Generic Volunteer Policies
It is quite common for local authorities and third sector interface organisations (TSIs) to have generic volunteer policies covering all types of volunteering within the organisation including CLD volunteers. Volunteer Scotland’s range of good practice guides includes one on developing a volunteer policy. This is seen as the main foundation that all the other building blocks for volunteering sit on. Your policy will outline clearly to all staff, volunteers and users of the service, why volunteers are involved. The guidance suggests 18 different areas for inclusion in your policy, some which we might not always think of, like procedures for ‘endings’ and a commitment to providing references where appropriate.
developing~a~volunteer~policy.pdf
CLD Specific Policies
A generic volunteer policy can be augmented by additional guidance and procedures specific to volunteer CLD practitioners.
Dundee City Council, for example, has a generic policy and an additional publication covering CLD volunteers. The policy includes a definition of volunteering as well as sections on recruitment and selection, volunteer roles, roles of departmental volunteer co-ordinators and line managers, the Council’s commitment and the Volunteer’s rights and responsibilities. The policy also includes sample forms, some of which have been abstracted and used in later sections for illustration.
The Community Learning and Development Volunteer Handbook tailors this generic policy to the CLD context. Written in an accessible style, it provides volunteers with information about the support and training they will receive, as well as advising them of the monitoring and evaluation processes in place and Dundee’s commitment to continuously improving the quality of the volunteering experience. It includes sections on health and safety and data protection and confidentiality.
Dundee CLD Buddy Volunteer Handbook
Why is it important to have a policy?
If deploying CLD volunteers is new to your organisation, you will find developing a policy and procedures to govern this activity provides you with a valuable tool to guide decision making and day to day practice using volunteers.
From a CLDSC perspective, it is essential that CLD volunteers operate using the values and ethics of CLD and we would encourage you to make reference to these in your policy document.