Recruitment process
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All adult members and recognised volunteers who wish to
undertake an active role in guiding must undergo the recruitment
process.
Anyone wishing to support guiding by undertaking a specific role
will:
- have an informal meeting with the local
Commissioner to ensure they understand guiding and its aim, and to
agree which role may be appropriate
- discuss with the local Commissioner any
training that may be required
- complete an online form and have their
details stored on Go! (Guiding Organiser)
- provide two referees who are not related to
them and have known them a minimum of one year (one referee can be
a guiding member)
- complete the appropriate criminal record
Disclosure process for the country in which they live, if this is
required for the role to be undertaken.
The responsibility for inviting adults and young women to
undertake a role in guiding lies with the Commissioner. Where
the Commissioner holds a similar level role to the applicant, or is
a close relative, the invitation should be extended by a
Commissioner of a higher level.
Disclosure
checks
Being a volunteer within Girlguiding UK is a
position of trust which can lead to some individuals having
unsupervised access to girls and young women, to their personal
data and to guiding funds. Any adult wishing to volunteer with
Girlguiding UK in such a capacity will be required to complete an
enhanced criminal record Disclosure check for the country in which
they live.
Any potential volunteer who refuses to undergo a criminal record
Disclosure check will not be allowed to carry out any role that
requires a criminal record Disclosure check.
Any existing adult member undertaking a role in guiding who
refuses to undergo a retrospective criminal record Disclosure check
when asked to do so will be withdrawn from that role immediately by
the appropriate Commissioner without possibility of appeal.
Girlguiding UK’s Membership and Recruitment Policy meets the
requirements in respect of exempted questions under the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Ex-offenders
Criminal records are taken into account when the conviction is
relevant. Having a conviction, whether it is spent or unspent, does
not necessarily bar a prospective volunteer from a role within
Girlguiding UK. This will depend on the circumstances and
background of the offence and the role to be undertaken.
Girlguiding UK recognises that Disclosure is a most sensitive
and complex area. Disclosure of any kind is dealt with on an
individual basis and may be considered by a Record Check Panel at
Country or Region level. Such panels operate within clear, set
guidelines to provide consistency and to safeguard individual
rights.
Instructors and occasional
helpers
From time to time Unit Leaders, Commissioners and
Advisers/Coordinators may require additional support from
non-members to carry out activities. These instructors and
occasional helpers are not required to undergo a criminal record
check unless they will have unsupervised access to girls or young
women or will be staying overnight at a residential event.
Occasional helpers must still complete the relevant application
process and have their information stored on Go! (see Data
Protection Policy).
All volunteers aged 16 or over who are staying overnight at a
residential event must have undergone the recruitment check process
(Young Leaders and non-member volunteers should be assigned
the role of Residential Occasional Helper on Go!).
Page last updated: 10/24/2011