Recruiting Volunteers?
Volunteers are the heart of the RLSS UK, and recruiting the right people is key to the success of your Club, Branch, Region and the Society as a whole.
This section will include core themes that will include providing resources, guidance and information to help you in recruiting volunteers to your organisation. Dedicated to helping you at all points of the recruitment process it will contain a number of resources and links to help you develop your volunteer recruitment practices.
Documents such as RLSS UK safe recruitment policy will guide you through the process from advertising your roles to running the appropriate criminal records checks.
Advice and guidance on how the law affects volunteers will also be made available.
You will also be able to access information on accepting volunteers from overseas, how to manage volunteers who are on benefits and even ensuring you have an induction process in place.
If you're recruiting volunteers for your organisation this will be the place to be!
Volunteers and the Law
Many organisations are unclear about the legal status of their volunteers and the responsibilities they have towards them. Worries around issues such as benefits and the reimbursement of expenses are perennial concerns. Eighteen million people make a gift of their time each year to volunteer. There is increasing government attention on volunteering, with growing numbers of people being encouraged to volunteer. It is therefore vital that organisations understand both the good practice and the legal implications of volunteer involvement, in order to ensure that volunteering remains a valuable experience for all. This leaflet is a summary of the recently published book, Volunteers and the Law. It is a signposting document, leading you to sources of further information. Legal advice should always be sought. Much will be relevant to readers in the rest of the UK, but guidance should be sought from Volunteer Development Scotland (www.vds.org.uk) or, in Northern Ireland, from the Volunteer Development Agency (www.volunteering-ni.org). Recent legislation referred to in the text can be found at www.hmso.gov.uk.
Volunteers And The Law (298.45 kB)
RLSS UK Code of Practice
A must read for all our new volunteers. All aspects of Lifesaving and Lifeguarding can and do have a powerful and positive influence on people; not only providing opportunities for enjoyment and achievement, but also developing valuable qualities such as confidence, self esteem, leadership and team work. These positive effects can only take place if Lifesaving is in the right hands and it is the duty of all those associated in leading activity whether it be as a Trainer, Assessor, Coach, Official Region, Branch or Club Officer or Volunteer to provide the correct environment.
The RLSS UK is committed to ensuring that everyone who participates in Lifesaving has a safe, positive and enriching experience. To achieve this, the Society is dedicated to developing and implementing policies and procedures which ensures everyone understands and accepts their responsibility in relation to their duty of care, behaviours and attitudes to others.
For all those taking part in, running or attending RLSS UK activities, this vital document outlines all our policies and guidance on areas such as health and safety, insurance, training, equal opportunities and many other vital areas of our activities.
RLSS UK Code Of Practice (1.81 MB)
RLSS UK Code of Conduct
This document, applicable to all our RLSS UK Staff and volunteers outlines the conduct expected within the society. Staff and volunteers, especially in teaching roles, are crucial to the development of lifesaving and in the lives of the many individuals they impact upon.
Those developing and teaching lifesaving in all capacities, must demonstrate at all levels a high degree of honesty, integrity and competence. The need for yourself as a champion of best practise, your clubs, trainers and volunteers to understand and act on their responsibilities is of critical importance to lifesaving. This is implicit within good club management practice and promotes a professional image of the good practitioner. This Code of Conduct defines all that is best in good teaching practice.
