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The short answer
Write down the duties, meet the applicant, check their information and complete any checks the role requires. Before they start, explain the role, safety rules and who to ask for help. A DBS check is only one part of deciding whether someone is suitable.
Scope: England · School-age holiday clubs and daytime activities · Check the rules for your club
Start with duties rather than a job title
Our suggested role description records the children’s ages, actual activities, frequency, supervision, personal-care responsibilities and where the work happens. A refreshments helper and a group leader may have different duties even though both are volunteers at the same event.
DBS guidance says enhanced and barred-list eligibility depends on the work, with particular rules for working with children. Check which level the law allows and which checks your registration requires before applying. [1][2]
Verify identity, experience and references
The Department for Education (DfE) recommends checking identity and getting references directly from the people giving them. Read references carefully and resolve concerns before accepting the applicant. Do not rely on a general testimonial or a reference from a friend or relative. Someone without a work history may be able to use a teacher or another suitable person who knows them. [3]
Our suggested recruitment record tracks who checked each item, when it was completed, what follow-up was needed and who made the appointment decision. Match questions to the role, ask about details that do not match and use an interview or conversation to discuss boundaries and safeguarding situations. Avoid collecting sensitive information simply because an old form contains a field for it.
Review checks after the September 2026 change
From 1 September 2026, certain work with children counts as “regulated activity” even when another adult supervises it. This legal category includes certain teaching, training, instruction, care and supervision when the other conditions are met. Review old decisions that said a supervised volunteer could not have a barred-list check. How often the person does the work, and the other conditions, still matter. [4][1]
Use the regulated activity chapter and barred-list chapter for the distinctions. Registered providers must also follow their own requirements; being allowed to request a check is different from being required to request one. [2]
Help new volunteers settle in and keep supporting them
DfE recommends safeguarding training, a code of conduct and ongoing review of suitability and training needs. Make sure each new person understands how to raise a concern, respond in an emergency and keep information confidential. [3]
Our suggested first-session plan pairs a new volunteer with an experienced named contact, checks they understand their assigned tasks and gives them a chance to ask questions after the session. An offer subject to checks is not permission to start. If a required check has not come back, find out what the rules allow before giving the person duties.
For teenagers and DofE participants, also read recruiting young volunteers; being enthusiastic or having attended the club as a child does not make someone ready for adult responsibilities.
Keep volunteers informed while recruitment is in progress
In a National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) survey carried out in late 2022, one in five recent volunteers expected joining to be quicker. Among 18–24-year-olds, it was about one in three. The survey covered volunteering generally, so these figures do not tell us how long DBS checks take. [5]
Our recommendation is to explain the remaining steps and give each applicant a named contact and a next update date. The message below is our suggestion, not a message tested by the survey.
Example reply to a new applicant
Thank you for applying for [role] at [event]. The next steps are [interview, references and any eligible checks required for this role]. Please complete [action] by [date]. [Name/contact] can help if you need a different way to provide the information. We will update you by [date], even if something is still pending. We will confirm your appointment once the required steps and our review are complete.
For a later update, say which action is outstanding, who is handling it and when you will contact the applicant again. Explain a delay without sharing sensitive information or promising a check will finish on a particular day. Use the recruitment milestones to keep organiser actions visible alongside the DBS process.
Evidence behind this page
Sources and further reading
Fact-checked against these sources on . We check sources each month. This is our editorial review, not an independent legal or medical assessment.
The numbers in the text link to the sources below. Follow the original guidance for full details and later changes. How we check this guide.
- Disclosure and Barring Service. Working with children in the charity sector↩1 ↩2Updated 17 September 2026.Eligibility and working or volunteering for a charity.
- Ofsted. Daycare providers on the compulsory Childcare Register: requirements↩1 ↩2Updated 1 September 2026.Checking suitability; Safeguarding and suitability.
- Department for Education. Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers↩1 ↩2Publication updated 9 February 2026; PDF history dated 2 February 2026.Suitability of staff and volunteers, section 3; Staff behaviour, training and ongoing suitability. Read the document (PDF).
- Disclosure and Barring Service. Regulated activity with children: change from 1 September 2026↩Change effective 1 September 2026.Removal of the supervision exemption.
- NCVO. Time Well Spent 2023: volunteer experience and impact↩Published June 2023; late-2022 survey fieldwork.Section 5.4: volunteers’ experience of the entry process.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, where applicable. Specialist sources are attributed to their respective publishers.