Our code of conduct

1. Turn up, or cancel in good time. Sign up only if you mean to go. If you can’t, cancel before the drive starts so someone on the waitlist gets your place.
2. Check in only for yourself. Scan the drive’s QR code when you arrive and when you leave. Never check in for anyone else, or ask anyone to do it for you: certificates record real hours, and false ones are revoked.
3. Follow the briefing and the coordinator’s instructions, and use the safety kit you’re given.
4. Never be alone with a child or a vulnerable adult. Stay in the open, with at least one other adult.
5. Ask before you take a photo, and don’t photograph children without their parent’s or guardian’s consent and the organiser’s agreement. Never post anything that identifies a child, and turn off location tags.
6. Treat everyone with respect. No harassment, discrimination or abuse of any kind, in person or online.
7. Keep what you learn private. Don’t share the personal details or stories of the people you meet.
8. No alcohol or drugs at a drive, and don’t accept money or gifts from the people a drive is for.

1. Describe the drive honestly: what volunteers will do, where, when and for how long, and the minimum age.
2. Plan for safety. Brief volunteers before you start, have first aid on hand, and give an emergency contact. Drives that involve children need a named safeguarding lead and the two-adult rule.
3. Be there. A named coordinator receives volunteers and stays from start to finish.
4. Record attendance honestly, and sign off the roster within 48 hours of the end. Never mark someone present who wasn’t there.
5. Use volunteers’ details only for the drive. You see a volunteer’s name, college and status, and their phone number only if they chose to share it. Don’t add them to other lists or pass their details on.
6. Volunteering is free. Never charge volunteers a fee.
7. Blood camps run only with a licensed blood centre. Donors must be 18 to 65, and paying donors is illegal.
8. Photos and stories need the consent of the people in them; never identify a child victim or a child in care.

If you see something that breaks this code, tell us at sociostoryfoundation@gmail.com, or through the grievance form. If someone is in danger, call 112 first.

When the code is broken, we may remove a drive, revoke certificates, or pause or close accounts. We report anything that may be a crime to the police, and any suspected abuse of a child as the law requires.