About Course
Learn the essentials of safe, confident volunteering. This short course introduces your rights and responsibilities as a volunteer, what to expect from organisations, and how to set healthy boundaries in your role.
What Will You Learn?
- What volunteering is – and what it is not.
- What you can reasonably expect from an organisation as a volunteer.
- Your key responsibilities in a volunteer role.
- How to set and keep healthy boundaries.
- What to do if something doesn’t feel right or you need support.
Course Content
Introduction
This introductory course is for anyone who is new to volunteering or thinking about getting involved.
You will explore what volunteering is (and what it is not), understand your rights and responsibilities, and learn how to set and maintain healthy boundaries. Through short lessons, examples and reflection tasks, you will finish the course feeling more confident about choosing roles, asking questions, and keeping yourself and others safe.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
Describe the purpose and value of volunteering.
Explain your basic rights as a volunteer and what organisations should offer you.
Identify your responsibilities to the people you support, the organisation, and yourself.
Recognise common boundary issues and know how to respond.
Know when and how to raise concerns or ask for support.
Topic 1: Welcome and Course Overview
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1.1 Welcome to Volunteer Essentials
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Reflection
Topic 2: What is Volunteering?
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2.1 Understanding Volunteering
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Reflection
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2.2 – Volunteers and Paid Staff: What’s the Difference?
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Quiz
Topic 3: Your Rights as a Volunteer
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3.1: What You Can Expect as a Volunteer
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Reflection
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3.2: Volunteer Agreements, Policies and Paperwork
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3.3 – Inclusion, Access and Support
Topic 4: Your Responsibilities as a Volunteer
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4.1 – Responsibilities to the Organisation
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Reflection
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4.2 – Responsibilities to the People You Support
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4.3 – Responsibilities to Yourself
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Reflection
Topic 5: Boundaries in Volunteering
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5.1 – What Are Boundaries and Why Do They Matter?
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Reflection
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5.2 – Common Boundary Challenges
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5.3 – Saying No and Asking for Help
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Reflection
Topic 6: Staying Safe & Raising Concerns
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6.1 – Safeguarding Basics for Volunteers
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Reflection
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6.2 – Health, Safety and Lone Working
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6.3 – How to Raise Concerns or Make a Complaint
Topic 7: Bringing It All Together
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7.1 – Key Messages and Next Steps
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Reflection
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Volunteer Essentials Knowledge Check