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Pack 23: Managing Volunteers with Extra Support Needs

Organisations increasingly need to show they are willing and able to involve people with extra support needs as volunteers. This session will make them think about ways to involve and support people with extra support needs as volunteers.
Author

Kay Curtis

Resources

Handouts, Activity Sheets 

Experience Level Needed

Beginner

Access

Download and Online Access

Duration

5 Hours

Price

£
50

What's included?

  • Session Timetable
  • Timed Activities
  • Trainer notes
  • Training material in PPT files 
  • Pre Course questionnaire
  • Training Evaluation form
  • Session extension ideas
  • Activity sheets
  • Case Studies
  • Achievement cards and certificates

Overview

Organisations increasingly need to show they are willing and able to involve people with extra support needs as volunteers.

This session will make them think about ways to involve and support people with extra support needs as volunteers.
Diversity is key when looking at recruiting and retaining volunteers.

All organisations need to ensure they are diverse and able to recruit and manage volunteers with extra support needs – this training session will ensure that anyone with responsibility for recruiting and managing volunteers can do so in a diverse environment.

A half-day introduction to Managing Volunteers with Extra Support Needs

Objective

By the end of the session participants will:

- have identified different support needs
- have recognised & acknowledged the barriers people with extra support needs face when volunteering
- have explored how an organisation could reduce the barriers faced by volunteers with extra support needs to both aid recruitment and retention
- have discussed how to inform all staff/volunteers in a positive manner
- have considered strategies to deal with potential hazards
- have an awareness of the benefits to an organisation of diversifying its volunteer base
 

WHY IT MATTERS

Why coordinators need training on managing volunteers with extra support needs in 2026.

📅 Pack content last reviewed: April 2026
✍️ Authored by Kay Curtis · 30+ years' UK voluntary-sector specialism

Pack 23: Volunteers with Extra Support Needs is a complete full-day trainer-led session for UK volunteer coordinators — covering the Equality Act 2010 duties that apply to volunteer management, reasonable adjustments in practice, communication adaptations, and the inclusive management skills that make volunteering genuinely accessible to volunteers with learning disabilities, neurodivergence, mental health needs, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments.

Volunteers with additional support needs make up a significant and growing proportion of the UK voluntary workforce. SCIE guidance reflects the increasing inclusion of disabled volunteers and volunteers with care and support needs across the voluntary sector — and the Equality Act 2010 places real duties on coordinators to make that inclusion work in practice, not just on paper.

Managing volunteers with extra support needs in 2026 rests on a clear legal framework. The Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments for disabled volunteers — and that duty is anticipatory, not reactive. The Care Act 2014 applies where volunteers also have care and support needs. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 shapes decisions where capacity may be in question. And the Worker Protection Act 2023 places additional duties on coordinators to protect volunteers from harassment.

This training pack equips your coordinators with the practical skills to manage volunteers with additional needs inclusively, defensibly, and well — pairs with the D&I Toolkit for coordinator reference and Pack 10 (Diversity) for broader equality and inclusion training.
EQUALITY ACT
Reasonable adjustments are anticipatory
Coordinators must anticipate adjustments disabled volunteers may need — not wait until problems arise to consider them.
GROWING
Volunteer base with extra needs
Inclusion of disabled volunteers and volunteers with care and support needs has grown across the UK voluntary sector — and continues to grow.
OCT '24
Worker Protection Act 2023 in force
Additional duty on coordinators to protect all volunteers from harassment — particular relevance for volunteers from groups historically more at risk.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Quick answers from buyers like you.

QWhich support needs does it cover?
The pack covers the most common support needs that coordinators encounter — learning disabilities, neurodivergence (autism, ADHD), mental health needs, physical disabilities, and sensory impairments (visual, hearing). For each, the pack covers reasonable adjustments, communication adaptations, and practical inclusive management practice.
QHow does this differ from Pack 10 (Diversity)?
Pack 10 covers diversity and inclusion broadly — the principles, the law, and inclusive practice across all nine protected characteristics. Pack 23 focuses specifically on managing volunteers with extra support needs — particularly disability and neurodivergence with reasonable adjustments at the centre. The two work together.
QDoes it cover the Mental Capacity Act?
Yes — at awareness level. The pack covers the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the presumption of capacity, the situations where capacity may be in question, and what coordinators should and should not do. Specialist mental capacity assessment is not a coordinator role; the pack is clear about that boundary.
QIs this about volunteers with support needs, or beneficiaries with support needs?
This pack is about supporting volunteers with extra support needs — making the volunteer role accessible. For training on working with beneficiaries who have support needs, that content sits within role-specific packs (Pack 11 Befriending, Pack 22 Mentoring) and safeguarding (Pack 16). The two angles are different and require different training.
QIs it better to buy this pack or the full library?
Extra support needs training pairs naturally with Pack 10 (Diversity), Pack 16 (Adult Protection), and Pack 1 (Recruiting Volunteers). If extra support needs is your only training need, the single pack works. For comprehensive inclusive coordinator training, the £295 licence pays for itself after six packs.
RELATED TRAINING PACKS

Support needs training sits inside the inclusion framework.

Coordinators of volunteers with additional needs typically pair this pack with:

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