Here is a short summary of our general networking discussion held on 21 July 2022. If you would like to join us on one of these sessions please go to our Events page for more details.

Quote “There is so much more that we can do as a volunteer force to get good quality people into careers.”

Young volunteers

Two Trusts have been inundated with applications from young volunteers for the summer holiday period. The situation may have arisen as there appears to be a lack of work experience in some areas and getting the right amount of commitment from students can be an issue; particularly if their interests are not in the healthcare sector. With this in mind a tough approach regarding the volunteers commitment may be required at the interview stage.

Recruitment process

For most the initial training that used to be face to face is still all being done virtually. There are some benefits to the virtual training sessions but some felt that theirs didn’t flow very well and needed to be slicker. One guest would like to put in place a video session for people to download and do it in their own time with a quiz at the end to make sure that they understood the content.

DBS checks are still a sticking point for many of you. As you know some roles do not require a DBS however, if your volunteers are DBS checked at the start this can make them more flexible with the roles they partake in.

Volunteer certificates

It was felt that these need streamlining and that there should be one module to cover all as there is overlap with the existing certificates available. For example if they do all three certificates they will have to do the manual handling section three times.