Volunteers must be over the age of 16 to apply. Please note that some activities will require volunteers to be over the age of 18.

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2 General Information Kent Fire and Rescue Service Community Volunteers are people from all walks of life and all sections of the community who have an interest in helping Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) deliver their safety messages throughout Kent and Medway. Tasks are varied and would include: Promoting KFRS home fire safety services in community locations, providing safety information and helping to generate referrals. Identifying vulnerable people, particularly in rural locations, who would benefit from our services. Giving safety talks to targeted groups in the community. Assisting our delivery teams with their education and fire setter programmes Assisting our home safety visit team Supporting KFRS staff and partner agencies to deliver road safety messages. Providing a rapid response to communities that have been affected by flooding and other emergencies. Helping your local fire station with post incident response and risk reduction activities. Assisting staff to support Business Safety Acting as casualties in KFRS operational training events. Identification of faulty fire hydrants and open water resources in rural areas. Gathering customer experience information Volunteers must be over the age of 16 to apply. Please note that some activities will require volunteers to be over the age of 18. The Community Volunteer role is varied and can be adapted to the skills you have as well as the time you have available. However we require volunteers to commit to supporting us for a minimum of 4 hours per month. Full training and support will be provided. You will not be out of pocket once you have been accepted as a volunteer as travel expenses will be reimbursed. Volunteers will be covered by KFRS Health and Safety and Insurance Policies whilst they are undertaking their volunteering tasks. However, to ensure that appropriate cover is provided volunteers must ensure they follow the guidelines of their role as detailed by their supervisor. A KFRS Volunteer polo shirt and identification will be provided and must be worn at all times when volunteering. Kent Fire and Rescue are a highly professional service in which the public have confidence. Kent Fire and Rescue Service Community Volunteers will not carry out any operational fire safety duties but will assist in engaging with the community to promote safety awareness and the services which KFRS offer. Our reputation is vital to us and it is therefore extremely important that our volunteers have the same high level of integrity and commitment that is required of our paid staff. Volunteers will be required to sign up to an agreement outlining the expected standards of behaviours and code of conduct required. An enhanced Criminal

3 Records Bureau check will be undertaken. As part of our duty of care to all of our volunteers you will also be required to complete a medical health form and vaccination form. All information about you will be kept confidential. We hope the above has provided a flavour of what volunteering with KFRS will involve. If you would like to apply, please complete the application form attached and return by to hr.recruitment@kent.fire-uk.org or by post to: The Recruitment Team Human Resources Dept The Godlands Straw Mill Hill Maidstone Kent ME15 6XB Tel: ext recruitment.hr@kent.fire-uk.org Fax: If, however, you would like to discuss the volunteering roles in more detail or have any general enquiries about volunteering with KFRS please contact: volunteering@kent.fire-uk.org or telephone Karen Garrett on ext 6672 The Application Process Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Complete application form/attend information session If shortlisted, and you wish to proceed you will be invited to attend an informal interview. If successful, you will be asked to complete a Medical declaration form and provide your bank account details in order for expenses to be reimbursed.. References will be requested and a DBS check will be undertaken. Note: If you are successful at interview stage, you shall be required to present all documentation within a period of one month, to include a National Insurance number. Any documents still outstanding after this time shall not be processed further. If satisfactory, you will be invited to induction and training. Upon successful completion of induction, training and checks, you will be formally accepted as a KFRS Community Volunteer.* *If your application is not accepted, full feedback will be made available.

4 Confidential Application for Community Volunteer Appointment Please fully complete this form using type or black ink. Return the completed application form to: Reference No. For office use please leave blank The Recruitment Team Human Resources Dept The Godlands Straw Mill Hill Maidstone Kent ME15 6XB Tel: ext Fax:

5 Part 1 The information you supply on this form will be treated in confidence Personal Details Last Name: First Name: Address: Postcode: Home telephone: Daytime telephone: Mobile telephone: National Insurance No. Are you able to take up volunteering in the UK with no current immigration restrictions? YES/NO HEALTH Do you have any disability/illness which may restrict your activities or have any special requirements that need to be taken into account? KFRS welcomes people with disabilities, please let us know if you believe there are any reasonable adjustments that we should be making to enable you to do the role or assist with your application. Please note volunteers will be required to complete medical questionnaire and may be

6 asked to attend a medical examination. Education, Qualifications & Training (please include accredited and non-accredited courses) Date Course Qualifications obtained (if applicable) Current or most recent employment/voluntary work Employer/Voluntary Organisation Address: Postcode:

7 Dates From To Brief description of main duties/responsibilities. Additional Information Abilities, Skills, Knowledge and Experience Why are you interested in volunteering with Kent Fire and Rescue? Give any experience you have of working or volunteering in the community. Please list up to 5 skills, knowledge or abilities you would like to bring to our organisation.

8 Do you speak another language? YES/NO If yes, please give details... Driving Have you a car you would be prepared to use for your voluntary activities? YES/NO If YES please complete the following: Do you have a full, current and valid driving licence for the classification of vehicle that you will be driving on KFRS business? YES/NO If YES, please state the type of licence:... If you are successful, you will be required to provide evidence of your licence prior to appointment. Insurance Please note that volunteers are responsible for arranging correct insurance cover for the duties you will be carrying out on behalf of KFRS. Commuting only covers travelling to and from one place of work so if you travel between various sites or out visiting members of the public you will need class 1 business cover. Without the correct cover you may not be able to claim in the event of an accident and you could also be prosecuted for driving without the correct insurance cover. MOT and Road Tax It is your responsibility to ensure that your vehicle has a current MOT Certificate and is displaying a valid tax disc. Document checks Regular checks will be made by the authority, or a third party company on its behalf, via the DVLA. You will not be permitted to drive on KFRS business until we have received confirmation that you have a valid licence, insurance certificate (including business cover, if appropriate) and MOT certificate.

9 REFERENCES Please give the names and addresses of two people who are willing to provide references relating to your suitability for volunteering with KFRS. Your referees must not be relatives. Reference 1 Name: Job Title: (if applicable) Relationship to you: Organisation: (if applicable) Address: Postcode: Telephone: Reference 2 Name: Job Title:(if applicable) Relationship to you: Organisation: (if applicable) Address: Postcode: Telephone:

10 Declarations Are you related to or do you have a close personal relationship with a Member (Councillor) or employee of Kent and Medway Fire & Rescue Authority? Yes No If yes, please specify: Name: Position: Relationship: If appointed, do you have any interests, carry out any work or hold any appointments that may conflict with Kent and Medway Fire & Rescue Authority s employment? Yes No If yes, please detail on a separate sheet Criminal Convictions Do you have a criminal conviction(s) or police caution(s)? Yes No If you answer yes and you are successful, you will be expected to provide the panel with details of the conviction(s) or offences(s) in a sealed envelope marked Private & Confidential. The envelope will only be opened and considered if the panel agree to appoint you as a community volunteer. If you are not selected, the envelope will be securely destroyed. Failure to disclose any conviction(s) for an exempt post, whether spent or not, may lead to the withdrawal of the offer. To be a Community Volunteer, a Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure is required, further information will be provided to you. Data Protection Act 1998 Under the Data Protection Act 1998, Kent and Medway Fire & Rescue Authority reserves the right to collect, store and process personal data about its applicants insofar as it is relevant to your application. This also applies during the period of volunteering and for six years thereafter. This includes processing of sensitive data for the purposes of monitoring the Authority s equality

11 and diversity policy. Statement to be Signed by the Applicant The Authority is committed to an anti-fraud culture and participates in statutory anti-fraud initiatives. I acknowledge that the Authority is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers and to this end I agree that it may use information provided on this form for the prevention and detection of crime and it may share this information with other bodies solely for these purposes. I have read and, if appointed, I am prepared to accept to conditions set out in the conditions of volunteering. I confirm that to the best of my knowledge, the information given in this application form is true and correct and gives a fair representation of my skills and experience. I understand that giving false or misleading statements or withholding information may result in formal action which may exclude you from volunteering with Kent Fire and Rescue Service. I hereby give consent to the collection, storage and processing of my personal data. Please note: if you are returning this form by , you will be asked to sign your application at the interview stage. Signed: Date: If you are under 18 years of age, we will also need your parent s or carer s signature: Signed: Date:

12 Part 2 AVAILABILITY KFRS Volunteers will be required to attend training sessions, undertake volunteering events and attend supervision meetings. Please indicate below your approximate volunteering availability per month: 4 10 hours hours hours hours 25+ hours Are you able to provide these hours? A couple of hours at a time Morning Weekdays Half a day at a time Afternoon Weekends Full Day Evenings Both Do you have any preference about the location of your volunteering? (Please state)

13 Part 3 Equality and Diversity Monitoring Confidential Kent and Medway Fire & Rescue Authority has an equality and diversity policy and is keen to ensure that the policy is working effectively. The information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence and will be used only for statistical monitoring and is not used as part of the selection process. About You Last Name: Post Code: Please give details of your present employment situation? Student Unemployed Employed Retired Other, please specify... How did you hear about KFRS Community Volunteers? Leaflet Word of mouth Volunteer Centre Website Fire fighter Other, please specify... Gender

14 Are you Female Male Other description (please specify) A Kent or Medway resident? Yes No Ethnicity Asian Bangladeshi Chinese Indian Pakistani Vietnamese Asian Other Ethnicity continued Black Caribbean African Somali Other African White & Black Caribbean Black Other Mixed or Dual Heritage White & Asian White & Black African White & Black Caribbean Mixed Other White English Irish Scottish Welsh White Other

15 Other Any other ethnic background (please specify)

16 Sexual Orientation How would you define your sexual orientation? Bisexual Gay Heterosexual Lesbian Decline to State Age Date of Birth: Religion/Belief What is your religious belief? Buddhist Jewish Christian Muslim Hindu Sikh Philosophical None Other Decline to State

17 Disability Do you consider yourself to be disabled? Yes No What do we mean by a disability? The Disability Discrimination Act defines disability as a physical or mental impairment with long-term, substantial effects on ability to perform day-to-day activities. Examples of Disabilities The following list of conditions or impairments is given as a guide only and is not meant to be exclusive. We have provided this list as it may help you to answer the question. Hearing, Speech or Visual Impairments If you wear glasses or contact lenses this is not normally considered a disability. Co-ordination, Dexterity or Mobility e.g. Polio, spinal cord injury, back problems, repetitive strain injury. Mental Health e.g. Schizophrenia, depression, severe phobias. Speech Impairment e.g. Stammering. Learning Disabilities e.g. Down s Syndrome. Other Physical or Medical Conditions e.g. Diabetes, epilepsy, arthritis, cardiovascular conditions, haemophilia, asthma, cancer, facial disfigurement, sickle cell, dyslexia etc. Declaration I confirm that to the best of my knowledge, the information given in this monitoring form is true and correct. I hereby give consent to the collection, storage and processing of my personal data. If you are returning this form by , you will be asked to sign your application upon being called for an interview. Signed: Date: