Free volunteering from red tape
Join Volunteering England’s campaign to cut
the red tape out of volunteering!
Read our Free volunteering from red tape 
(201.8Kb) leaflet
Volunteering England believes that nothing should be easier than giving your time to help other people.
The truth is that there are a number of things that often stand in the way of someone volunteering. Some of them real barriers; others are myths and misunderstandings; some are good old fashioned bureaucracy. Some are created by government and others by organisations that involve volunteers.
The aim of this campaign is to cut through some of this red tape – real and imagined – and let people know how easy it is to help out in their community.
As well as dispelling some of those myths, we’ll be calling on the Government, organisations that involve volunteers and others to make it as easy as possible for people to volunteer.
The story so far…
2012
September: We made a submission to the Red Tape Challenge website regarding asylum seekers and volunteering, visa restrictions on volunteering, the new guidelines on the identity checking process for Criminal Recors Bureau checks and the new online system to make CRB checks portable.
May: The working group of the insurance industry and voluntary and community sector publised the code of practice for volunteers.
2011
December: We gathered support from voluntary and community sector organisations to call on the Government to affirm its commitment to volunteering by making portable Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks free to volunteers.
October and November: We provided MPs with briefings on the Protection of Feedoms Bill.
September: In collaboration with the Association of British Insurers we established a working group of the insurance industry and voluntary and community sector. We also wrote to the Home Secretary again about the cost of the system to make CRB checks portable.
August: Over 50 motor insurance providers confirmed they would not charge extra for volunteer driving.
July: We wrote to the Home Secretary to raise concerns about the cost of the system to make CRB checks portable.
June: We met with the Association of British Insurers and the Community Transport Association to discuss the issue of motor insurers charging volunteer drivers a business use premium.
May: We welcomed the report of Lord Hodgson's Red Tape Taskforce, which makes a number of recommendations that chime with our work to free volunteering from red tape.
April: We put together an article that tackles some of the myths about volunteering and state benefits that continue to circulate. We also celebrated another important step forward for volunteer drivers as, following our ongoing work around the issue of insurance, the Association of British Insurers agreed to survey its members to find out which companies do charge a premium for volunteer drivers and publish a list on its website.
March: Our response to the Giving Green Paper (149.3Kb) included comments about the importance of reducing unnecessary bureaucracy. The Budget also brought good news for volunteer drivers with an increase in mileage payments (effective from 6 April).
February: We published a post on our policy blog which lays out the red tape myths included in our campaign leaflet (201.8Kb) .
January: Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, showed his support for the campaign at its pre-launch on 24 January. Later in the month, we met with the Community Transport Association to discuss a joint initiative to remove barriers for volunteer drivers by increasing the tax-free mileage allowance to 45p per mile and pressing insurance companies not to charge a premium for volunteer drivers.
2010
December 2010: We undertook research into the impact of visa requirements (42.5Kb) on international volunteers coming to volunteer in the UK
November 2010: We composed a response to the Review of the Vetting and Barring Scheme (263.5Kb)
September 2010: In response to the Big Society De-regulation Taskforce, we produced a briefing on bureaucracy and volunteering (55.2Kb) and submitted a letter to the Taskforce (57Kb)
July 2010: We wrote a letter to Lord Young (28.2Kb) ahead of the Health and Safety Review
April 2010: We developed the 'Tackling the ‘Benefits Barrier' agreement with Jobcentre Plus, making a commitment work together more closely to support volunteering by those seeking work.
Support the campaign now!
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