FAQs

How much time do other businesses and organisations allow for staff to volunteer?

Not all organisations have a formal policy in place specifying how many hours or days off work can be spent volunteering.  Those that do have a policy tend to offer staff upwards of 2 days per year to volunteer.

What about volunteering activities that staff are already involved with?

Many businesses support staff to volunteer but do not have a recognised programme and staff find their own opportunities.  This approach can sit quite comfortably alongside a more formal programme of volunteering opportunities offering staff a choice of projects and giving employer feedback on how volunteering has benefited the community and employees.

Why is there a fee to work with Leeds Ahead, and how is the fee structured?

As a broker, Leeds Ahead works with a wide range of partners to source valuable and appropriate projects. We also facilitate the projects, ensuring that they run smoothly and that staff time is used to best effect.  This includes collecting feedback on each project from volunteers and community partners.   An annual membership fee is charged to cover the time spent delivering the programme. The fee is flexible and will vary according to the type and number of projects that an employer chooses.  

Are staff insured when they go out to volunteer ?

Leeds Ahead ensures that all community partners have public liability insurance to cover volunteers.

Do staff need CRB checks?

Where volunteers are working on a one to one basis with children or vulnerable people, Leeds Ahead ensures that a CRB check (and any other checks that may be required) is carried out.

How can we link volunteering to a personal development plan?

Leeds Ahead designs projects that meet personal development priorities and provides guidance to members on the skills developed across the range of volunteering opportunities. The learning gained is tracked and monitored in the feedback from individual volunteers.

How do we launch a volunteering programme?

There are a number of ways to approach this and an initial employee survey will help to identify the projects likely to gain the most support, prior to any launch.  A pilot programme of volunteering within a discrete department or area of the organisation would also help to engage your employees on a smaller scale before launching across the whole organisation.

What to do next? 

Leeds Ahead will have an initial meeting to identify your objectives around community engagement.  A programme will be structured to meet your objectives and once agreed, the Leeds Ahead team will give ongoing support to put your programme into action.