We share a responsibility for the health, safety and wellbeing of all staff and volunteers who work with us, people using our services and anyone else affected by what we do.
See Group Handbook D1: Offering MS Support
- Disclosure checks
- Holding boundaries
- Lone volunteering
- Handling personal data
- Risk management
- Reporting safeguarding concerns
- Providing personal care
- Need support?
Disclosure
All potential Lead Support Volunteers and Support Volunteers must complete a disclosure check before being allowed to offer any new or existing MS Support activity.
- Find out more about Disclosure checks
Holding boundaries
We provide training and ongoing support to enable your group to offer an MS Support service that is safe, accessible and impactful.
This includes understanding and holding the boundaries we have in place to protect everyone. You’ll learn about how to hold boundaries on Support Volunteer Training.
- See Your MS Support service for the boundaries we expect you to hold when providing each type of MS Support.
Lone volunteering
As a Support Volunteer you may be asked to meet people face to face or make home visits. You must never make a home visit alone. If home visiting is the only possible way to visit or meet someone, you must ensure that at least two people visit together.
- See our guidance on Lone volunteering
Handling personal data
We don’t expect Lead/Support Volunteers to hold personal information about people using your MS Support service, or make case notes about enquiries you have taken, and you must not do so.
You must ask permission from a person before sharing information about them with another Lead/Support Volunteer, a member of staff, an MS professional, or an external organisation. You must only use the information they share for the purpose/s they have agreed to.
- See our rules for Handling data
Risk management
Our risk management system meets legal minimum standards to keep you, your members and visitors safe. You must carry out risk assessments for all MS Support services, meetings and events.
- Download our Risk assessments and guidance
Safeguarding
Safeguarding means making sure that people at risk in contact with the MS Society are protected from abuse. All volunteers have a duty to report safeguarding concerns to our Safeguarding Responders Group.
- See our guidance on recognising and responding to Safeguarding concerns
Personal care
Personal care is the support a person needs with the activities of daily living. People with MS must be able to attend our activities knowing that they will be treated with dignity and respect and that they will have access to the personal care they need.
In most cases, personal care should be provided by a person’s own primary carer as part of their support plan. If however, you organise an activity that aims to give primary carers a break, your group must supply contracted care assistants to provide personal care.
- Find out more about how our Personal care policy affects your group activities
Need support?
You support people affected by MS, but who supports you?
We do - with practical, emotional and peer support options, access to our specialist signposting database, regular knowledge updates and key MS Support resources.
- Find out how we Support your team
Back to Offering MS Support
