Inclusive Volunteering

1
Inclusive Volunteering Engaging and Supporting
Disabled Volunteers Adrian Middleton
2

• Who I am
• Adrian Middleton Volunteering Officer for the
  London area, working on Scopes Inclusive
  Volunteering Project.
• My main role is to find / create volunteering
  opportunities for disabled volunteers in London
  and then to provide ongoing support to those
  volunteers and their managers.
• I do this both within Scope and also in
  cooperation with partner and supporter
  organisations.

3
Group IntroductionsWho you areYour
roleWhat you hope to take away from today
4

• Background Information
• Todays session is a taster of Scopes Inclusive
  Volunteering training
• Full training takes place over a complete day
• This session will last approximately 1 hour, 45
  minutes with hopefully 15 mins or so for
  questions at the end.
• Today is about helping you to be more confident
  in engaging and supporting disabled volunteers
  within your organisation

5

• Before we start
• If there is anything you dont understand during
  the session, please ask me to repeat myself
• Please can everyone try to speak one at a time
  and not speak over one another
• If you have any questions it would help me to
  finish on time if you could save them until I ask
  for them - or for during the exercises.
• These are my access requirements today, does
  anyone have any access requirements youd like me
  to be aware of before I start? Is there anything
  that would make the session easier for you?

6

• Tackling Disablism in Volunteering
• The Quiz!
• In pairs or small groups see how you get on
  answering the questions
• We will then look at the answers together
• You only have 5 minutes to do this!

7

• Tackling Disablism in Volunteering
• The Answers!
• 1) How many disabled people are there in the UK?
• d) 11,000,000
• 2) What percentage of disabled people are
  wheelchair users?
• 5-7
• 3) What is Scopes mission?
• c) To drive the change to make our society the
  first where disabled people achieve equality

8

• 4) What percentage of young disabled people have
  been bullied at school?
• c) 38
• 5) How many disabled people volunteer?
• a) 6 or less
• 6) What is the biggest barrier to volunteering
  for disabled people?
• b) Peoples attitudes
• 7) What percentage of disabled volunteers only
  volunteer with
• disability related organisations?
• b) 36

9

• 8) What is a Reasonable Adjustment?
• c) An action or arrangement that makes it easier
  for a
• disabled person to work or volunteer
• 9) What percentage of volunteers involved with
  disability related
• organisations never had their request for
  Reasonable
• Adjustments met?
• c) 29.5
• 10) And what percentage of non-disabled related
  organisations
• never had their request for Reasonable
  Adjustments met?
• d) 44

10

• 11) Even in projects aimed specifically at
  disabled volunteers,
• some volunteers felt staff treated them
  with a disablist
• attitude. What percentage?
• c) 22
• 12) 48 of organisations said they had made
  specific attempts
• to include disabled people as volunteers,
  what was the
• most popular method?
• b) Materials in accessible formats

11

• The use of language and disability etiquette
• This is a subject that people often think is
  scary, but its really not! This is a safe
  environment so please dont be afraid to say what
  youre thinking
• The language we use reflects and shapes the way
  we think and is an important way of influencing
  our own and societys attitudes towards disabled
  people
• As the leading disability charity Scope has
  produced guidance on the use of language
  considered acceptable by disabled people
  themselves
• To start us thinking about the language we use
  and its connotations, here are some definitions
  of some key words

12

• Disabled Peoples Definitions
• Definitions Scope uses -
• Impairment - The loss or limitation of physical,
  mental or sensory function on a long-term and
  permanent basis
• Disabled - the loss or limitation of
  opportunities to take part in normal life of the
  community on an equal level with others due to
  physical and social barriers
• Disablism (n) - discriminatory, oppressive or
  abusive behaviour arising from the belief that
  disabled people are inferior to others.
  Disablism, like sexism and racism is a particular
  form of discrimination and leads to oppression
• Disabled Peoples International, 1981

13

• Traffic Light Activity
• Please arrange yourselves into small groups
• Using the traffic light board and statement
  cards, discuss whether you feel each statement or
  action is Acceptable or Un-acceptable
• Once you have decided, place each card on the
  appropriate traffic light. There is a not sure
  option if you are un-decided but try to avoid
  this if you can
• We will then look at the answers together
• You have 10 minutes to do this

14

• Traffic Lights Activity
• Feedback and Main Discussion Points
• Disabled person / people is the accepted phrase
  (not people with disabilities) as this
  recognises that it is society's barriers that
  disable a person, not their impairment. A good
  way to remember this is to think of disabled by
  barriers people
• Impairment is an accepted term.
• Impairment - I.e. Hearing impairment
• Disability - I.e. Not being able to
  attend a meeting because a hearing loop is not in
  place
• Using the term 'The Deaf' is acceptable when
  referring to the deaf community but usually not
  when referring to individual people. Hearing
  impaired is preferred.

15

• Disabled people often do not feel they 'suffer'
  from their impairment, its an assumption to
  think they do
• When in conversation, never pretend that you have
  understood if you haven't, as it can be
  frustrating to that person and is patronising. 
  It is always best to ask the person to repeat
  themselves
• Assisting a disabled person is fine, but don't
  assume they need help.  Always ask the person
  first and always listen to their answers
• When guiding a person with a visual impairment it
  is usually best to allow them to hold your arm
  and to walk at their pace. But - always ask first
  if and how they would like to be guided before
  presuming they are happy for you to touch them.

16

• It is not necessary to see an interpreter when
  talking to a person with a hearing impairment. 
  Eye contact only needs to be made with the
  person you are talking to
• It is always best to ask the person first, as
  they will know best what their requirements are
  ie, taking a chair away so that a wheelchair user
  can get to a table / desk might not always be
  best for that person. 
• A persons wheelchair is an extension of them and
  shouldnt be moved, used or leant on by anyone
  else without that persons agreement
• Any others?

17
Hope thats been useful A good tip is to use
the language that the person uses themselves, or
if you are unsure about the words or phrases to
use you could ask them what they would prefer you
to use
18

• Volunteering Barriers and Solutions
• Going to move on to look at some of the barriers
  that may be encountered by organisations and
  disabled volunteers when wanting to take part in
  inclusive volunteering and the different ways of
  overcoming these barriers

19
Barriers and Solutions Activity

• On the bricks in front of you, Id like you to
  draw, write or otherwise represent the barriers
  you think may be faced by disabled people who
  want to volunteer and the perceived barriers
  identified by organisations who want to include
  more disabled volunteers.
• There are no right or wrong answers to this, if
  you are thinking of perceived barriers for
  organisations they do not need to apply to your
  organisation
• You have about 10 minutes to do this

20
Finding Solutions

• Now wed like you to think of possible solutions
  to these barriers, represent them on the
  Wrecking Balls.
• Are any of these barriers present in your
  organisations? Are there any solutions you think
  we could support you to put into practice?
• You have 10 minutes to do this and then
• we will feed back to the group

21
Summing up
There is no magic wand or training session or
organisation that can make you good managers of
disabled volunteers
The only way to get good at anything is by doing
it. You need to be prepared to take risks and
make mistakes. Remember Nobody can possibly
become an expert on every impairment so dont
expect to! What you can become experts on is
Inclusion and fostering fairness and equality in
volunteering.
22

• Every situation is different and every
  person is individual
• Never make assumptions
• Always ask the person (they are the expert on
  themselves)
• Make roles flexible
• Seek advice from specialist organisations
• Try to keep up to date with language and
  terminology

23

• Evaluation and Feedback
• Any questions?
• Please take a few minutes to fill out our
  evaluation form
• Thank you for taking part!!

24
Next stepsIf youd like more information about
the support Scope can offer, becoming a Project
Partner or further advice / guidance / training
please get in touch. Contact details

• Adrian Middleton
• Volunteering Officer
• Scope, 6 Market Road
• London N7 9PW
• 0207 619 7109
• adrian.middleton_at_scope.org.uk