Recruitment and vetting policy

Our policy for recruiting and vetting volunteers so that we keep our members safe

Policy last updated 15 April 2026.

See change log for recent updates to this webpage.

This policy explains what we do to recruit and vet volunteers safely, and what enquirers and volunteers can expect.

It also explains what volunteers managing recruitment and vetting need to do.

This policy applies to all adult volunteers and adult members (all referred to as volunteers in policies) in Girlguiding, as well as enquirers. You should read this alongside the recruitment and vetting procedure.

Definitions used in this policy

Our glossary lays out a few definitions of key terms that are used across our policies - take a look.

  • Enquirer – an individual who has registered their interest to volunteer with Girlguiding and is going through the recruitment and vetting process.
  • Disclosure agency – organisations that carry out disclosure checks. In England and Wales this is the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), in Northern Ireland it’s Access NI, and in Scotland it’s Disclosure Scotland.
  • Disclosure check – a process where an employer or organisation can request a check of someone’s criminal record. This helps decide how suitable they are for a role, especially roles involving vulnerable people.
  • Disclosure certificate – information given to someone following their disclosure check. This can be on paper or online.
  • References - how we check someone has the qualities we look for in our volunteers. People who provide references are called referees.

Girlguiding’s commitment to safe and welcoming volunteer recruitment

Everyone at Girlguiding shares a responsibility to keep our members safe. Our recruitment and vetting process is the first step in making this happen. We know that first impressions matter, and we want to make sure our process for recruiting new volunteers is safe, lawful, welcoming and inclusive to everyone.

Recruiting, vetting and welcoming volunteers is done at the relevant level, whether that’s the unit level or otherwise. County commissioners have overall responsibility for making sure this is done. Please see the procedure for more information.

If an enquirer wants to join Girlguiding and a volunteer role is added to GO, they must provide the details of their referees, and if relevant, complete mandatory training and start disclosure checks. For more information, please see our page on volunteer roles and requirements.

Enquirers can visit up to 4 times before their role is added to GO so they can find out which role in Girlguiding is right for them. This is different in Scotland. Please see the procedure for Scotland for more information.

Enquirers and volunteers are supervised until all references, and if relevant, mandatory training and disclosure checks are complete. Please see the procedure for more information on supervision.

We have volunteers at the district, division and county level who help with ID verification for enquirers doing disclosure checks, when needed.

Not all of our volunteer roles require a disclosure check. But many of our volunteer roles involve working directly with girls. People doing these roles need a disclosure check, specifically, an enhanced check with a barred list check. This will show spent and unspent convictions, cautions, whether they are banned from working with children, and information held by local police which is considered relevant to the role. Find out more about which roles require disclosure checks.

We don’t accept disclosure checks issued by other organisations, or the DBS update service as it might not have all the information we need.

Everyone in a role that requires a disclosure check (outside of Scotland) will need to be rechecked at least every 3 years.

When someone’s check is complete, the disclosure agency will issue a disclosure certificate to them. If there’s information on the disclosure certificate, the disclosure agency will let us know that the disclosure certificate contains information.

Disclosure checks work differently in Scotland. Volunteers in Scotland working directly with girls must be members of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme (PVG). They must renew their PVG membership every 5 years and ensure that Girlguiding remains an interested party. Girlguiding won’t be informed of the result of a disclosure check in Scotland, unless the person having the disclosure check gives their consent to share their disclosure certificate with us. Check the recruitment and vetting procedure for Scotland for more information.

These disclosure checks are confidential. Only the person having the disclosure check and the disclosure agency are able to see the information on the disclosure certificate, unless the person having the disclosure check shares it with the Girlguiding HQ complaints and compliance team. We’ll never share the content of a disclosure check with local volunteers.

Having information on a disclosure certificate won’t necessarily stop someone taking up a volunteer role with Girlguiding.

If there’s information on someone’s disclosure certificate, we may contact them to discuss it, and assess whether they’re suitable to volunteer with Girlguiding. Following the assessment, 1 of the following actions will be taken:

  • Take no action.
  • Refuse membership.
  • Allow them to become or continue to be a volunteer.
  • Add restrictions to a volunteer's role.

Please see the procedure for more information on restrictions.

People who don’t meet our recruitment and vetting requirements won’t be allowed to continue to volunteer with Girlguiding. If they think this decision has been made unfairly, they should contact the HQ complaints and compliance team.

Expectations

All enquirers must:

  • Provide 2 satisfactory references when applying to become a Girlguiding volunteer. References are different for young members moving into an adult volunteering role. Please see our procedure for more information on references.
  • Complete the mandatory safer guiding training relevant to the role.

People in a role, or wanting to do a role requiring a disclosure check must let the Girlguiding HQ complaints and compliance team know about all unspent convictions and cautions, and all adult spent convictions and cautions that are not protected or ‘filtered’. Please see the procedure for more information.

If a volunteer leaves and then returns after 12 months or more, the above expectations will apply again.

All volunteers must:

  • Renew the mandatory safer guiding training relevant to your role.
  • Renew your disclosure checks every 3 years (except in Scotland, where volunteers must renew their PVG membership every 5 years and ensure that Girlguiding remains an interested party).
  • Let the Girlguiding HQ complaints and compliance team know about any new convictions, cautions, or police investigations involving you or someone you have a significant relationship with as soon as they happen. A significant relationship includes, but isn’t limited to, family members, partners, and members of the same household.

Volunteers involved in recruitment and vetting must:

  • Report any safeguarding concerns in line with our safeguarding policy and procedure.
  • Raise any concerns about the suitability of an enquirer or volunteer with the HQ complaints and compliance team.
  • Make every effort to ensure that Girlguiding is welcoming to all, in line with our equality and diversity policy and procedure.
  • Make every effort to ensure that a role is available and suitable for the enquirer, and manage their enquiry in good time.
  • Help new volunteers settle into their role, making sure they have all the support and information they need.
  • Never be involved in the ID verification or provide a reference for someone you’re in a relationship with, or someone who’s in a relationship with a member of your family.
  • Treat any information you receive during the recruitment and vetting process appropriately, only using and sharing the information needed to complete the task.

How Girlguiding supports safe and welcoming recruitment

  • We provide a warm welcome, and have guidance to help volunteers make this happen.
  • Our HQ disclosures team and HQ complaints and compliance team ensure disclosures, references and training are completed satisfactorily, and work with volunteers to make this happen.
  • We follow the code of practice for each of the UK disclosure agencies.
  • We treat all enquiries and volunteers fairly, and don’t discriminate unfairly against any enquirer or volunteer due to a conviction or other information on their disclosure certificate. This includes completing risk assessment interviews where necessary.
  • The HQ complaints and compliance team are trained to identify and assess the relevance and circumstances of information on disclosure certificates. They receive appropriate guidance and training in relevant legislation relating to employment of ex-offenders.
  • Where appropriate, the HQ complaints and compliance team will work with the HQ safeguarding team when information relates to a potential safeguarding risk.
  • We offer different ways of completing disclosure checks if someone lacks the relevant documents. We also allow for the reference process and risk assessments to be adapted to meet the needs of the person doing the disclosure check.
  • We make sure that volunteers are supervised until their relevant recruitment and vetting checks are completed or renewed. This includes the completion of any risk assessments by the HQ complaints and compliance team.
  • We ensure all volunteer training is reviewed on a regular basis and is in line with current legislation.
  • Breaches of this policy by volunteers will be managed in line with our managing concerns about adult volunteers policy.

Change log

  • April 2026 - information on Scottish PVG scheme updated to include new 5 year renewal requirement.
  • January 2026 - clarified when people must renew their disclosure checks, as well as further clarity to the disclosure process as a whole, including different rules for Scotland, what happens when there is information on a certificate. Added expectations for enquirers, those in a role or wanting to do a rule requiring a disclosure check, all volunteers, and volunteers involved in recruitment and vetting.