Sustaining services, avoiding exploitation and adhering to the principles of the STUC/Volunteer Scotland charter
Volunteer Glasgow is here to help you to design appropriate, inclusive volunteering opportunities that offer positive experiences for people in roles that support the work of your organisation.
There is a huge range of appropriate volunteering roles across multiple sectors of the economy, many of which are formal opportunities in both the public and third sectors. Some involve considerable levels of responsibility. Others do not.
It is important, therefore, to make decisions on what is appropriate by taking a range of factors into consideration:
- You should note that what may be an appropriate volunteering role for one organisation or for one sector, may not be appropriate in another.
- All volunteering roles should create positive outcomes for the volunteer, the organisation and the wider community.
- Volunteering should bring added value to the service or activity for participants and communities in one or more ways that paid staff could not.
- For more information, follow this link: the 10 principles set out by the STUC (Scottish trades Union Congress) in partnership with Volunteer Scotland to assure legitimacy and prevent exploitation of workers and volunteers.
- You may also want to consider relevant information via this link: VolunteerWiki – When Does a Volunteer Become an Employee?
Volunteer Glasgow recognises the principles of the STUC/VS charter and will not, therefore, advertise volunteering opportunities that include any role/task previously undertaken by paid staff.
However, Volunteer Glasgow also supports the rights of local communities to respond as they see fit to cuts to local services. We will, therefore, offer volunteering best practice advice and guidance – alongside partners’ governance and capacity building guidance – on how to sustain a service in the context of the STUC/VS charter when the alternative might be service closure. We may review any decision not to help advertise for volunteers when alternative service delivery models are established.
This information is not intended to be legally comprehensive; it is designed to provide guidance in good faith without accepting liability. If relevant, we therefore recommend you take appropriate professional advice before taking any action on the matters covered herein.
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