in roles that usually fall to the employees of the service or project, nor undertake tasks that are included within the agreed funding package. Volunteers must not be used to cover for funding shortfalls, which should be addressed with the relevant purchaser. They must not be used to cover for absent employees,deployed on staffing rotas, nor used for tasks which employees are unwilling to perform.

Where relevant, volunteers are allowed to perform personal care tasks as part of a one-to-one enabling role to support service users to have a full and active life beyond the limits of their funding package. However, volunteers will only deliver personal care tasks with:

their own consent.
the consent of the service user (or their advocate).
the consent of the service manager.
appropriate training and a competence assessment.

It is particularly important that service users (or their advocate) formally agree to a volunteer being used to deliver personal care tasks for them, whether inside or outside a service. ISP71 must be used to record this process before any volunteer delivers personal care to a service user.

This policy is accompanied bythe Volunteering Procedures document, which must be followed.

2. Supporting information

2.1 Purpose and scope

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that volunteers are properly deployed and valued at LCD.
This policy applies to all LCD volunteers in all LCD workplaces or at any event organised by LCD.
This policy is mandatory in all services, projects and offices.

2.2 Key principles

Wherever possible, volunteers should be recruited to facilitate service users’ goals, in line with person centred planning.
Volunteering is an important act of participation that in itself helps to challenge attitudes toward disability.
Volunteers’ goodwill is as valuable an asset as funds raised from supporters.
LCD commits to continually developing and maintaining the relationship between volunteers and the charity.
LCD commits to providing quality support for volunteers and seeks to share our expertise in volunteer management with other organisations.
The relationship between LCD and volunteers is binding only by trust and mutual understanding. No enforceable obligation, contractual or otherwise, can be imposed on volunteers to give their time.
LCD does not provide payment or any other financial benefit in return for any volunteering activity (with the exception of overseas volunteers), and does not guarantee to provide regular volunteering opportunities.
Volunteers have the right to raise concerns,as set out in the Volunteering procedure or the Whistleblowing policy.

3.3 Definitions

Volunteer:a volunteer is defined as:

Someone who has completed the LCDvolunteer recruitment process and who performs a task at the request of, and on behalf of, LCD.
Someone who does not receive financial compensation beyond the reimbursement of expenses or, in the case of overseas volunteers, a small subsistence allowance.

This definition includes trustees,work placement, and unpaid interns (but not where it is part of a qualification eg trainee physiotherapists, nurses etc); overseas volunteers, CHIIPS interns, buddies of Strategic Partnerships and Innovative Services clients, and people who are given time off by their company to volunteer. It also includes service users who volunteer, and LCD employees who volunteer outside of their employed role and paid working hours.

This definition does not include friends or family of service users who do not wish to become volunteers. LCD does not take organisational responsibility for friends or family members who assist service users.

Overseas volunteer:an overseas volunteer is someone LCD has recruited from abroad via an approved agency, and to whom we provide accommodation and a weekly allowance.

Service user:for the purposes of this document, the term service user means all individuals who use LCD services, including clients and Strategic Partnerships and Innovative Servicesstudents.

4. Further guidance

This policy operates in conjunction with codes of conduct, operating procedures specific to each service or project and the following LCD policy documents:

LCD Volunteering Procedures
ISP 71
Volunteer Coordinator Toolkit
Overseas Volunteers Best Practice Guide
LCD Whistleblowing Policy
LCD Diversity Policy
LCD Service Users’ Right to Take Risks Policy
LCD Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults (Adult Protection Scotland) Policy
LCD Child Protection Policy
LCD Procedural Arrangement for Children and Young Persons as Employees and Volunteers
LCD Reimbursement of Expenses Policy

For further guidance, please contact the Volunteer and Enabling Officer for your area (Head Office, North or South).

Leonard Cheshire Disability

January 2012 Page 1 of 3