For roles that are changing or ending, we would very much encourage you to consider staying with SSAFA in an alternative role.

Additional volunteer roles may be developed, and all details can be found here:

Volunteer Role Descriptions | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

SSAFA volunteer roles can be carried out alongside other activities, work and family life. We don’t set expected time commitments as we want the roles to be flexible. The activities in some roles are more flexible than others. Casework, for example has set training requirements and processes to enable this to be delivered in the most appropriate way possible for our beneficiaries. Our Community Engagement Volunteer role is much more flexible with a range of ways to be involved.

To find out more, talk to your manager or the person who is recruiting you and have a look at our roles here:

Volunteer Role Descriptions | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

Touchpoints are the mechanism for recording conversations with volunteers, and this guidance sets out what should be recorded and how that should take place.

Touchpoints ensure that all conversations and interactions are recorded consistently and that they are available to check back on, should this be useful. They can also be used to attach more detailed meeting notes so that both the volunteer manager and the volunteer can see them.

There is the option to make touchpoints private where appropriate. If touchpoints are made private, they can be seen only by yourself and your manager.

Touchpoints should not be used to record:

• Anything very sensitive or private
• Event attendance (where this was an actual Community Engagement event)
• Generic emails – i.e. requests for forms or clarity of date and times of events etc
• Email chains

The guidance on using touchpoints in Go Assemble is here:

https://ssafa-volunteer-kb.screenstepslive.com/a/1972405-goassemble-touchpoint-guidance

Knowledge Base is your source of information, guidance and policy. It is a platform that brings together the information you need in one easy to find place - no hunting across multiple systems. If you are already using our new Volunteer Management System (VMS), GoAssemble, you can access it via a direct link. SSAFAnet also automatically directs you there for many resources.

The content is accurate, regularly reviewed, and clearly written, so you can quickly find guidance, resources, and tools for your area of expertise helping you complete your work with confidence.

How to find Volunteer Knowledgebase

1. Log into Go Assemble

2. Scroll down to “Links” in the left-hand toolbar

3. Click onto Volunteer Knowledge Base

How to bookmark it in your browser

Go to the Volunteer Knowledgebase.

To the right of the address bar, click the star icon ☆ (or follow your browser’s usual bookmarking process).

It should now appear in your bookmarks for easy access in the future.

The detail on how to claim expenses can be found here:

How to claim expenses? | GoAssemble User Guides | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

The Volunteer Expenses Policy can be found here, giving details of what can be claimed:

Volunteer Expenses Policy | SSAFA Policies & Guidance | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

Please note that:

• Claims must be made within 3 months, or they will not be able to be approved.
• If you volunteer in two roles with different managers, you will need to claim these expenses separately (in different claims) to enable the correct manager to approve them.

SSAFA believes that all volunteers should receive appropriate levels of support and supervision, including an annual 1-1 meeting with your manager. We do expect that volunteers engage with this to ensure that you receive the support you need which will in turn, enable us to offer the best service to our beneficiaries.

Support and supervision meetings are an integral part of volunteering with SSAFA. The purpose of support and supervision includes but is not limited to:

1)  that you feel valued, supported and safeguarded by SSAFA

2)  to provide a positive volunteering experience 

3)  to enable delivery of high-quality services to beneficiaries

SSAFA’s Support and Supervision Policy for Volunteers, can be found here:

Volunteer Support & Supervision Policy | SSAFA Policies & Guidance | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

Our Support and supervision pledge to volunteers can be found here:

Support & Supervision - Our pledge to volunteers | Volunteer Support | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

Go Assemble user guides can be found here:

https://ssafa-volunteer-kb.screenstepslive.com/m/120358

Go Assemble User guides on how to send messages in Go Assemble can be found here:

Message/Email centre | GoAssemble User Guides | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

If you need to send a message to an external email address the guidance is here:

Sending a message/email to an external email address | GoAssemble User Guides | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

If you need to include a hyperlink in a Go Assemble Message, then the guidance is here:

Adding a Hyperlink to a Message | GoAssemble User Guides | SSAFA Volunteer Knowledgebase

It is not possible to have a signature strip in Go Assemble and if this is necessary, please type this in manually.

Before sending a message, please click the “Remove Touchpoint” box at the bottom of the email box, this will prevent your touchpoints being overwhelmed with all your messages.