Roles
The following is not an exhaustive list of the potential roles a Volunteer could play. As Autism Bucks grows and evolves, new volunteering roles may merge while existing roles may increase or diminish in importance.
- Participate in, and potentially lead:
- face-to-face Member meetings
- online Member meetings (e.g., via Zoom)
- external activities (e.g., museum visits, away days)
- Work one-to-one to support an individual member
- Assist with or create fundraising activities
- Provide website information
- Enhance Social Media presence
- Administration.
Skills, Experience and Characteristics
A typical Volunteer should be:
- Reliable
- Ready to give up their time without recompense
- Empathetic, with a reasonable understanding of Autism and Autistic People
- Willing to transport themselves to wherever their role requires them to be
- Willing to undergo a DBS check and provide references
- Willing to participate in an appropriate form of induction
- Over 16, other than exceptional circumstances.
The following would be of interest but are not essential for a volunteer:
- A background in healthcare and support, especially neurodiversity
- Special skills or interests that could be shared with the Members.
A Volunteer should have no expectation that a voluntary role will lead to employment with the Charity.
Equal Opportunities and Diversity
Autism Bucks is committed to promoting equal opportunities. Volunteering opportunities are open to all regardless of age, race, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, nationality, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity.
Autism Bucks recognises the positive benefits a diverse Volunteer pool can bring to the organisation and is committed to ensuring our recruitment and selection procedure reflects this.
Disabled Volunteers
Autism Bucks encourages disabled people to volunteer. All the venues used are fully accessible. We ask, where possible, for Volunteers to bring their own carers and support workers if required, as we have a limited budget for volunteer expenses. The carer or support worker would need to provide a recent criminal record disclosure certificate prior to attending an event organised by Autism Bucks.
Volunteer Commitment
It is acknowledged that Volunteers give of their time freely and are under no contractual commitment to Autism Bucks. However, as a minimum, we expect the following from our Volunteers:
- To behave in a manner which reflects positively on the organisation and to promote the key organisational messages where possible.
- To execute agreed duties, unless otherwise informed, and requests that Volunteers carry out in the name of Autism Bucks only those tasks approved by supervising staff.
- To be supportive of other Volunteers and of Autism Bucks’s ethos and aims.
We request that all Volunteers volunteering on a regular basis give four weeks’ notice if they are considering leaving their volunteering role.
We also ask that Volunteers attending events (e.g., group meetings) give at least one week’s notice if they are unable to attend a scheduled event.