NOTICE FOR POTENTIAL VOLUNTEERS

DBS/CRB Check for volunteers

All supporters of the SRF will be aware that we promote the work of volunteers with our partner
organisations in Nicaragua most of which cater to the educational needs of children and / or
vulnerable people. Volunteers involved in such work in the UK would need to have gone through the
process of the DBS / CRB check to ensure that they have no relevant criminal record. At our meeting
in January 2015, the SRF trustees decided that all future volunteers who work on SRF related
projects in Nicaragua should also undergo the same procedure.
We therefore ask potential volunteers to go through the process themselves and to provide the SRF
with a copy of the Basic Disclosure Certificate resulting from their check. This should be done
before they begin any SRF-related volunteer experience. We provide potential volunteers with a note
of guidance about how to go through the process, and that follows below.
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You can find out about the process from www.gov.uk/dbs , but the government department does not
actually do the checks themselves. For that you have to use one of the companies which do the check
- and it costs. As a volunteer, you will need only a Basic Disclosure Application, and it may cost up
to about 45. The application can be made online by going to basicpolicecheck.co.uk/applyonline.php By going to that online address, you get to a company called Mayflower. They say it's a
ten minute process to complete the application form, but it took me quite a bit longer. Add to that the
time taken to pay online and the process of finding and scanning in three documents (such as
passport, driving license, utility bill, payslip, and many other possibilities) and adding them as
attachments to your email application - the whole process took me about an hour. I've given only
scant details of the process here because all the details that you need are given online as you go
through the process. You can also submit by email various questions for clarification. Doing a
Google on 'DBS checks online' will give you other possible ways and companies for applying online.
There are also companies (such as Personnel Check) which will send you a hard-copy form to
complete. Personnel Check told me that volunteers should either ring 01254 355 688or skype 01254
355 688) or go to their website (www.personnelchecks.co.uk ) and ask for an application form for a
Basic CRB check. This will be posted out to you and the cost of the check is 45 : 49. You send it
back with payment and photocopies of appropriate documents.
The average time for receiving your Basic Disclosure Certificate (which will be sent to you by post,
even if you apply online) is 13 - 16 days. When you have your certificate, you will need to take a
copy and send it to the Santa Rosa Fund.
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The above is what I am suggesting we add to the SRF website. I went through the company
Mayflower Disclosure Services Ltd, and the cost to me was 45. There are slight differences in the
cost according to the company.
Martin Mowforth
(SRF Membership Secretary)
June 2015