ANSWERS TO THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1) To whom do I Report, and who supports my voluntary work in the way of information, etc.?

Answer: Your County Co-ordinator who is in charge of all the work within a County, and who designates which Volunteer takes on a particular problem for a disabled client. They also are the source of specialist information, which might come from AbilityNet Centre, REMAP, the Project Leader or any of the Network Steering Team, who might be consulted if need be.

2) What do I do if my spare time for this Project is sometimes not available?

Answer: Contact your County Co-ordinator and let him/her know that because of shortage of spare time, which might be pressure of work at your employment, due to going aboard for the company during the week or at weekends or other spare time activities. That temporarily, you will not be available to sort out clients computer problems

3) What is the situation as regards insurance?

Answer:

a) All Volunteers are insured to a limited degree as regards Third Party cover & for damage to a client’s computer hardware.

b) They are not Insured for accidental damage to their person, when travelling to or from a client, or while at a client’s residence. This is due to when travelling by car, you will be insured by your car insurance, when at a clients residence you will be covered under their own household insurance. If we tried to cover you also, it would only lead to our insurance being invalidated because covered by other policies.

4) What travelling distance might & be expected to do in getting to a client's home and return?

Answer: The County Co-ordinator will endeavour to send a locally based Volunteer to a client, but this might not always be possible because more local Volunteers are not being available, because of reasons as given in 2) above. Or because of the more specialised nature of the client’s problem as communicated through from the client that your particular expertise on computers is really required. But hopefully, in any usual sized County, the round trip would not be in excess of 30 miles! Of course, you would be reimbursed for any mileage done in visiting clients, at the mileage rate operating at this stage, or for any public transport cost of visiting, if you choose this method of travel.

5) What do I do if moving away from the area, changing job, or other reason that it is difficult to continue my voluntary work?

Answer:

a). If moving from the area please contact your County Co-ordinator who could well transfer you to the County where you are due to reside as your services with the network are very valuable to us. If your new job in a completely new area means you have more spare time, please contact the Project Leader as we might well do with a County Co-ordinator in your new area, and your previous experience as a Volunteer would make you an ideal choice.

b) If changing job, and you are uncertain if your new job will afford you the same spare time, contact your CC and explain the situation. If possible we would like to retain the services of our experienced Volunteers, and will go out of our way to fit in with any new situation.

c) If for any reason it is impossible to continue as one of our volunteers, please contact your CC and explain the situation, and as a final thing return your IT Can-Help Network Identity Card so the CC can strike it off our Register. We as a Group, very much appreciate the work done our Volunteers, in giving us some of your spare time to help people with computer problems.