If you find this challenging, imagine what it must be like for a volunteer who may be far less involved in the group or organisation. At the Action Learning Group, members shared ideas and experiences from their practice about how and when you will support your volunteers back into their roles or as your scale up your volunteering programme.

Active listening

Your volunteer may disclose sensitive information or want to tell you something that does not fit neatly in with the information you hope to gain from your conversation or communications. This could be something to do with their ability to return, or it could be an experience they have which might be of help to other volunteers or colleagues. Ensure your discussion is not rushed, and that you give the volunteer time to ask questions or check their understanding. Click here to read NHS Improvement’s information regarding Active Listening.

Supplementary information

If it’s a long conversation with lots of factual content, you might wish to have a put together a briefing pack and have a follow-up email ready. Volunteer practitioners have included guidance on new ways of working, dates of critical meetings and details of additional training for volunteers. You might also consider links to updated policies impacted by COVID-19. For example, IT policy, lone working policy, health and safety policy, expenses policy and expenses claim policy.

Think about how to record your conversation

Having a form that is appropriate for your context is a useful way to gather the information that you might need to collect from your volunteer. For example, basics like updated contact details and availability or if they have any new support needs as a result of COVID-19, or specific concerns about carrying out their role. The volunteer may disclose health information or personal information about their home lives. If you need to repeat your conversation at a later time, for example, if the volunteer is not ready to start yet, or the volunteer role has not fully resumed, it is useful to have a record of what was discussed for you to refer to at a later time.

When capturing any personal information about individuals, it is essential to ensure this complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 and your internal policies and procedures. It is good practice to share a copy of what you have recorded with the volunteer so they can give informed consent about the data you hold.

More information and guidance on this can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.