Student Volunteering

You may also like to browse some of the other general themes in the Good Practice Bank. 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

There is a long tradition of volunteering in the Higher Education (HE) sector, dating back to at least the 19th century when universities set up missions in deprived inner city areas, and students went to live and work in them. Student volunteering in the Further Education (FE) sector is gaining increased momentum, receiving some investment and demonstrating the value of the provision for colleges and other FE institutions too. Volunteering England has a team dedicated to supporting the development of FE and HE student volunteering. Find out more about the work of our Student Volunteering Team.

Articles

• Safeguarding Student Volunteering in the Further Education Sector: information for volunteer-involving organisations and brokerage organisations - VE Information Sheet (PDF)
• Holding A Successful Meeting - VE Information Sheet (PDF)
• Making Your Student Volunteering Project Sustainable - VE Information Sheet (PDF)
• Recruiting Student Volunteers - VE Information Sheet (PDF)
• Researching Your Project - VE Information Sheet (PDF)

Example, Sample and Template Documents

Do you have any examples or experiences to share with the Good Practice Bank? Click here to find out how.

Real life examples

• External Activity Risk Assessment Form - CSV North Nottinghamshire Mental Health Volunteering Project (PDF)
• Risk Assessment Guidelines - CSV North Nottinghamshire Mental Health Volunteering Project
• Supervisor form for Six Monthly review – CSV North Nottinghamshire Mental Health Volunteering Project
• Volunteer form for Six Monthly review – CSV North Nottinghamshire Mental Health Volunteering Project

• Example Volunteer Induction checklist - CSV North Nottinghamshire Mental Health Volunteering Project (PDF)

• Example Documents for Registering Organisations - Liverpool Community College (PDFs)
• Example Documents for Registering Organisations - FOCUS vinvolved Leicester (PDFs)
• Example Service Level Agreement with Placement Providers - Lancaster and Morecambe College (LMC) and the University of Cumbria (PDF)
• Example extracts from Child Protection Policy and Guidelines - University of Warwick, Warwick Volunteers (PDF)

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

Many of these example documents have been contributed to Volunteering England's website as complementary resources to Volunteering England’s Safeguarding student volunteering in the Further Education sector publication.

• Read the publication and find further example documents from the safeguarding project