Public Sector Volunteering

You may also like to browse the general resources in the Good Practice Bank's Core Themes. They cover topics such as 'Equal Opportunities and Diversity', 'Protection and Safeguarding of Vulnerable Clients' and 'Creating Volunteer Roles'. Visit the Good Practice Bank index to find a full list of themes.

Overview

• Volunteers in public sector settings - VE article
  

Articles

• Exhibiting Support... Developing Volunteering in Museums - IVR report
• Volunteering in Museums, Libraries and Archives - IVR report
• Association of Colleges: Diversity and Recruitment of Further Education Governors - IVR report
• Under-represented Groups as School Governors - IVR report
• Public sector support for volunteering: An audit - IVR bulletin
• Local Area Agreements and volunteering infrastructure - Volunteering magazine
• Guidelines for relations between volunteers and paid workers in the Health and Personal Social Services - Volunteer Centre UK guidance
• A Guide to Involving Volunteers in Museums - AIM (Association of Independent Museums) Focus Paper (external link)
• Volunteers Can: Towards a volunteering strategy to reduce re-offending - National Offender Management Service (NOMS) (external link)

Public Policy on volunteering

• Read Volunteering England's official policy briefings, statements and responses to consultations on matters of public policy.

Examples, Samples and Templates

Real life examples

• Example Recruitment Process Flowchart - Warrington Borough Council(PDF)
• Example Interviewing Guide - Warrington Borough Council (PDF)
• Example Policy for Involving Volunteers - Sheffield NHS Primary Care Trust

Please note that Volunteering England has not produced the 'real life example' documents listed directly above and is therefore unable to take responsibility for the content. Volunteering England and the organisations that contribute example documents to the Good Practice Bank can accept no responsibility for how they are used. They are presented as examples of good practice, but it is every volunteer-involving organisation's responsibility to ensure that their volunteers are safe, and that policies and procedures meet current legal requirements. For further information about the resources listed in the Good Practice Bank, please visit our 'top tips' page.

Links

Websites on the Compact
The Compact is an agreement on working relations between the government and the voluntary sector. There is a national Compact which is complemented by five codes of good practice. The Volunteering Code sets out a national agreement on volunteering.

At local level, local Compacts are agreements between local voluntary and community sectors, councils and other local public bodies.

• The Commission for the Compact
• Compact Voice
• The Volunteering Code (full and summary versions)

Website resources for specific public sector settings

• What Can I Do?
  PACT (The Prison Advice and Care Trust) and the Churches Criminal Justice Forum have produced a guide to volunteering in the criminal justice system. It includes contact details and case studies.
  http://www.whatcanido.org.uk/
  
• Breakfast Club Plus is a UK-wide network that supports breakfast clubs in schools. The website provides guidance for new clubs and information and best practice for established clubs.
  http://www.continyou.org.uk/
• The Teachernet website has a section on setting up extended services in schools. It is aimed at schools and LAs but it should also be useful for local providers.
  http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/
• Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education
  This new guidance published by the Department of Education and Skills includes guidance on recruiting and working with volunteers, a recruitment flowchart and interesting case studies on which volunteer roles might require a CRB check.
  Read the new Safeguarding Children guidance on the Every Child Matters website
• Employer-Supported Volunteering section of Volunteering England's website
  It features a Complete Beginner’s Guide for public sector employers wishing to start an employer-supported volunteering scheme.

Publications

Free publications

• Clinks have produced a series of Guides for organisations involving volunteers in criminal justice settings.  The Guides include Setting up a project, Managing volunteers, Demonstrating effectiveness, and Quality standards.
  http://www.clinks.org/volunteeringguides.aspx 
• Volunteers Across the NHS - Volunteering England
• Changing the face of social services: volunteers adding value in service delivery - Volunteering England