Volunteer/Charity Work

Volunteer Ireland is the National Volunteer Development Agency, an independent and non-profit organisations that inspires, promotes, supports and facilitates volunteer-charity work activity in Ireland. Volunteering is a term that covers many different activities: it could be visiting an elderly person, planting trees, assisting a charity with its finances and administration, helping someone to read or write.

Volunteering is a serious commitment and although anyone can do it, before you ask to volunteer you should think about:

• Why you want to volunteer
• What type of voluntary work you would like to do
• What skills or experience you can offer
• How much time you can give
• Other practicalities, such as when and where you want to volunteer

It is important to remember that volunteers have rights and responsibilities. As a volunteer, your rights are:

• To know if, and how, you are being selected
• To be given meaningful work to do
• To know what is expected from you
• To be offered appropriate training
• To be thanked and have your voluntary contribution recognised
• To receive supervision and support
• To get something out of the work for themselves
• To know who to go to if there is a problem
• To be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses incurred when volunteering
• To make mistakes and learn from them
• To be made aware of any disciplinary and grievance procedures
• To be treated fairly and not to experience discrimination
• To have safe working conditions, including insurance cover
• To be informed about, and given the opportunity to play an active part in, the organisation as a whole
• To be able to say ‘no’ and to leave without feeling guilty

As a volunteer, your responsibilities are:

• To respect the values and aims of the organisation
• To be committed
• To be reliable and give the organisation sufficient warning if unable to turn up
• To be punctual
• To attend essential training and support sessions
• To undertake the work to a high standard
• To be honest if there are problems
• To respect confidentiality
• To leave when asked and/or when no longer enjoying the volunteering experience

Volunteer organisations have also rights and responsibilities towards people who volunteer. Their responsibilities are:

• To ensure the volunteering experience is a rewarding one
• To ensure equal access and not to discriminate
• To define clear, meaningful roles for volunteers
• To have policies and procedures for volunteers
• To provide all necessary information to volunteers
• To be available for volunteers
• To provide training where necessary
• To thank and value volunteers
• To provide insurance cover
• To inform volunteers of any legal liabilities
• To supervise and to provide support
• To reimburse out-of-pocket expenses
• To provide a safe working environment

Their rights are:

• To look for certain qualities and skills in volunteers
• To select only volunteers who are suitable for the work
• To draw up a volunteer agreement or ‘contract’
• To ask for tasks to be done in a particular way
• To ask for commitment
• To ask for reliability
• To ask for punctuality
• To deal with disciplinary and grievance matters
• To ask volunteers to leave if their involvement hinders the organisation achieving its goals