My Guide Best Practice Manual

Overview

This set of online resources will help you set up a My Guide scheme using Best Practice, and will assure quality. Some of you may have experience of hosting a similar service, for others this maybe the first time you work with volunteers. Whatever your experience these web pages will give you the structure, processes, advice, top tips and provide you with useful materials.

Contents

Compulsory aspects

  • Safeguarding
  • Disclosure checks (CRB)
  • Insurance
  • Mobility Assessment Survey
  • Registration and the Community Sighted Guide Database
  • Quarterly report

The service user’s journey

  • Promotion
  • Identifying suitable service users

The My Guide volunteer journey

  • Planning and promotion
  • Recruitment
  • Selection
  • Induction
  • Day to day management
  • Support and supervision/development
  • Training
  • Recognition
  • When a volunteer moves on
  • Disclosure checks (CRB)
  • Registration and the Community Sighted Guide Database

Building and supporting the partnership

  • The matching meeting
  • Checkpoints
  • Finishing the scheme
  • Next steps

Helping to run the scheme smoothly – policies and procedures

  • Insurance
  • Self declaration form
  • Volunteer agreement form
  • Volunteer expenses policy
  • Volunteer disciplinary procedure
  • Volunteer grievance procedure
  • Health and safety
  • Risk assessments
  • Boundaries
  • Confidentiality guidelines
  • Safeguarding
  • Complaints procedure
  • Finance and sustainability
  • Funding options
  • Branding

Measuring success

  • Reporting
  • Quality assurance

Useful contacts

Items for the pack

  • Service user promotion leaflet
  • Service user promotion poster
  • Volunteer promotion leaflet
  • Volunteer promotion poster

Templates for downloading

  • Example risk assessment form
  • Boundaries
  • Confidentiality Checklist
  • Disclosure – what to do
  • Matching form
  • Mobility Assessment Survey
  • Service user promotion press release
  • Volunteer promotion press release
  • My Guide volunteer interview questions
  • Safer recruiting – competencies and questions
  • My Guide volunteer role description
  • Volunteer application form
  • Community sighted guide data collection form
  • Invitation to Level One training
  • Invitation to Level Two training
  • Top tips for My Guide volunteers
  • Volunteer activity plan
  • Community groups – example from Northern Ireland
  • My Guide scheme case for support (fundraising)
  • Quarterly Report
  • Self declaration form
  • Volunteer Agreement Form