Volunteer Policy

Blackberry Fair is run entirely by volunteers, so we know the value of volunteering and understand the pleasures and pressures that it brings. We therefore endeavour to work with you to make sure that you get the best possible experience from your engagement with us, whilst making sure that we get the best use of your skills and time.

All our volunteers are fully insured, and although volunteers are not covered by UK employment law we will ensure that we comply with the UK Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) to keep you safe in our workplace. We’re not daft, it’s the law, and anyway, we don’t want anyone to get hurt!

We therefore promise that:

1. We will treat our volunteers with respect and equally regardless of age, sex, religion, race or ability. If you have a disability please let us know as early as possible so that we can discuss with you the best way for you to volunteer.
   
2. We will ensure that you receive relevant and adequate instruction or training for any task that we ask you to perform.
3. We will provide all necessary equipment for you to perform your volunteer role, unless stated otherwise.
4. We will not pressurise you to perform any task that you do not feel competent or happy to undertake.
5. We minimise risk and copies of our risk assessments for our events will be available for volunteers to view upon request.
6. Volunteers details will be kept in line with the Data Protection Act (1998), and we will not sell or pass your information to any third party. We might, however, contact you if something comes up that we think you might be interested in.
7. Although we are unable to promise to refund full travel expenses, we will endeavour to ensure that you are not left out of pocket by your involvement with us.
8. We can guarantee that we will make you feel welcome and that you will be able to play a full and active role in our Event and Community Interest Company.

In return we expect that volunteers will:

1. Arrive punctually.
2. Be suitably dressed. If you are part of the set-up or take-down teams then please wear appropriate clothing and footwear, i.e. not flip-flops and a bikini!
3. Take some responsibility for their own health, safety and wellbeing. If you are asked to undertake a task that you do not feel comfortable with or competent to complete, please inform us and we will either train you or find you an alternative activity.
4. Show respect for other volunteers. We will not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic or other inappropriate attitudes. This also relates to religion, disability or personal beliefs. We will ask volunteers who display these attitudes to leave.
   
5. Keep us informed if they are unable to attend or need to leave early. This is not a problem but we do need to know in order to schedule our tasks.

By adhering to this Policy we hope that you get as much enjoyment from Blackberry Fair as we, the Organisers, do, and we hope that you will want to remain involved with us for future events.

We look forward to meeting you soon!