The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has further updated its guidance for voluntary organisations and groups in England on how to safely and effectively involve volunteers in their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The updated guidance is mainly in the section ‘Who can Volunteer’ and covers the following:

• Organisations to continue to consult staff and volunteers on the return to offices and in-person events, so these can be carried out safely.
• However people should self-isolate if they have Covid-19 symptons or a positive Covid-19 test.
• If staff or volunteers are fully vaccinated or under 18 and 6 months they are not required to self-isolate if they have had close contact with someone with Covid-19.
• Clinically extremely vulnerable individuals are no longer required to shield but should still take guidance from health professionals on whether additional precautions are right for them.

How should your organisation proceed and what support is available?

RVA would still advise to complete a full risk assessment for your activities, taking into account  the needs and vulnerabilities of your service users, volunteers and staff so you can tailor your approach to keeping people safe during Coronavirus.

You can find guidance from NCVO here on managing Covid risk and how to complete risk assessments.

For 1:1 advice, please contact Herjeet Randhawa, RVA Advice Service Manager on herjeet.randhawa@rva.org.uk or call 0118 937 2273