Volunteers – Key Information for our volunteers

Firstly, thank you for volunteering for Feed A Friend.  We know that everyone is busy and so to have people give up their time to help others is invaluable.  We hope that the smile that you get back from your diner will give you a good sense of how much help you are offering.

To help you work with our diners, we have pulled together some key material for reference.  Please note, this is not exhaustive list and if you are worried about any aspect, please contact the Feed A Friend organisers to assist you.

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SIGNING UP AND GETTING STARTED

Volunteer Contact Form & Agreement – before you visit any diners, this must have been completed and submitted with your key information, we also require the names of two referees who have known you for a minimum of one year.  They should not be family members, and one of these referees should have known you in a formal capacity e.g. employer or tutor.  All these details required are on the form <Volunteer Contact Information F1>

We also need a volunteer agreement form to be signed to say that you will work within our guidelines.  Most of the details in this document are also shown on our web pages however we just want to check you have had the time to read them and let us know if you have any questions.  <FAF Volunteer Agreement>

DBS: If accepted as a volunteer, you will be required to satisfactorily pass an enhanced level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, or provide information to allow us to verify your status using the online DBS Update Service. Your disclosure of any past or spent convictions may not preclude you from volunteering with FAF. For more information see www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check  – this is the check that has replaced the old CRB checks and is in place to verify identity and previous criminal history in order to reassure our diners.

 

Food Preparation: Given that FAF is based on providing food to the diner. All food must be produced or purchased in line with UK Food Standards.  All volunteers must maintain a Food preparation record – this is to show where we purchased our ingredients and how we carefully looked after them to give our diners reassurance that we are looking after their best health.  Use the template Food Preparation Record F2 to keep your records up to date at all times.  Also your kitchen will need to be registered with Reading Borough Council using the following website http://www.reading.gov.uk/foodbusiness.  They will want to know that we are working within all Food hygiene guidelines.
Food Hygiene Training: As part of the Volunteer Agreement, we require everyone to have read and understood Level 1 and Level 2 Food Hygiene. We have enclosed the training material for these with follow up questions. Please ensure that you have read and can follow all of the processes and procedures. If at any time you become concerned that you are not able to follow any of the guidelines then please stop and contact your FAF coordinator.
Level 1:
Level 2: 

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USEFUL CONTACTS & WHERE TO GET HELP

We want you and our diners to be safe. If at any time you are concerned for you or your diner’s welfare then you should phone 999 emergency services. If you deem that the situation to be a non emergency then we have also included details of guidance provided by St John Ambulance which we suggest you may want to familiarise yourself. This said, if in doubt, always call 999 for help.

http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/first-aid-advice.aspx

St John Ambulance: On this website, you will find important first aid advice topics which we recommend you read through and familiarise yourself with.
They cover the following:
  • First aid techniques
  • What to do as a first aider
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Breathing
  • Heart
  • Head
  • Bleeding
  • Bones and muscles
  • Skin
  • Hot and cold conditions
  • Illnesses and conditions
  • Poisoning
We are focused on working with the elderly which brings with it its own nature of situations. For comfort, we have also enclosed a list of useful contacts which you may want to signpost:

Citizens Advice (Debt advice, form filling, energy savings etc.) 0344 411 1306

Home visit Chiropody – QVI 0118 959 0306

Home Fire Checks (free fire alarms fitted) Fire service 0118 945 2888

Michelle Berry (Neighbourhood Co-coordinator Older People’s Services) 07834 335103

Reading Borough Council REACT (first point of contact for care needs, crisis etc.) Team 0118 937 3747

Police non-emergency 101

NHS Direct 111

Communicare (debt advice, housing advice, separation etc.) 0118 926 3941

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RECORDING INCIDENTS
With the best will in the world, sometimes things happen that are out of our control.  If there is any incident (big or small), once you have dealt with the situation in hand, please can you ensure that you have completed an incident form and return to feedafriend@outlook.com so that we know what has happened and follow up if necessary

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KEY POLICIES

Confidentiality Policy – We will ensure that any details that you provide will be protected and will not be forwarded to any person without your permission.  By providing the details of your references, you must ensure that you have the permission for the individual for us to contact them and also for them to discuss your experience with us.  FAF is working with vulnerable people and therefore you must guarantee that you will not discuss any personal and private details of your diner with anyone outside of the organisation.  If in doubt, please discuss any questions on confidentiality with the organisers to get comfort on the boundaries.

All members working with FAF will operate in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Health & Safety Policy – All individuals’ (volunteers & diners) safety remains our utmost priority.  All volunteers must demonstrate a high level of care and consideration for our diners in their manner and interaction and also in the care taken for all food handling.  Any concerns for H&S must be reported immediately using an incident form

Lone Working Policy – By default, volunteers and diners meet on a one to one basis.  If you have any concerns then raise these immediately and it may be a case of temporarily suspending visits while concerns are ironed out.  If you feel uncomfortable doing lone visits then there may be opportunities to work alongside others to safeguard everyone

Money Handling Policy – No volunteer should handle money from a diner in exchange for any goods or services