As part of Woodcraft Folk’ commitment to keeping young members safe, all volunteers working with children and young people, or in other positions of responsibility, need to go undertake relevant checks.
Before starting screening checks all volunteers need to become members of Woodcraft Folk through the Groop system. New volunteers will then receive further instructions by email on the screening checks they need to complete:
Criminal Record Checks
Background checks (also known as Disclosures) are a key part of Woodcraft Folk’s screening of potential volunteers. This will involve Woodcraft Folk accessing information on previous criminal convictions and other relevant information that may affect a person’s suitability to volunteer.
In England and Wales this is done by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Woodcraft Folk uses an online application system provided by First Advantage. Visit our DBS information to find out more and get started with your application.
In Scotland, background checks are provided by through the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme provided by Disclosure Scotland. The online application process for a PVG has to be started by the local membership secretary – the applicant will then receive an email from Disclosure Scotland with further instructions. For more information on the online PVG process and how to apply click here.
Please note that a criminal record is not necessarily a barrier to volunteering, although in some circumstances more information and/or a detailed risk assessment may be required. For more information, please see Woodcraft Folk’s Screening & Vetting Procedures and Recruitment of Ex-offenders Policy.
References
All new volunteers supporting Woodcraft Folk activities on a regular basis will be asked to provide the details of two people who can supply a reference, commenting on their suitability for the role. At least one of these should not be a part of Woodcraft Folk. New volunteers should ask their referees to provide a reference via our online form.