Resources and guidance for our volunteers

We are delighted to welcome you on your volunteering journey with RNIB. Now that you have been successfully recruited to the role, your volunteer induction can begin. We’ll send you a welcome pack to introduce you to our organisation and our customers. You will also receive your RNIB training resources, which include three workbooks and instructions to complete safeguarding training. This will give you the opportunity to understand what to expect when volunteering with us.

Your volunteer manager will introduce and explain your new role to you when you start. During this induction, you’ll learn the practical parts of your role; what you’ll be doing, where and when, as well as who your main contacts will be.

Have a read through our Understanding Sight Loss Workbook by clicking on the link below:

• Understanding Sight Loss Workbook

We want to make sure that you’re well prepared for your volunteering role and have a good understanding of important policies and procedures. All volunteers must complete essential training during the induction and commit to refresher training every two years. This training covers safeguarding, data protection, health and safety, and diversity and inclusion and will help you carry out your role with confidence.

We recognise that you’re sharing your time, skills and experience with RNIB, so we try to make our volunteering training resources easy to access and available in a variety of formats, so you have an accessible and inclusive experience. You’ll complete essential training as part of your induction and then we’ll be in touch to arrange your refresher training. Your volunteer manager will support you along the way.

Please read these policies to support with your understanding of your role within RNIB:

• Volunteer involving policy
• Volunteer problem solving
• Volunteer commitment
• Volunteer expenses guidance
• Volunteer expenses claim form

We’ve included our essential policies for volunteers below. When we update our policies, we’ll let you know in the regular Volunteer News.

• Professional code of behaviour policy
• Bullying and harassment Policy
• Volunteer privacy notice
• Behavioural Insight Ethics Policy
• Health and Safety
• Data Protection
• Information Security
• Social Media
• Whistle Blowing

Viewpoint is our new system for managing volunteering roles, receiving applications for advertised opportunities and recording the volunteering activities of existing volunteers like you.

One of the features of Viewpoint enables you to create a customer account via something called a customer portal. Existing volunteers received an email invitation in April 2023 to create an account on the customer portal.

Creating a customer account is voluntary and up to you to decide. The advantage of doing so is that it gives you access to the personal information that we hold about you, with the ability to make updates to your information should something change like your address, phone number or communication format preferences. You can also view any recent applications you have submitted and the details of your existing commitments.

For Tech for Life volunteers who need the ability to view and accept customer help requests, this is the same portal that enables you to do that.

Further information and instructions on how to access and interact with the Customer Portal can be found in the document below:

If you have any questions about the customer portal, please contact [email protected].

RNIB is committed to safeguarding everyone who uses our services or comes into contact with us. Safeguarding is integral to all our work, therefore it’s important for all volunteers to be familiar with our safeguarding policies and procedures.

Please read our Safeguarding FAQs document and follow the link to our Safeguarding page to find out more about our safeguarding training, policies and procedures.

• Safeguarding FAQs
• Safeguarding update - April 2023
• Our Safeguarding policy

Every volunteer has a volunteer manager who will be your main point of contact and support throughout your volunteering relationship with RNIB. 

Your volunteer manager will support you from the point of recruitment and will provide you with an induction, ongoing support and development as required in your role.

As a volunteer with RNIB, you’ll be able to access the Employee and Volunteer Assistance Programme (EVAP) for additional support. It’s an independent, free and confidential service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to all RNIB staff and volunteers, which is provided by Health Assured Ltd. You can call any time day or night on 0800 028 0199 or +44 161 836 9498 from outside the UK.  For more information about this programme, please speak with your volunteer manager or contact the Volunteering team at [email protected] or 0303 123 9999 (option 4).

Read the RNIB guidance about looking after your wellbeing by visiting our page here: Five ways to wellbeing.

At RNIB we offer a Counselling Service for staff and volunteers who need support. The service can provide access to eight one-hour sessions of confidential counselling almost on an immediate basis, delivered by externally contracted counsellors, all of whom have been trained in the sight loss counselling model and understand the work that the RNIB does. This service is in addition to the Employee Volunteer Assistance Programme. To access this service please email: [email protected] or [email protected].

Your wellbeing is important to us, so we’ve partnered with nudge to provide you with free, personalised financial education. Putting you in the driving seat of your finances and keeping you in control.

Managing your money can feel like hard work — but it doesn’t have to. Nudge is a financial education platform and coaches you to better understand your finances, take control and plan your future.

Notifications or ‘nudges’

When there’s something you need to know, or a financial action you should take, we send you a personal, timely, nudge using your preferred method of communication.

A personalised financial feed

A personalised feed full of bite-sized, easy-to-understand financial education posts and articles curated to help you take control of your money.

Financial education stories

Whether you’re buying a home or paying off loans, our interactive resources and tools help you reach your financial goals.

Simple money management tools

Interactive tools that help you plan, prepare, and organize your finances, including budgeting, borrowing, and saving.

Financial health checkup

Helps you understand where you’re thriving and where there’s room for improvement - from saving and spending to borrowing and planning.

How to access Nudge?

For more information please get in touch with your Volunteer Manager, alternatively contact [email protected] or call 0303 123 9999 option 4.

We want you to feel confident and well informed in your role. We offer additional development opportunities for some of our roles and will be expanding this offer over time. 

We have volunteer training that can be attended as part of a group of staff and volunteers, training that can be delivered by your volunteer manager, and even online learning. Some of the modules developed for volunteer managers to deliver include customer service, eye health and sighted guiding and public speaking and facilitation skills. Your volunteer manager can tell you more about the training and development opportunities available.

The Volunteering team are here to help with your questions, please email [email protected] or call us on 0303 123 9999 (option 4, then option 2).