A guide to the supports we provide to volunteer involving organisations in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre is an independent and free matching service to promote and support volunteering in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown. Our role is to provide information and advice to people interested in volunteering and to organisations looking for volunteers.

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre is part of a network of 22 Volunteer Centres, is affiliated to Volunteer Ireland and funded by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

Who will we work with?

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre will work with any not-for-profit organisation – this includes charities, community groups, co-operatives and statutory organisations such as health centres, schools, hospitals, etc. We will not seek volunteers for individuals or for profit making organisations.

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre serves the needs of organisations operating within the boundaries of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

What services do we provide?

Volunteer placement service

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre has a database of people throughout the county who want to volunteer. Organisations can be registered on this database so that their volunteering opportunities are visible and can be promoted to these volunteers. In order to do so, an organisation must first register and provide details such as contact names, staff and volunteer numbers, presence of relevant policies, a charity or company number.

Organisations can register as many opportunities as they like. Each opportunity must have a name, and as many of the questions as possible on the form must be answered. The more information provided the better chance there is of attracting volunteers to the role/s.

We can also share your opportunities with other Volunteer Centres around the country if applicable, so please let us know and we are happy to circulate them.

We also send out a monthly newsletter to the volunteers on our database informing them of newly advertised vacancies.

Information & support on recruiting and managing volunteers:

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre can provide advice and guidance, or access to information, on a range of issues related to how you manage your volunteers. This might relate to the recruitment of volunteers, motivating volunteers, dealing with difficult situations, etc. This support is available on an ad-hoc basis so please feel free to pick up the phone and talk to us, or we can arrange a meeting.

Volunteer Management Training

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre delivers a four module ‘Volunteer Management Training’ programme. Each module takes about 3 hours and is generally run once a week over four weeks. Please see the training page on our website for further information on the content, locations and upcoming dates of this training. Notification of each Volunteer Management Training programme will be sent out to all our contacts by email.

Garda Vetting

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre provides a Garda Vetting service to voluntary organisations that do not have access to their own Authorised Signatory. An Authorised Signatory is someone who has been trained by An Garda Siochana in the correct administration of Garda Vetting. Because not all small organisations are able to access this Garda training, we may act as an Authorised Signatory. To avail of this service, your organisation, or members of it, must be willing to meet with us and ensure that certain procedures are in place, before Garda Vetting can begin. Please ask us if you would like more information on this.

How do we provide our service?

Face-to- Face

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre has an office in Blackrock with outreach offices in Dun Laoghaire and Dundrum and we are available to meet you at any of these offices. Alternatively we can come to your office or centre.

Electronically

Because our database is electronic and held online, we do a lot of our communication via our website and email. We try to keep our website updated with useful information. Each organisation registered with us has one or more contacts who will receive updates on a regular basis. If you do not wish to receive further communication from us via email please let us know.

Telephone

Our telephone number is 01 2090630. If you need information or advice on any aspect of volunteer recruitment or management, please call us

Paper

There are guides, information sheets and good practice templates available from our Blackrock office and to download from our website www.volunteerdlr.ie

What do we expect from you?

That you keep volunteers updated

Many individuals applying to be volunteers may not have volunteered before and therefore may not know what to expect. They may not realize how long the process can sometimes take, or that you might just be extremely busy. They may think you have forgotten about them, and some may even think they were not good enough for the role, which can have repercussions for other choices they make. Therefore it’s important that volunteers are kept updated on how their application is proceeding, even a quick email to say ‘’no change’’.

Of course, volunteers may not get back to you, or their circumstances may change or sometimes there’s confusion about who’s to get back to who, in which case please let us know.

That you keep us updated.

If a volunteer has been placed with you, if they were completely inappropriate or if you never heard from them again, please let us know. This information helps us provide a better service by better understanding your service.

If you have any photos or testimonials from volunteers we would love to see them. We can add them to our website and or Annual Report – these kinds of documents always help generate more interest in your organisation. If there are any changes to staffing, please let us know so that we can update our contacts database.

That you abide by our Equal Opportunities Policy

We recognise that in our society certain individuals and groups of people are unfairly discriminated against, both directly and indirectly. They are often denied the same treatment or opportunity on the grounds of age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, caring responsibilities, mental or physical health/disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnic/national origin (including membership of the travelling community), political or religious beliefs, economic status, criminal record, trade union activity, or combination of any of these. We strive to eliminate all such forms of discrimination and to create a climate in which equal opportunities are promoted as a means of developing the full potential of everyone who is involved in our organisation. We do this by fulfilling our legal obligations and by taking positive action, which goes beyond the requirements of the law but by avoiding stereotyping and tokenism.

We realise that not every organisation has an equal opportunities policy. However, we do want to make sure that any volunteers that we refer to, or place with organisations do not suffer undue discrimination. This does not mean that you must accept anyone who contacts you; there may be very good reasons, for example, why you are looking for someone of a particular sex. It simply means that you do not turn anyone away, only because of the colour of their skin or only because they use a wheelchair.

Accessing the service

To access the services of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre please register with us online, by phone or through a face to face meeting. Once your organisation is registered you will receive and automatic response email informing you of your unique VI code.

This code allows you to register new volunteering opportunities directly onto our database. Once checked by us, those vacancies will go ‘live’. Once registered you will receive an email from us outlining how the service operates. You may also receive a call from us to clarify information related to your registration.

Refusal of service

Under certain circumstances Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre may refuse to accept a registration, or refuse to place volunteers with the organisation. This may be due to continued breaches of our Equal Opportunities policy, or knowledge that the organisation engages in unlawful behaviour, for example.

Recording of information

In addition to the information you provide on registration, our database allows us to record notes on the contact we have with you. This will generally include the date of the conversation, who it was with, and any important information discussed. We will also record if you have completed any of our volunteer management training modules. You are free to request a copy of any information we hold on you or your organisation.

Acceptance of these conditions

Having sent you this document, we will assume that you agree to abide by its conditions, unless we hear otherwise from you. If you fail to meet the conditions of this document we will explain to you where we feel the conditions are not being met. Support and training can be made available at this stage to assist the organisation to better meet these requirements. If you continue to fail to meet the conditions Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre reserves the right to discontinue our service to you.

Appealing this decision

Should you disagree with the Manager’s decision to suspend our service to you, please write to the chairperson. Your appeal will be considered by the Board of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre.

Compliments and complaints

Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre welcomes all feedback, both positive and negative as it allows us to deliver a better service to the community.