Yes, you can. The benefits regulations are clear that you can volunteer.

Unfortunately occasionally some local Jobcentres do not understand the rules and wrongly query entitlement. If this happens, let your organisation know, or contact your local volunteer centre or Volunteer Development Scotland.

Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)

You should tell the Jobcentre that you are volunteering. Remember to explain how volunteering will improve your skills and provide valuable experience. A letter from your organisation might be useful. The letter could include details of the expenses you receive, reassure the employment service that you can be contacted while volunteering, and state that you can leave your voluntary work with one week's notice.

To claim Jobseeker's Allowance you must be available for and actively seeking work.

'Available for work'

To be considered available for work volunteers must be able to go to a job interview or start a job at one week's notice. This means you can volunteer during the day and still be available for work provided you can rearrange or drop your volunteering. You can't give a cast iron commitment to volunteer for a fixed period - eg a minimum period of 3 months at a time of day that would prevent you from taking paid work - without risking your JSA, unless of course the work is outside normal working hours. You can also volunteer at a residential work camp in Great Britain for up to two weeks once a year, or if working in an organised group at emergencies, eg staffing a lifeboat, and remain 'available for work'.

You should tell the people who organise your volunteering placement that you may be asked to attend an interview or start work with one weeks notice. It is advisable to be contactable about job opportunities whilst doing your voluntary work.

'Actively seeking work'

You are only entitled to JSA for each week during which you have taken reasonable steps to find a job. 'Steps' include applying for a job, answering advertisements and registering with an agency. What is reasonable will depend on your skills, abilities, training and previous employment. The onus is on you to show both what steps you have taken in any week, and that such steps are reasonable in your case.

Voluntary work is not considered to be a step. However, in considering whether the steps a volunteer has taken are reasonable, the Employment Service must consider all the circumstances of the individual case including time spent in voluntary work and the extent to which it may improve your prospects of finding employment.

No maximum hours - There is no stated limit as to the number of hours a week you can volunteer when claiming JSA, provided you meet the above conditions. Some people mistakenly believe that there is a limit of 16 hours. In practice, however, it will probably be unusual for someone volunteering full-time to meet the requirement to be actively seeking work.

Telling the Job Centre

You should inform the Job Centre that you are undertaking voluntary work. Staff there have considerable discretion in applying regulations. It is therefore important to create a positive relationship and to explain how volunteering can help you to get paid work. A letter from the volunteer organiser to the Job Centre may be useful.

This should state:

• the type of payments you receive
• that you have discussed methods of seeking work with the volunteer organiser, that you may be contacted on a stated telephone number and that the organisation will do its best to pass on messages to you
• that the organisation understands and accepts that you have to give up volunteering at a maximum of one week's notice
• that volunteering will help you to develop skills, get a reference for job applications, etc.

Definition of voluntary work

Voluntary work is work for a not-for-profit organisation, or work for someone who is not a member of your family, where only reasonable expenses are paid.

Incapacity Benefit

Volunteering should not affect your entitlement to Incapacity Benefit except in 'exceptional circumstances'. There used to be a rule limiting IB claimants to 16 hours a week of voluntary work, but this was scrapped in October 1998. You should tell the organisation that pay your benefit that you intend to volunteer, what you intend to do, and wait for confirmation from them that they will allow you to do so.

Expenses

One important issue connected to benefits is the payment of expenses. You can claim back out of pocket expenses without affecting your benefit; this includes travel costs to and from the organisation, meals taken while volunteering, travel while you are volunteering and child care costs. However, if you are given more than your actual expenses your benefit will be reduced.

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Yes, you can. It's a good idea for organisations to cover all your extra expenses that arise from volunteering. That includes the cost of travelling to the volunteering and meals while volunteering.
Unfortunately not all organisations do pay expenses. This could be because they don't have enough funds or because they don't realise that volunteers should be paid expenses. Before starting your volunteering, ask about expenses.

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Usually you don't. Some very skilled work may demand qualifications, but usually organisations offer training to enable you to do the work.

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It's becoming more common for organisations to offer volunteers qualifications such as an SVQ, but it is still unusual. You may well learn a lot and gain valuable experience, skills and a reference though. If you do need a formal qualification, ask at interview, or contact your local volunteer centre as they may know if any other local organisations offer qualifications.

There are several courses available nationally which enable you to gain a qualification while you are volunteering. They vary somewhat in content, learning style and duration, but tend to focus on volunteering in care and/or community settings. Drawing on experience gained volunteering, they aim to teach more about the kind of issues that volunteers encounter.

For more information about providers for courses below, or other courses, contact your local authority or community college. The Learndirect website might also be useful.

Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers

http://www.volstudy.ac.uk/certificate.html
Run by the University of Wales, this course is available to anyone across the UK (or the world) through distance learning. It facilitates students' learning of a range of communication skills to deal with a variety of situations. For example, one module focuses on communication at meetings and describes the ways in which presentations can be made more effective.

Applicants need to be over 18 and have a minimum of six months' experience working as a volunteer (or paid worker) in a caring environment. You need a minimum of five hours to spare each week. Assessment is by coursework at the end of each module and is designed to enable students to relate theoretical knowledge to their own voluntary or working experience.

The first seven modules are spread over a minimum of four weeks each. The final assignment for module 8 takes a minimum of eight weeks. However, there is a built-in study flexibility, allowing some students to complete in a shorter period of time up to a maximum of two years. The cost is £30 per 10 credits (Level One is 40 credits), though there are bursaries available.

Certificate in Community Volunteering

http://www.asdan.co.uk/

To take this qualification you will need to find a local voluntary sector organisation, college or training provider that runs it.

The qualification recognises the general skills and good practice that volunteers need to show to work effectively in the community. There are five units:

• Preparing to volunteer
• Skills for self management
• Dealing with meetings
• Working to good practice standards
• Understanding needs, issues and responses
  

It is intended for volunteers who fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Volunteers whose work is broadly equivalent to NVQ level 2
• Volunteers who wish to develop skills and confidence in accessing modern vocational awards before progressing on to specialist vocational training
• Volunteers seeking formal quality assured recognition irrespective of any plans for further progression (eg volunteers not seeking new or different employment or new qualifications, volunteers who are concurrently engaged in an unrelated course of study/training, for whom volunteering and this award are part of an enrichment /citizenship process)
• Volunteers seeking recognition for generic skills, who might be exploring a range of options before choosing a pathway (eg unemployed volunteers, workplace returners)
• Volunteers who may wish to develop their role within the organisation
  

Volunteers may be doing volunteering as:

• their main activity or in addition to other activities
• part of a Government funded programme (eg Millennium Volunteers, New Deal)
• company employees
• students doing voluntary placements in addition to their main course.
  You'll be able to find cost of the course from your local provider.

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You need to ask your organisation this, as it varies a lot. Some organisations offer substantial training and support, but others don't and expect you to cope.

It also depends on the type of work you will be doing. So if you're spending one day clearing overgrowth from paths, expect about 15 minutes at the start being told what to do, how to use the tools and what health and safety precautions to take. But if you volunteer to give welfare benefits advice you should get much more training. You might get 10 two-hour training sessions spread over several weeks before you see a client, plus ongoing training to keep you up-to-date.

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Yes, of course. You are under no real obligation to keep volunteering for an organisation that you unhappy in. It is always worth talking to somebody about this first. This could be your volunteer co-ordinator (if there is one), your supervisor or someone in the organisation who is responsible for you or someone who you have got on with well. You can then discuss with them why you feel unhappy and what you feel would improve your time as a volunteer in the organisation.
It is also something you may want to talk about with other volunteers in the organisation. You could either do this informally, or if your organisation has a Volunteers Council or a regular meeting that all volunteers attend, you could bring up your problem there. If you feel that something is seriously wrong or someone is treating you badly it is also worth checking whether your organisation has a complaints procedure.