Volunteer Centre Brighton and Hove explain why it is important to consider whether your organisation may (perhaps unwittingly) be creating barriers to some people getting involved.

Organisations that are successful in attracting volunteers often under-represented in formal volunteering (for example, younger, older, unemployed, and disabled people, as well as people from black and minority ethnic communities) adopt a range of approaches, including:

• Paying out-of-pocket expenses
• Offering a variety of different types of volunteering opportunities requiring various levels of skill and commitment
• Organising transport where necessary
• Ensuring that buildings have full disabled access
• Making it clear in recruitment literature that volunteering is open to all
• Targeting recruitment campaigns at specific under-represented groups
• Adopting non-rejection policies for people who want to volunteer and linking volunteers into alternative opportunities
• Adapting roles to suit individual volunteers' needs
• Employing a diverse paid staff group, thereby illustrating to potential volunteers that the organisation is committed to equal opportunities
• Providing appropriate training and support
• Minimising the amount of form-filling and bureaucracy directly involving volunteers.