Shaping the Debate

A report on access into volunteering for disabled people

Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities

2005

Skill: National Bureau for Students with DisabilitiesChapter House18-20 Crucifix LaneLondon SE1 3JWTel: 020 7450 0620Fax: 020 7450 0650Email: skill@skill.org.ukWebsite: www.skill.org.uk

© Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities 2005.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior writtenpermission of the publisher.

Supported by City Parochial Foundation 6 Middle Street, London EC1A 7PHTel: 0202 7606 6145Fax: 020 600 1866Email: info@cityparochial.org.uk

2

Website: www.cityparochialfoundation.org.uk

TABLE OF CONTENTSPage

Executive Summary 1-3

Section One Introduction 3-4Definitions 3Background 4

Section Two Methodology 4-5Profile of organisations 5

Section Three Research Findings 6-23Volunteer Involvement 6Recruitment 8Support 12Policies and Procedures 17Experiences of disabled volunteers 19

Section Four Conclusions and Recommendations 23-26Conclusion 23Recommendations 25Recommendations for further research 26

Appendix A Volunteer Centre Questionnaire 28

Notes 29

3

Executive Summary

Introduction Access to volunteering for all sections of our communities has been one of the defining features of the current volunteering debate. Amongst practitioners, researchers and policy makers there has been a growing awareness that some groups are less well represented in volunteering than others and among them are disabled people. For many working in the disability field, simply documenting the experiences of disabled volunteers, though important, fell short of providing an adequate explanation for reasons behind the apparent inequity of access. What was needed was a comprehensive investigation into the experiences of the volunteer-involving organisations.

In November 2003, following a successful pilot scheme involving disabled volunteers in its London and Edinburgh offices, Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities embarked on a two-year project funded by City Parochial Foundation which focused on access to volunteering for disabled people from the organisations’ perspective.

The research involved 45 organisations based primarily (but not exclusively) in London. The aim of the research was to identify existing good practice and the related issues surrounding access into volunteering for disabled people and has culminated in the publication Access to Volunteering - shaping the experiences and opportunities for disabled people: A How to Resource Manual for Volunteering Organisations to help organisations better engage more disabled people as volunteers. Details of how to order the manual can be found on page 29. This report summarises and highlights the findings of the research.

Methodology

The research was carried out over a five-month period from January to May 2004 and was based on the following methods:

A review of existing literature on disabled volunteering;

Circulation and promotion of research through print/online press and voluntary bodies;

Distribution of a 15 page questionnaire to 90 London-based organisations and a limited number of organisations outside London;

Face-to-face interviews, with twenty-six organisations and twenty active disabled volunteers.

4

Key findings

Disabled volunteer involvement amongst all participating organisations was encouraging and there was evidence of a desire to increase existing levels. There appeared to be significantly more disability organisations working with disabled volunteers but there appeared to be no particular concentration of disabled volunteer engagement in specific core activities within organisations.

Recruitment of disabled volunteers was encouraging amongst both the disability and non-disability organisations. However there were reported difficulties in recruiting via their local volunteer centres, many of which did not directly target or support disabled volunteers.

Support for disabled volunteers showed marked differences between organisations that had planned and funded support in place and those organisations that did not, who had more concerns about costs of support. This indicated a need for greater funding to meet the cost of making adjustments and/or providing specialist support. Whilst attitude to disability-related support was positive, there was still a need for a general increase in disability awareness and equality training.

Policies and procedures were recognised as essential elements of a volunteering programme. However some organisations operated without a volunteer policy and preferred to work without a written volunteer agreement for fear of contract-related litigation.

Disabled volunteers’ experiences were generally very positive. Moving out of volunteering and into employment was one of their main concerns, as many had been in voluntary work for several years and sometimes within the same organisation. This could suggest a lack of opportunity and/or encouragement. Conclusions and recommendations

The findings provided in this report are intended to give practitioners and policy makers information about current good practice, issues and trends relating to the involvement of disabled volunteers. The data generated suggested a positive climate existed within organisations. There appeared to be a growing recognition of the value of disabled volunteers, which was reflected in the number of respondents keen to involve disabled volunteers. There were, however, two main areas of concerns that came out of the research.

Firstly, there was evidence to show that many local volunteer centres were unable to meet demand. Whilst many operated special support schemes that targeted and supported disabled volunteers into volunteering, a significant number offered no provisions for disabled people. A follow-up survey carried out as part of the project, involving 20 London-based volunteer centres, showed that only six had a specific project in place that targeted disabled volunteers. Whilst it was recognised that the funding structure across the volunteer centre network contributed to the current inconsistency in service

5

provision for disabled volunteers, it was felt that a comprehensive and full review of the existing structures could serve as a good starting point towards rectifying the situation.

Secondly, many respondents felt that more funding could increase their capacity to engage more disabled volunteers, in particular those with higher support needs. This reinforced the current on-going debate amongst many practitioners for an access to volunteering scheme similar to that of the ‘Access to Work’ scheme for disabled employees.

Section One - Introduction

This report is based on research findings from a questionnaire and interviews on access into volunteering for disabled people. The research was carried over a five-month period in 2004 by Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities.

The primary aim of the research was to find evidence of good practice and to identify the issues which prevented access in the areas of recruitment and support.

The research focused primarily on London-based volunteer-involving organisations, with and without experience of working with disabled volunteers. It also included some comparative organisations outside London. In addition, it included interviews with active disabled volunteers.

This report offers an insight into the experiences of volunteer-involving organisations around access for disabled volunteers. It does not claim to provide a complete picture but does provide the basis for future research.

Definitions

The definition of disability used in the research and terminology used in this report is that described in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 which states:

a person has a disability… if he has a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. [Part 1, Section 1]

For the purposes of this research we also included people who will be considered disabled under the draft Disability Discrimination Bill (2004) which has widened the definition of disability to include people with HIV and cancer from the point of diagnosis as well as including more people experiencing mental health difficulties.

6

Disability and non-disability organisations were targeted as part of the research in order to look at the trends in their experiences. A ‘disability organisation’ was defined as one whose core interest targeted groups that fell within the definition outlined above.

Background

The questionnaire and interviews formed a part of Skill’s wider two-year project on access into volunteering for disabled people, funded by the City Parochial Foundation.

The aim of the project (due to end May 2005) was to promote disabled people as volunteers within organisations across all sectors. It followed a successful pilot scheme in Skill’s London and Edinburgh offices in 2001 involving disabled volunteers. It was conceived as a way of enabling greater access for, and inclusion of, disabled people as volunteers but also stemmed from a growing awareness that disabled people were largely under-represented in volunteering. This had been highlighted in research by Community Service Volunteers Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (Who’s helping whom? 2000) and had been reinforced by work carried out by Institute for Volunteering Research (Volunteering for All? 2004). The latter work found that 52% of all participants felt that disabled volunteers were under-represented in their organisation.

In broad terms the questionnaire and interviews were designed to meet the overall aim of the project within the context of highlighting existing good practice and related issues. However both also served to:

Gather information to provide to organisations wanting to prepare or develop a volunteer policy;

Collect information for Skill’s website listings guide (located at www.skill.org.uk/vol);

Provide material for a ‘How to’ resource manual aimed at organisations.

7

Section Two - Methodology

This report is based on a questionnaire and interviews taken over a five-month period between January and May 2004.

A total of 90 questionnaires were distributed to volunteer-involving organisations, primarily in London, and a smaller number of organisations outside London. Forty-five questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 50%.Organisations were targeted from the public, private and voluntary sectors by a variety of methods including: Skill’s ‘expression of interest’ online questionnaire; volunteering websites and newsletters; notices and articles in the volunteering press; regional and umbrella voluntary sector bodies’ email bulletins; cold-calling organisations; and networking.

Of the 45 organisations that took part in the research project, 21 were disability organisations and 24 were non-disability organisations. Significant numbers were drawn from the voluntary sector (89%) with 7% and 2% from the public and private sector respectively. Thirty-nine were London based organisations and six were located outside London.

Follow-up face-to-face interviews were carried out with 26 organisations, selected to reflect a range of core activities; 19 of these were non-disability organisations and seven were disability organisations.

A total of 23 volunteers participated in the research. These were drawn mainly through Skill’s ‘expression of interest’ online questionnaire and participating organisations in the project.

Interviews were taken up with 20 volunteers. These consisted of 19 face-to-face interviews and one telephone interview; in addition three volunteers submitted written evidence.

Profile of organisations

Seventeen different types of organisations were involved in the research. These were defined by the nature of their core activity. The most common (18%) were ‘community resource centres’ offering a range of services to a variety of client groups. This included providing advice and information, training and educational classes and crèche facilities to service users (figure 2.1).

Sixteen per cent were ‘support networks’, ranging from self-help groups to those offering counselling and 11% described as ‘disability resource and information’ centres, offered services only to disabled clients.

Seven per cent worked in the area of ‘Disability Rights’ and were mainly involved in disability awareness and campaign work. Another 7% worked in the areas of gardening and allotments, social and sports clubs.

8

Figure 2.1 Profile of organisations’ core activities

The majority of organisations had between 1-5 employees. Twenty per cent had between 6-10 and 9% between 11-30 and 31-100 respectively.

In terms of the numbers with active volunteers, 27% said that they had between 11-30 volunteers. Twenty-six per cent had between 6-10 and 18% between 31-100 volunteers.

Section Three – Research Findings

Volunteer Involvement

Overall, 74% of organisations (33 in total) said that they had experience of working with disabled volunteers with a range of impairments and health conditions (figure 3.1). This included individuals with autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, cleft palette, diabetes, downs syndrome, dyslexia, heart condition, Hepatitis C, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), multiple sclerosis (MS), sickle cell anaemia and HIV. There were, however, significant differences in the level of involvement between the disability organisations and the non-disability organisation. Whereas 95% of all the disability organisations said that they had worked with disabled volunteers, only 54% (or 13 out of 24) of the non-disability organisations said that they had.

Figure 3.1 Organisations involving disabled volunteers

9

These figures may not be entirely unexpected, as it could be argued that disabled volunteers would be drawn to disability organisations because it is there that they may feel more welcome or where their needs maybe better met. There were, however, encouraging trends that both types of organisations shared around the issue of volunteer involvement. For example, both types of organisations involved similar levels of sensory and mobility impaired volunteers as well as those with learning disabilities (refer to Table 3.2).

Interestingly, the findings revealed a relatively higher number of non-disability organisations involving volunteers with mental health difficulties than their disability counterparts: 77% (or 10 out of 13) for the former compared with 35% (or 7 out of 20) for the latter. This trend may demonstrate a growing understanding and awareness of metal health difficulties, particularly as it has been estimated that one in four of the UK population will experience a mental health problem at some point in their life.

Notably, with the increase in the numbers of people living with HIV in the UK, the engagement of volunteers living with HIV was confined to disability organisations working within a remit that covered this health condition. One possible explanation for this trend is that the needs of these groups of volunteers are such that only groups with specialist knowledge and expertise are able to meet them. Equally, it could be due to the continuing prejudice in society, which makes disclosure an issue or a perception by volunteers that disclosure would only be beneficial to organisations working in the HIV/AIDS policy area. The situation could change when the draft Disability Discrimination Bill 2004, introducing new protection for people living with HIV, becomes law. Table 3.2 Disabled Volunteer involvement within all organisations

10

Impairment Disability organisation

Non Disability organisation

Frequency % Frequency %3 or more 5 25 8 612 or more 5 25 5 38Sensory 6 30 5 38Learning difficulties

8 40 7 54

Mobility 5 25 6 46Mental health 7 35 10 77AIDS/HIV 4 100 0 0

Base 20 Base 13

Disabled Volunteers Refugee and Asylum Seekers

A total of nine respondents described themselves as refugee and asylum seeker organisations. A further two reported that aspects of their work brought them into close contact with these two groups. Whilst there were healthy numbers of non-disabled volunteers within these volunteering schemes, very few involved disabled volunteers from these communities. It is entirely possible that they exist but have not disclosed their status. For example, a volunteer from a society where the subject of disabilities is taboo may not wish to disclose a disability, particularly if it is hidden, for fear of discrimination. Situations like this could be resolved by introducing disability awareness training within organisations, together with improved monitoring.

The absence of figures for these groups would tend to reflect the current trend in wider society where no official figures for the number of disabled refugee and asylum seekers in the UK exist. Estimates are put at between 3% and 10% of the said population.

Recruitment

General recruitment trends

The research findings show that the general attitude amongst participating organisations was one of a desire to involve as broad a range of volunteers as possible. As one respondent said:

We take volunteers from all parts of the communities and disabled people are just as welcome as anybody else to carry out any type of volunteering activity they wish…

In general, organisations used a range of ways to recruit volunteers of all abilities as shown in table 3.3. Word of mouth appeared to be the most popular choice of recruitment. Fifty-eight per cent of organisations (26 in total) said they used this method. Forty-seven per cent said they approached their local volunteer centres. Thirty- six per cent (16) used either their own websites

11

or other external online volunteering sites. The same number went through local colleges and universities.

Twenty-nine per cent (13) of organisations displayed flyers and posters, in doctors’ surgeries, day centres and social clubs. The local and national press were the choice of 29% (13), particularly where specialist volunteers were required, such as accountants. Very few used the volunteering press or specialist publications and, where specialist publications were used, these tended to be either linked to their own organisation or within a specific field related to the core activity/business. Some organisations reported that targeting BME groups with disabilities was a concern. As one respondent revealed:

We want to include disabled people within our [Asian] communities but they tend to be a hidden community, so it makes it difficult for us to include them…

Overall nearly one-third, (30%) of responding organisations said that they could benefit from more information on where and how to recruit more disabled volunteers (figure 3.9, page 15).

Table 3.3 Organisations’ sources of volunteer recruitment

Source Frequency Percentage %Word of Mouth 26 58Volunteer Centre 21 47Local colleges and universities 16 36Websites 16 36Local/National Press 13 29Flyers/Posters 13 29Partnerships with other organisations

6 13

Volunteering Press 4 8Specialist Publications 3 7Mail shots 1 2Internal news letters 1 2Community Road Shows 1 2Annual Campaigns 1 2

Recruitment through volunteer centres

As table 3.3 shows, the volunteer centres ranked as one of the most popular sources of recruitment of all volunteers. However many organisations interviewed said that they had had very little success of recruiting disabled volunteers through this route.

12

A subsequent brief online questionnaire (Appendix A) sent to 20 London-based volunteer centres addressed two specific areas: whether there was a designated member of staff responsible for supporting people with additional needs into volunteering; and how volunteers where supported into volunteering. The following findings were based on responses to the questionnaire and follow-up telephone interviews with 11 volunteer centres.In all, five reported that they had no specific staff designated to supporting people with additional needs into volunteering, (see figure 3.4), of these:

Two said that they offered 1:1 support (advice) sessions to look at individual needs.

One reported that it was looking into ways in which they could best meet the needs of disabled people.

The remainder reported that they had no funds to recruit a separate worker. One re-routed questionnaire revealed the specific borough had no volunteer centre.

Figure 3.4 Volunteer Centres Additional Support Staff

Just over half (6) of those who responded said that they had a designated member of staff to support people with additional support needs. Four of these posts had been specially funded and at least two of these had been in existence for between five and nine years. The other two were short-term contracts as part of a short-term project. Despite the existence of such staff, there was no consistency in the names given to personnel and, as the word disability appeared in only one job title, this could make it difficult for potential disabled volunteers to identify the most appropriate contact for them.

Job titles included:

Volunteer Support Worker; Volunteer Outreach Worker; Supported Volunteer Co-ordinator; Disability Project Manager;

13

Development Officer; Specialist Support Worker.

Asked about the type of support designated volunteer centre staff provided to disabled clients, the response differed according to each centre. Support provision included:

Providing support with completing application forms; Escorting clients to interviews with organisations; Accompanying clients to placement until they are settled; 1:1 supervision as required; Providing a Volunteer Handbook; Peer support sessions; Training and further education courses; Running quarterly user groups.

Most centres also extended their service provision to organisations by offering consultancy support as they recognised that many had no experience of involving disabled volunteers within their projects.

Good practice

Some respondents remarked that they were keen to involve disabled volunteers in order to provide a role model for their disabled service users. Of the total number of disability organisations, 48% (or 10 out of 21) chose to target disabled volunteers and twenty-nine per cent (or 7 out of 24) of the non-disability organisations also chose to this recruitment method (figure 3.5).

Another form of positive practice by some organisations was to tailor their volunteering opportunities to suit prospective disabled volunteers. This method was used by 33% (or 7 out of 21) of the disability organisations whereas only 17% or (4 out of 24) of the non-disability organisations chose this method.

Figure 3.5 Organisations targeting disabled volunteers/providing tailored opportunities

14

Other ways in which organisations targeted their disabled volunteers were by registering their interest with local volunteer centre ‘supported volunteer projects’; including a ‘statement of intent’ in all publicity material; placing advertisements in day centres and clubs for people with disabilities’; arranging ‘taster days’ and running ‘presentation days’ for particular groups of disabled volunteers.

Some organisations and volunteer centres said that they had formed partnerships, or had established historic links, with disability organisations. These included partnerships with recognised disability charities, disability agencies and establishments, including day centres and residential homes. As these two respondents commented:

Working with disabled organisations really is a form of direct recruitment, cutting out the middleman!

We are working with two main disabled charities to involve people with disabilities on our projects either as long term placements or short term placements which we hope will lead to paid employment…

Links with local colleges and universities were also established. This included registration with volunteering departments and making contact with the disability officer, or attending events like student fresher fairs.

Support

General support trends

Table 3.6 provides information about the range of support that organisations were currently proving their disabled volunteers. In the main, most organisations that involved disabled volunteers could be described as providing a basic level of support. This covered providing some form of supervision and induction. Importantly where the support package required little or no financial cost most respondents reported that they would be able to offer it to the volunteer, for example making staff available to assist with completing application forms or any other written material.

Once the cost factor had entered into the equation there were marked differences. Disability organisations running specially-funded volunteering schemes tended to have a greater capacity to meet the needs of volunteers with high support needs. This group included people with sensory impairments and covered providing alternative formats such as Braille or audio, or providing specialist personnel, such as BSL interpreters.

Table 3.6 Types of support organisations provide to their disabled volunteers

15

Practical assistance:Volunteer preparation trainingHelp to complete (application) formsProviding transport

Expenses:TravelLunch

Basic support:Supervision, induction/training, reviews.

Extended support:Liasing with support workersMentoring (buddy scheme)

Providing specialist equipment:Wheelchair(s) hoistWeb camera (for signers sending emails)Mini com, Text phones

Specialist personnel/service:BSL interpreters, Language translators

Adapting material into:Audio or picture format; larger font for computers; large print, Braille

Overall most respondents recognised that disability-related support began before the volunteer began the volunteering activity. Sixty-two per cent of all organisations said that they would ask prospective volunteers about additional support needs at the stage of the interview and slightly less, 51%, said that they would provide on-going training (figure 3.7). Figure 3.7 Organisations’ support of volunteers

The trends were slightly different when the figures were broken down to look at the pattern of support in the same areas between the two types of organisations. Even with the slightly unrepresentative sample, it is clear that the disability organisations were more likely to perform the specified range of support than the non-disability organisations; for example, 81% of the disability organisations said that they would ask disabled volunteers about additional needs, compared to just 46% of the non-disability organisations (figure 3.8). One possible reason for this difference could be a general lack of disability awareness amongst the non-disability organisations.

16

Figure 3.8 Breakdown of organisations’ support of volunteers

Issues

The research showed a general lack of knowledge amongst respondents when it came to accessing information about training on supporting disabled volunteers. Almost one third of all organisations said that they would need training but also admitted that they did not know how or where to find information about the availability of appropriate disability-related training (figure 3.9)

Figure 3.9 Organisations’ areas of most need

Lack of money also compounded their ability to provide appropriate support. Again, one third of all respondents said that increased funding would enable them to take on more volunteers particularly those with high support needs. As one respondent recalled:

We had a young lady with a serious visual impairment who wanted to volunteer with us who needed an adjustment to a computer screen and

17

we just didn’t have the money to make the adjustment. She wasn’t able to carry out the role she really wanted to do…we felt quite bad about that…

Disability organisations with knowledge and expertise in supporting specific groups of volunteers also raised concerns about providing appropriate support for volunteers with additional disabilities. As another respondent said:

We can support volunteers that we have experience in supporting but we worry that we would not be able to offer the right support if they had other needs of top of this…

The concern for providing appropriate support to disabled volunteers was shared equally amongst both types of organisations. Sixty-two per cent (or 13 out of 21) of the disability organisations and 58% (or 14 out of 24) of the non-disability organisations said they would need assistance in this area (figure 3.10). In the area of funding, however, there was a marked difference. Whereas just over half (52% or 11 out of 21) of the disability organisations said they would need more funding to enable them to involve and support more disabled volunteers, nearly two-thirds (67%) of the non-disability organisations felt that they would need help in the same area.

Figure 3.10 Areas of most need of disability and non-disability organisations

For some organisations broaching the subject of disability-related support was a sensitive one. As one respondent revealed:

People feel a little bit scared about asking an individual about support because it’s making a judgement…by asking whether a person needs additional support is to assume that they do.

Good practice

Training days were cited by some organisations as a way to address the issues and barriers related to support and tended to involve all members of staff, disabled and non-disabled volunteers. Two respondents commented:

18

All our training sessions are completely mixed…we will have people with different abilities take part to ensure so that we all learn from each other…

Our training days are about teaching people to challenge inappropriate behaviour so that if

people are making derogatory remarks about an individual’s disability it will be challenged…

Some organisations working with volunteers with mental health difficulties said that they offered flexible arrangements to their disabled volunteers so they were able to carry out their voluntary work as their condition permitted. This could sometimes involve ‘time out’ of placement.

19

Policies and Procedures

General trends

Overall, the volunteering programmes of all organisations operated within written procedural guidelines. Most of these tended to apply to both staff and volunteers for practical reasons. Aside from the volunteer policy, 24% of all organisations provided what can be argued as the required basic protection for volunteers: an equal opportunities policy (EOP) and a health and safety policy (HS) (table 3.11). Beyond that, 31% of all respondents reported that their volunteers were covered by an EOP, HS and confidentiality policy, as well as a grievance and disciplinary policy.

Table 3.11 Organisations’ Policies

Types of policy Frequency Percentage %Equal Opportunity (EOP) + Health and Safety (HS)

11 24

EOP + HS + Confidentiality (C) 3 7EOP + HS + Disciplinary and Grievance (DG) 7 16EOP+ HS+ C + DG 14 31Base 45This table shows the most common types of policies used by organisations.

There were a number of other combinations of policies which included harassment, code of conduct, anti social behaviour, criminal records, IT protection, non-rejection policy, protection of children, and risk assessment. Where organisations worked within a volunteer policy almost none made specific mention of disabled volunteers except as it related to their equal opportunities and diversity policies.

In response to this, together with the finding that 22% of all organisations operated with no written volunteer document (figure 3.12), four months were subsequently spent working with seven organisations to assist with preparing and developing a document of volunteer involvement. The outcome of this work showed that organisational dynamics often contributed to priorities within the volunteering programme and, in some cases, the volunteer policy was often seen as less of a priority than other policies.

The resource manual publication Access to Volunteering - shaping the experiences and opportunities for disabled people: A How to Resource Manual for Volunteering Organisations, published as part of the overall research project incorporates some of the issues which came out of this project stage.

20

Other trends

In the current climate of concerns of potential litigation faced by organisations around volunteer agreements being seen as employment contracts, only 38% of all organisations opted to use a written volunteer agreement. Of those who preferred not to use agreements some were conscious of the legal implications and others simply questioned their effectiveness. Comments included:

To be honest getting someone to sign a volunteer agreement doesn’t mean anything…

The less paperwork people sign the better…

We’re trying to move away from getting people to sign things…

This trend was reflected in the fact that once the volunteering activity had come to an end the most popular form of volunteer feedback was verbal as opposed to a formal written exit questionnaire/survey. In many ways this practice tended to reflect the general culture of the volunteering schemes: many were informal with volunteering as an ‘add-on’ to the main core business. The move in this direction could have implications for those disabled volunteers with impairments that may affect their ability to respond to verbal prompts. Figure 3.12 Organisations’ policies and procedures

Issues

Most organisations recognised that putting a system in place that supported all volunteers, and in particular those with additional needs, was important but some cited the need to have the right personnel in place to achieve this:

The difference between an organisation with a volunteer co-ordinator in place and one without is quite marked…You need someone to set up

21

systems, go to seminars, meet up with other volunteer co-ordinators so that they can put proper policies in place…

Good practice

The majority of organisations (78%) said they operated with a volunteer policy. This was either in the form of a separate document or included in a broader policy document. Most organisations generally recognised the importance and relevance of the document. Comments included:

It probably took us 2-3 years to develop our volunteer policy because it was based on real experience over a period of time…

If you’re going for funding, potential funders need to that you have policies and procedures in place, like a volunteer policy…

Experiences of Disabled Volunteers

Profile of participant volunteers

Twenty-three disabled volunteers took part in the research. Of these 57% (13) were female and 43% (10) were male. The majority, 91%, were white British; the remaining 9% were from Black Minority Ethnic groups. In terms of age, 30% fell within the 46-55 year old age group, 22% were from the 26-35 year old age band and the 26-35 year old age band respectively. Just 17% were drawn from the youngest age band, 16-25 years old.

Participants had a range of ten different impairments: half had some form of learning disability; respondents experiencing mental health difficulties represented 19% of the sample and all other types of disabilities were evenly distributed (figure 3.13).

22

Figure 3.12 Range of impairments

Volunteering trends

Table 3.14 shows the range of volunteering activities individual participants were engaged in. Most were engaged in focus groups and committees – areas that involved a degree of decision-making. Other popular roles involved IT, admin, conservation and gardening. Importantly most respondents said that they were carrying out a role that they enjoyed.

Table 3.14 Volunteering activity of volunteers

Type of activity Frequency Percentage %Focus groups/committees 5 28IT and Admin 3 13Conservation and gardening 3 13Information and advice 2 9Art gallery/ shop work 2 9Hospital canteen 1 4Patient care 1 4Library 1 4Social club 1 4Child care 1 4Animal shelter 1 4Client escort 1 4Newsletter/editorial 1 4Base 23

Interestingly, in terms of where volunteers carried out their volunteering activity, the majority, 61% did so within non-disability organisations.

23

52% said that they had been volunteering for between 1-3 years. Nine per cent said that they had served over 10 years or more. Volunteers with less that six months experience represented just 6% of total participants. (figure 3.15).

Figure 3.15 Length of time in volunteering

Note: The timescales do not necessarily correlate to volunteer’s current volunteering placement.

Routes into volunteering

Volunteer routes into volunteering showed some similar trends. Thirty-one per cent said that they had found out about their current voluntary role through a family member (figure 3.16). Twenty-six per cent said that they had done so through a friend, whilst 14% said that they had gained access via their support worker and 9% through a college course tutor. Very few had come through a volunteer centre.

Support into volunteering

Almost all participants indicated that the attitude of staff was an important factor in the support provided to them as volunteers. Many used words such as ‘positive’ ‘understanding’ and ‘encouraging’ to describe the volunteering staff. Some volunteers were keen to stress that they had been ‘asked’ or ‘invited’ to become a volunteer.

24

Figure 3.16 Volunteer’s route into volunteering

5% 5%5%

5%

9%

14%

26%

31%

Family Member

Volunteer Centre

Networking

Advert

Course Tutor

Support Worker

Friend

Ex-Service User ofOrganisation

Issues

Whilst most volunteers had their ‘out of pocket’ expenses reimbursed there were a minority that said that they had been prevented from volunteering as a direct result of the organisation withdrawing funds because of budget constraints. As one respondent said:

I had to stop volunteering at one placement because they couldn’t afford to pay for my cab fare and I couldn’t afford to pay for it out of my benefits…

Where participants had been volunteering for a long period of time, some within the same organisation, many keen to secure employment had yet to do so. Indeed some felt that they had been overlooked as potential employees. One volunteer revealed:

A job came up whilst I was volunteering at my placement, I applied for it and they said no – no reason…If they can have me there as a volunteer why can’t they employ me.

Good practice

As well as receiving a range of support from their host organisations, such as training on-going monitoring and supervision, some volunteers said that they had also benefited from volunteering projects to help prepare them for volunteering. As one respondent testified:

I attended a volunteering preparation course at the volunteering agency, which was really good because it gave me an idea of what volunteering would be like…

25

Section Four - Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions

This report is intended to provide practitioners and policy makers with information about current good practice, issues and trends relating to the involvement of disabled volunteers. It presents data that suggests there is a growing awareness and recognition of the value of disabled people as volunteers. However the relatively small sample size and the unequal proportion of the disability to the non-disability organisations create an obvious limitation as to how far it reflects the current volunteering culture.

The research was based primarily in London, the beneficial area of the funding body. Significant numbers of organisations from the voluntary sector and the ethnic bias towards white British volunteer participants also place further limitations on the findings. In spite of the limited size of the work the research is significant in that it provides the basis for a wider more extensive study.

Volunteer involvement

Whilst it was acknowledged that disabled people as a group were still under-represented as volunteers, the research findings reveal that both the disability and the non-disability organisations were engaging the services of disabled volunteers with a range of impairments. Although the disability organisations tended to have more experience of involving disabled volunteers, there appeared to be no concentration of disabled volunteers in any one type of organisation carrying out a core activity or business, a trend reinforced by the range of organisations from which participating volunteers were drawn. One significant finding in this area was the lack of disabled volunteers from within the refugee and asylum seekers communities.

Recruitment

Overall the demand for disabled volunteers was found to be high, as was the expectations placed on local volunteer centres. This has implications on future priorities set by the volunteer centres. The data suggests that successful recruitment of disabled volunteers from this source was found in centres which ran some form of supported scheme specifically designed to assist disabled volunteers into volunteering and which offered support to organisations. The solution for some volunteer centres was to establish partnerships with disability organisations and to target disabled volunteers through local disability groups and colleges. The likely consequence of this could see a concentration of disabled volunteer involvement in certain types of organisations, whereas the ideal is for an even representation across a variety of mainstream organisations.

26

Support

In general it was found that the capacity of any organisation to provide appropriate support to their disabled volunteers was dependent on knowledge and funding. Those most fortunate were volunteering programmes specially funded and specifically aimed at disabled volunteers. These schemes were also better placed to access disability-related training opportunities and many were able to run in-house disability awareness training days. As has been already highlighted in the area of recruitment, the concentration of specialist knowledge and funding could create a situation whereby disabled volunteering becomes exclusive.

Another major concern to come out of the research was around the issue of ‘out of pocket’ expenses. Where many volunteers were entitled to free travel on public transport, this often came with travel restrictions. Therefore for smaller charities operating on a tight expenses budget, funding travel expenses had major implications. As one practitioner working in a mainstream disability group commented:

Small charities are really in a difficult position…if you are a small environmental charity you can’t spend all your funds on taxis for disabled volunteers because that isn’t your priority. So you are forced to discriminate…

Policies and Procedures

Most organisations recognised that having policies and procedures were crucial to the success and professionalism of the volunteering programme, but there were some organisations that operated within just the essential policy guidelines. For the majority this included a written volunteer policy, although there was a significant minority who opted to operate outside a written policy of volunteer involvement.

There was also a realisation that volunteering had become more specialised. This was reflected in the concern raised by some organisations of the need to have an appropriate staff member in post who could take on the responsibility of volunteering affairs, including the preparation of relevant policies and procedures.

Significantly, some organisations interviewed said that they preferred not to use a volunteer agreement citing concerns over contract-related litigation. This example demonstrates a policy area where organisations need to strike a balance between self-protection and implementing guidelines that support the volunteer.

Experiences of Disabled Volunteers

As illustrated in the report, most participants had been engaged in voluntary work for an average of two years. Whilst several themes characterised the experience of disabled volunteers, such as widening their social network, by

27

far the most important for interviewees was receiving appropriate support and moving into employment. Where volunteers felt supported in their voluntary roles this tended to shape their self-development, which in turn raised their expectations. Finding gainful employment was important and seen as a natural progression from volunteering.

Although some organisations reported that their disabled volunteers had progressed into secure employment, these were very few. There were, however, no comparable figures for the numbers of non-disabled volunteers that moved from unpaid voluntary status to paid work. However current estimates from the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) are that disabled people are twice as likely as non-disabled people to be out of work and this could offer a useful guide.

Recommendations

As with other volunteers, the research findings confirmed what previous studies have shown: that disabled people choose to take on voluntary work for altruistic reasons as well as to ‘get a job’ and to ‘learn new skills’. As with non-disabled volunteers they also embark on voluntary work to gain valuable work experience. These are motives that many volunteering managers recognise and understand. However the capacity of their volunteering schemes is such that they are not always able to provide the conditions to enable transition from volunteering to employment. This may be due to insufficient funding to cover the purchase of vital equipment or employing of staff necessary for many disabled volunteers to carry out certain activities. This in turn can have repercussions on which organisations are able to offer their volunteering opportunities.

The research findings suggest that in many cases organisations may exclude disabled volunteers due to budgetary constraints. There is a need to build the capacity of organisations to include and support a wider range of disabled volunteers. This could be best achieved by extending the existing ‘Access to Work’ scheme for disabled employees to cover disabled volunteers or introducing a similar scheme for volunteering or indeed, by providing more favourable grants under the current funding mechanism.

The research indicates that organisations are keen to recruit more disabled volunteers but this demand was not always being met by some local volunteer centres. Much of the inconsistency, it was recognised, could be attributed to the current funding system, whereby organisations were forced to compete for funding from a variety of sources. The situation clearly had the potential to become unfair, benefiting those individuals who lived near a centre that happen to be successful in its funding for application for an additional needs support project.

The findings indicate an inconsistency in provision for disabled people across the current volunteer centre network. To enable greater access

28

to volunteering it is recommended that a comprehensive review is needed to bring about a more consistent and efficient service.

The review should be carried out with full consultation with active disabled volunteers and may be best carried out by Volunteering England, as it is the body responsible for the strategic development of volunteer centre network in England, and the respective bodies across the UK, notably Volunteering Wales, Volunteer Development Scotland and Volunteer Development Agency Northern Ireland. The outcome of the review should involve the dissemination of good practice, together with effective policy guidelines and a creation of a financial infrastructure within which such guidelines could be met.

Recommendations for further research

Although the research was limited in focus and size, the findings do provide a valuable starting point for a wider extensive mapping of access to volunteering for disabled people.

This could involve targeting organisations across the regional/national landscape which would then make it possible to identify areas of good practice; isolate common trends and related issues; and find patterns of opportunities not only across the private, public and voluntary sectors but within different organisation settings.

Such research would also enable policy makers to discover the extent of volunteering amongst people with disabilities and go towards establishing a database made fully accessible to volunteer centres and unemployment agencies as well as to private individuals.

A mapping exercise could also help policy makers to identify the current gaps in volunteering and the put in place support mechanism to enable strategic development of volunteering amongst people with disabilities on a local, regional and national level.

Amongst practitioners there is a growing awareness of the value of volunteering amongst refugee and asylum seekers both as a way of integrating into their host communities and gaining the skills for future employment. There is also increased recognition that there are barriers to volunteering to these groups just as there are barriers to employment. The situation of the disabled volunteer has however been largely ignored.

Building on the findings in this research, which indicated very little engagement of disabled volunteers within these communities, work could be carried out to explore the experiences of these groups. The outcome of which would involve developing a ‘tool kit’ for organisations aimed at helping them to successfully recruit from within this section of society.

29

Amongst some disabled volunteer interviewees accessing opportunities to employment was important. This is likely to be explained by increasing aspirations and expectations. The emergence of this trend suggests future work is needed on the relationship between the aspirations of disabled volunteers and the work related opportunities of organisations. In the meantime, organisations should develop this aspect of volunteers’ needs within their existing review and supervision processes. It is important to note that this specific trend was not the main focus of the Skill research project.

30

Appendix A - Volunteer Centres’ Questionnaire

Dear Manager/Director

I am currently carrying out a research project on disabled access into volunteering – details of which can be found in the file attached named Project information. Part of the work involves providing organisations about the services volunteer centres and agencies provide for volunteers with additional needs.

I would be very grateful if you could answer the following questions below

1. Do you have a member of staff designated to support people with additional needs into volunteering? Please highlight as applicable in bold

Yes Please go to question 2No Please go to question 3

2. What is the title of this person?

3. How are your volunteers with additional needs given support into volunteering?

31

Notes

Findings of survey on provision of support by Volunteer Centres to disabled volunteers was carried out as part of Skill’s research project on disabled people’s access into volunteering.

The report also makes reference to research by:

CSV RSVP (2000): Who’s helping whom? Creating opportunities for older people with disabilities

Institute for Volunteering Research (2004): Volunteering for All? Exploring the link between volunteering and social exclusion

Further information about the report and more information about Skill and the work and services it provides can be obtained from:

Skill: National Bureau for Students with DisabilitiesChapter House 18-20 Crucifix LaneLondon SE1 3JW

Tel: 020 7450 0620 Fax: 020 7450 0650Email: skill@skill.org.uk Website: www.skill.org.uk

To order a copy of ‘Access to Volunteering – shaping the experiences and

opportunities for disabled people: A how to resource manual for volunteering

organisations’ contact Sylvia Charlton on 0207 450 0621.

Email: Sylvia@skill.org.uk

Skill’s volunteering organisations listings guide can be found at www.skill.org.uk/vol

32