Ask the Expert: Inclusive volunteering

A young man in his 20s has come forward to volunteer at our youth centre. He has a visual impairment. How can we support him through our training programme to be a volunteer?

This is a fantastic opportunity for your service to be truly inclusive, and to help this young man take part in mainstream youth activities. It will also help blow away any barriers and myths about what people with disabilities can do.

He has the right to be given the same opportunities to take part in volunteering as anyone else. All it takes is a bit of careful thought on your part as to how you can meaningfully include him in all of your activities.

Most youth work training gives participants opportunities to take part in a variety of exercises, spoken and written. With one-to-one support from a staff member or other volunteer, he can be talked through any exercise in order to be able to give his views. He can also be included in any presentations by giving verbal explanations of what you are doing and describing any visuals.

Answered by Jeanie Lynch, who works for Barnardo’s and has 25 years’ experience of working with vulnerable children and families

Email questions, marked “Experts”, to cypnow@markallengroup.com