Article last updated on 27/11/2020
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement earlier this week, the government has published updated guidance on what the local restriction tiers will mean after national lockdown ends on 2 December. You can read the full guidance here.
The exemptions for providing voluntary or charitable services will remain in all tiers but organisations should continue to carefully consider how they can do this safely and be mindful of increased risk if the area is in a higher local tier.
Organisations should continue to:
- protect those most at risk of coronavirus such as those who are clinically vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable.
- ensure that everyone is aware of the legal duty to self isolate
- ensure venues meet coronavirus safety standards. You should therefore review risk assessments and also check your insurance cover.
- take account of the local risk level i.e. which tier the local area is placed in. Reading is expected to be tier 2 from 2 December. Gov.uk have provided this tool to check what tier a local area is in, and RBC also provides information for Reading.
- remember that it should be a volunteer’s personal choice whether they wish to volunteer, including outside their home, and they should not be compelled to do so by their organisation or group.
Further resources:
- Gov.uk guidance on enabling safe volunteering during coronavirus – what organisations need to know
- NCVO have updated their Coronavirus pages here with a really useful section on managing coronavirus risk.
- We will continue to share more guidance as it becomes available or you can check the gov.uk/coronavirus pages here.
- Please note that national restrictions continue in the meantime. Here is a helpful decision-making tree courtesy of NAVCA
