Assemble Q&A with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland volunteer Douglas

Left: Douglas Sewell
Trustee with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland

Right: Yolanda Barker
Group Coordinator and Assemble Volunteer User Panel member

As the launch of Assemble in 2026 fast approaches, we’ve been lucky enough to speak with Douglas, Trustee with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS), who uses Assemble for his volunteering.

Douglas kindly shared his experiences with using the system, answering questions from our Assemble Volunteer User Panel Member Yolanda Barker, who's also Group Coordinator of our South East Kent Group.

Read on for advice and top tips for getting up and running with Assemble.

Hi Douglas! Would you introduce yourself and tell us about your volunteering?

I’m Douglas Sewell. I first connected with CHSS to access their support following a stroke and a series of mini strokes. As I began to recover I wanted to give back to CHSS for their support by raising funds through cycling events across Scotland and a seven week walk from the Scottish Borders to Cape Wrath. These activities supported my recovery by improving my fitness and health.

Later, I started volunteering with the charity as a Community Services Volunteer. This involved going for weekly walks with people who had experienced a stroke and had recently been discharged from hospital. I supported each person for a twelve-week period. The walks got them out of the house and into the fresh air and improved their balance, fitness and self confidence and gave them the opportunity to engage in conversation.

I also visited people in hospital who had experienced a stroke to help them practise their communication skills. Over the years I have contributed to several working groups and six years ago I became a Trustee of the charity.

What do you use Assemble for?

Assemble supports all aspects of volunteering at CHSS. For example, Assemble has a messaging system which enables the Volunteering Team to communicate directly with volunteers and for volunteers to communicate with each other. I find this to be very useful as there is a Directory which provides the basic details of the Team and fellow volunteers.

There is also a Document Hub providing access to all the documents I need for my role, including volunteering policies and procedures, our Volunteering Strategy, training opportunities and the minutes of meetings.

The Assemble news site provides me with the latest news at CHSS, stories about the people we support and updates, including Health and Safety.

Assemble also allows me to manage my own volunteer profile and update my personal details. I can access an overview of my volunteering activity (including my roles, hours and training).

Do you use Assemble to communicate with staff and other volunteers?

Yes, it is simple and straightforward to use.

Have you used it to raise questions or resolve issues?

Yes, contacting the Volunteering Team is straightforward.

Which features have you found to be the most useful?

The newsfeed, which provides all sorts of information, particularly about other volunteers and what they are doing, video clips about the people we support and information about what is happening in the charity, generally.

Everything in Assemble is designed to be straightforward and intuitive to use. Basically, it is a point and click system and doesn’t require a lot of learning. To get the most out of it (and make it easy to use in the longer term) it’s best to access Assemble on a regular basis.

How often do you typically log on to Assemble?

I try to log on at least once each week.

Could you tell us about your experience with getting to grips with Assemble when you were onboarded? What were the challenges?

It was easy to understand and use the system – I found it to be intuitive and well thought out.

I can’t say that there were any challenges as it has been developed with the volunteer in mind and has been trialled in a number of charities.

Was there any form of support that you found to be particularly helpful?

Support has always been available from the Volunteering Team and my volunteering line manager. CHSS shared a number of short Assemble instructional videos, which are handy and can be accessed online.

[Access MS Society’s Assemble resources, including how-to videos, here.]

What would you say are the main advantages or things you like about Assemble?

Assemble is, in essence, an information/ messaging hub for the volunteer i.e. a one-stop shop! My favourite thing about the system is the ease of use and ready access to my volunteer line manager and the Volunteering Team.

Were you apprehensive about getting started with Assemble? What advice would you give to someone who feels worried about getting started with Assemble?

I wasn’t nervous about getting to grips with Assemble as it is designed specifically for volunteers. My advice would be to just play with it and get used to it – see what it can do (you can’t break it). On top of that, use it regularly so that you don’t have to re-learn.

Do you have any tips on getting used to, or getting the most out of, Assemble?

Play with it and ask your line manager or another volunteer if you need help. Sitting down with a fellow volunteer and just working your way through it is probably the best plan.

What’s been the general response to Assemble from your fellow volunteers?

We’ve had a good response and a large number of volunteers have accessed the system.

Has Assemble improved your volunteering experience?

Yes, it has simplified and made my volunteering more efficient and made it easier to get the support I need to carry out my role. And – without question – it’s made it easier to find the information I need.

Assemble also provides the opportunity to contact fellow volunteers in your local area (and further afield). This is achieved through the Directory and Messaging systems.

Would you recommend Assemble to other organisations?

Yes, the benefits are manyfold and the support from Assemble is very good.

If there was something you could’ve known before getting logged on to Assemble for the first time, what would it have been?

That there is immediate support from my line manager, if required, for a system that is relatively easy to use.

Is there anything else that I should’ve asked or that you wanted to mention?

I’d want to reiterate that volunteers should play around with the system to familiarise themselves with it and, thereafter, they should access it reasonably regularly.

Huge thanks to Douglas for sharing their experiences and to Yolanda for their questions!

Find out more about Assemble and access support and resources here. We look forward to bringing you Assemble next year. You can find out about our rollout plans here.