It's important for groups and organisations to have policies and procedures in place. Funders will request them and certain policies and procedures - such as those relating to health and safety - are a legal requirement. They also need to be regularly reviewed and updated.
Policies and procedures provide a framework that underpins the ethics and philosophy of your group or organisation. They allow you to set your expectations and shape your values and mission. They also set standards of behaviour, conduct and performance for your employees and/or volunteers and can be an invaluable point of reference by which you can check if your expectations are being met.
Finally, policies and procedures let service users, employees and volunteers know where they can turn to for help. All policies should have a point of contact for queries relating to that policy so people know who they can contact with questions.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding is a vital process that protects children and vulnerable adults from harm, abuse, and neglect. The safety and wellbeing of vulnerable adults and children is important as they come into contact with the services organisations provide.
It is the duty of every staff member and volunteer in an organisation to safeguard all staff, volunteers, vulnerable adults and children and provide the right services to those who are unable to protect themselves from abuse, harm and neglect.
If your organisation works with children and/or vulnerable adults, strict safeguarding policies must be in place. Every person should live their lives without harm, no matter the age, gender, ethnicity or religion. It’s vital that every child and vulnerable adult is kept safe. Your organisation must have robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place.
You may find these resources helpful:
Safeguarding duties for charity trustees
Small charity support - policies & procedures
Resource centre - safeguarding
Equality and Diversity
An Equality and Diversity policy protects your staff and volunteers from discrimination. Regardless of their identity or background, staff and volunteers deserve to develop their skills and talents in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment.
The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against employees or volunteers because of nine factors: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
These characteristics are termed ‘protected characteristics’ by the Equality Act.
It is essential to have a suitable policy in place to reduce instances of discrimination and ensure appropriate action is taken if an incident does occur.
You may find the below sample templates for Equality and Diversity Policies useful:
Small charity support: example policies
Policies and procedures checklist
Equality and diversity policies - small groups
Health and Safety
Health and safety means all the ways that you and your group think about the welfare of volunteers, members, participants, and the general public. It is about working together as a group to make sure you have done everything you can to prevent avoidable accidents and protect people from getting hurt.
Alongside a Health and Safety policy you will need a Risk Assessment. Whatever your group does, whether it’s sporting activities to Arts and Crafts, you have a responsibility to do what you can to make sure people don't get hurt. Doing a risk assessment can help with this.
You may find the below links helpful:
Policies and procedures checklist
Health and safety- resource centre
Data Protection Policy
The Data Protection Act 2018 means that if you hold personal details of staff, volunteers or service users, you must have a clearly set-out Data Protection Policy. It is also likely that you will need to register with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The ICO, which is the UK data protection regulator, provides a wealth of information on its website to help you better understand how to protect and store the data that you hold.
The ICO does provide some exceptions to registration to small community groups that only hold membership list data, meaning you will not need to register with the ICO. However, you will need to investigate this fully.
Small Charity Support - Example Policies
Data protection for community groups | Resource Centre
Other Policies and Procedures you might need
Depending on the size of your group or organisation you may need other policies and procedures. Below are some examples of the types of policies you may need and links of where to get further help and templates
- Financial Management Policy
- Volunteer Policy
- Safer Recruitment
- Complaints Policy
- Employment Policies
- Committee or Board of Trustee Policies (such as conflict of interest)
- Social Media Policy
- Sustainability Policy
- COVID Policy
Useful Links:
Policies and procedures — NCVO Knowhow
Small Charity Support - Example Policies
Policies and Procedures Checklist – VolResource