This is your volunteering toolkit, essential information you'll need to volunteer in our night shelters and other services. 

Please bookmark this page or you can access it from the volunteer area on our website (www.glassdoor.org.uk/forvols)

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"The volunteers are the jewel in your crown" 
- a former night shelter guest

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NIGHT SHELTER VOLUNTEER TRAINING WEBINAR

If you missed our training webinar for night shelter volunteers, you can watch it here. We covered who Glass Door are and what we do, how the night shelters work, and the role volunteers play to support the night shelters. It’s especially important for anyone who hasn't volunteered in the night shelters before. 

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VOLUNTEERING HANDBOOK AND GOLDEN RULES

Our night shelter guests are often vulnerable, so it's important to know what to expect, and what we expect of our volunteers. Please familiarise yourself with our Golden Rules of Volunteering, which keep everyone in our night shelters safe.

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SAFEGUARDING

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and volunteers help us keep everyone safe.

If you hear information or observe anything that you feel may indicate that a guest is a victim of – or at risk of – abuse, please pass this on to a member of Night Shelter staff immediately. And, any information that you feel could compromise the safety of anyone in the night shelter, or if a guest is acting in a way that makes you feel unsafe. There's further safeguarding guidance in the Volunteer Handbook.

Homelessness puts our guests at risk of abuse, neglect and exploitation, and Glass Door has a legal and moral obligation to ensure that all our guests stay in a safe environment. Please do not widely share the locations of the night shelters.

Please watch our safeguarding video below.

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WOMEN'S WINTER NIGHT SHELTER SERVICE

Many of you will be volunteering at one of our women's night shelter venues this winter. Over the past five years we’ve seen a consistent increase in the number of women needing our services. 

Can men still volunteer in women's circuit teams?

While we’re asking that only women volunteers are face-to-face with guests on the women’s circuit, men volunteer roles will change to be non guest-facing: setting up the space, cooking and food preparation, but away from guests. We know that asking our men volunteers to sacrifice the guest-facing element of volunteering will be disappointing, but hope they join us in understanding that the needs of vulnerable guests should always drive our services. There's more information in the Volunteer Handbook.

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VOLUNTEER SUPPORT 

Our night shelters are a frontline emergency accommodation service, giving shelter, food, and a warm welcome to some of society's most vulnerable people. You may hear stories from guests that are upsetting. If you would like to talk about anything you've heard or seen, please reach out to Corin (volunteering and involvement manager) for a chat, or make use of our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), where you can access afree 24/7 confidential helpline for telephone counselling and online support resources. 

To access the EAP, call 0800 028 0199, say you are from Glass Door Homeless Charity, and quote our Account Number HA264937. Your call will be handled by an experienced therapist or advisor, who will offer support in a friendly, non-judgemental manner. You can also download the “My Healthy Advantage" app on Google Play for Android or App Store for Apple using the code MHA100410. 

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FEEDBACK

We value feedback and suggestions from our volunteers. As you help us deliver the night shelters and other services, your insight and experience can help us improve and resolve issues.

We conduct a volunteer survey each spring where you can share general feedback, but please share immediate concerns about staff or other volunteers with us directly - [email protected]. 

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Thank you from our CEO, Jo Carter, and our Chair of Trustees, Cate Noble
 

As we prepare for another season of providing warmth, safety, and care to our guests, we wanted to express our deep gratitude to you for the time, energy, and compassion you have so generously committed to giving this coming winter. By volunteering, you are not just offering shelter but hope and dignity to those who need it most.

The sad reality is, we continue to see the number of those experiencing homelessness grow. The latest annual data from the Combined Homelessness And Information Network (CHAIN) showed that between April and June 2024, outreach teams in London counted 4,223 people sleeping rough. This represents a 29% increase on the same period last year. Of the 4,223 people sleeping rough, 1,931 were sleeping rough for the very first time – a 20% increase compared to last year.

Your kindness and generosity will this winter enable us to offer 105 people every night somewhere safe to sleep, a hot meal, the chance to have chat and perhaps share a problem and to feel warmth from someone who cares. Your kindness makes a profound difference, and we couldn’t do it without you.  

We’ll be visiting as many shelters as possible over the next months and look forward to hopefully meeting you at some point.

Very best wishes, 
Jo Carter  | CEO
Cate Noble  | Chair of Trustees 

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Please keep in touch with your Volunteer Coordinator for details about your night shelter volunteer shifts, and get in touch if you have any questions -  [email protected]

Thank you for your ongoing support this winter night shelter season.

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If you'd like to complete a short additional training, please click here to complete this short training module to help prepare you for your volunteering.