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    Volunteering

    Every colleague, as part of their benefits package, is given the opportunity to undertake 22.5 hours (pro-rata) to volunteer in their local community, either with our fundraising partners or local good causes. 

    Click here to view our Volunteering Policy

    Click here to view our user guide for submitting volunteering hours

    Click here to view our Volunteer Challenge Pack (this must be completed prior to the challenge)

    Changes to volunteering

    We have changed the way we report volunteering to give us a clearer view of the different ways our remarkable colleagues are doing good together.

    Now, as well as recording the 22.5 hours (pro rata) you spend volunteering in Society time (paid volunteering), we are also inviting you to record the hours you spend volunteering in your own time (unpaid volunteering).

    We know that many of our remarkable colleagues support our communities outside of work time, doing things like leading a Brownie or Cub Scout Pack, holding school governor positions or supporting a local charity close to your heart, and we want to capture this information too. 

    As well as recording these hours, don’t forget to share your stories through Count Me In.

    Watch our Volunteering Update

    How Do I Arrange Paid Volunteering?

    1  

    Find a volunteering opportunity

    You could work with your charity partner (your relationship with them can be about so much more than raising money), use volunteering websites to find your local volunteer centre or talk to your customers and members.

    2  

    Agree the dates and times you’ll volunteer with your line manager

    Ensure that you have agreed with the group or charity in advance what is required of you and that you have all of the necessary tools or materials to help you carry out the volunteering.

    3  

    Complete the Volunteering Challenge Pack
    The Volunteering Challenge Pack can be found here and must be completed before you do your volunteering.  

    4

    Log your hours

    Once you have completed your volunteering you must complete and submit details of the volunteering you have undertaken using the online form. Remember, you will now need to specify if volunteering was done as part of your normal working day or in your own time.

    Submit Volunteering Hours


    How do we calculate how many volunteer hours you are entitled to, based on your contracted hours?

     

    • Full-time colleagues contracted to work 30 hours or above each week are entitled to the maximum of 22.5 hours volunteer time per year.

    • Colleagues working less than 30 hours will have their entitlement calculated in proportion (pro-rata) to the full-time equivalent, an example of this is:

      • You work 10 hours per week, we divide this by the full-time equivalent of 39 hours per week and then multiply this by the maximum amount of volunteer hours a full-time colleague would be given – which is 22.5 per year; in this scenario you would be entitled to a total of 5.77 hours of volunteer time per year.

     

    Find out about Volunteering opportunities

    Search

    Find out about volunteering opportunities for your local charity partner by contacting your Line Manager or Regional Community Ambassador. 

    To find other volunteering opportunities in your area, search online or see if there is a Volunteer Centre local to you. 

    If you are unsure as to whether a volunteering opportunity meets Society guidelines, please contact the Community Team at community.team@midcounties.coop and a member of the team will be able to advise you.

    Colleague volunteering takes colleagues away from their normal day job to do something for the benefit of a community group or charity.

    Community work undertaken during contracted work hours is paid volunteering. The Society gives us 22.5 hours each year (pro rata) to spend doing volunteering work. Paid volunteering is predominantly for our Society fundraising partners (Regional Communities) and local school partnerships (Your Community Sites). 

    Colleagues may also wish to undertake volunteering and fundraising activities that are not linked to a Society-related charity or community group. In these circumstances, you are responsible for ensuring the marketing used to promote the activity has been provided by the charity and that the money is banked with the charity directly.

    Community work undertaken during contracted work hours can include, but is not limited to:

    • Time spent organising a fundraising event for your local charity partner, including a meeting with colleagues to plan the event, talking to your fundraising partner, event set up, capturing photography and supplying impact information post event etc
    • Baking cakes for a cake sale (2 hours max, done in Society time)
    • Giving blood (2 hours max, done in Society time)
    • Sponsored walk
    • Sharing specialist knowledge. For example, helping a charity with their website, HR or IT queries. The time counted can include time spent discussing the needs with the charity beforehand
    • Completing your defibrillator weekly checks
    • Taking donations to or volunteering for your local foodbank
    • A gardening or decorating challenge

    Your manager will sign off TOIL for you if volunteering or a fundraising activity is for a Society-led fundraising partner and takes place outside of your normal working hours.

    For example, you would be able to claim TOIL if you have been involved in fundraising for a Society-led volunteering activity such as a sponsored walk for your local fundraising partner but the walk itself takes place on a day you aren’t working.

    All TOIL must be cleared by your manager prior to the volunteering taking place in line with the TOIL Policy

    Full-time colleagues contracted to work 30 hours or above each week are entitled to the maximum of 22.5 hours volunteer time per year.

    Colleagues working fewer than 30 hours each week will have their entitlement calculated in proportion (pro-rata) to the full-time equivalent. An example of this is:

    • You work 10 hours per week, we divide this by the full-time equivalent of 39 hours per week and then multiply this by the maximum amount of volunteer hours a full-time colleague would be given – which is 22.5 per year. In this scenario you would be entitled to a total of 5.77 hours of volunteer time per year.

    Community work undertaken in your own time is unpaid volunteering and should be reported separately to paid volunteering but using the same reporting system.

    This kind of volunteering could include leading a team of Brownies or Scouts or coaching a children’s football team where you are volunteering outsideof Society time and where it is not part of a Society-led project. Your manager will not be required to sign off this volunteering.

    Colleagues are not insured under the Society’s policy for unpaid colleague volunteering.

    Community work undertaken during colleagues' own time, including any volunteering activity that is not Society led. For example:

    • Brownie or Scout leader or assistant
    • Assisting a school or club coaching football or netball teams
    • School governors or charity trustee meeting
    • Volunteering at any sort of privately owned business such as some nursing or care homes

    Not included in either paid or unpaid volunteering are colleagues helping individuals, e.g. getting your next-door neighbour’s shopping or taking a friend to hospital.

    Simply wearing fancy dress and doing your normal work raises awareness of the fundraising you are doing and who you are doing it for, but only manning a table with a tombola or ‘guess the number of sweets in a jar’ activity, or time spent asking for donations and explaining more about the charity and what you are fundraising for, can be counted as volunteering. In other words, only activities that take you away from your normal everyday work can be counted.

    It is important that all volunteering is carried out in a safe way. You must discuss your volunteering activity with your line manager and together review the Challenge Volunteer Pack which contains various Health & Safety guidelines before undertaking any activity.  

    For further information:

    If you have any further questions, please contact communityteam@midcounties.coop

    With people and communities at the heart of Your Co-op, supporting local good causes chosen by our colleagues and members is what this fund is all about – if it’s important to you then it’s important to us too.

    To find our more click here

    Email Doing.GoodTogether@midcounties.coop with any questions