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Vaccination programme – volunteer guidance for staff

27 Jan 2021

A message from Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility

Dear colleagues,

As the mass-vaccination programme is rolled out in the fight against COVID-19, some colleagues are keen to volunteer their time and expertise in support. If you would like to get involved, the guidance and advice below will help you decide the best way to contribute.

Before volunteering:

  • Make sure that the activity that you are thinking of volunteering for will have no detriment on work you are required to do for our University, especially if your work is vital to maintain teaching, research and other University operations. Any volunteering you take part in should be carried out in your own time or you can use annual leave if you wish to volunteer during working hours. If you are in doubt, speak to your line manager.  
  • Do not put yourself at risk. You must at all times follow NHS rules on social distancing, which are designed to protect everyone.

Volunteering opportunities available to support the vaccination programme include:

  • Marshals (Manchester-based)

Vaccination sites need Volunteer Marshals to safely direct patients on site when they arrive, receive their vaccination and exit, along with supporting car park traffic and handing out PPE and information. You do not need previous healthcare experience for this role. Find out more about becoming a marshal.

  • St John’s Ambulance vaccination care, patient advocates and vaccinators

St John’s Ambulance is recruiting and training 30,000 volunteers nationally in these three different roles. They are currently seeking expressions of interest for volunteering. Volunteers need to be able to commit to two shifts a month (each shift is eight hours). All volunteers will meet strict selection criteria, mandated by the NHS, and receive appropriate clinical training. Find out more about volunteering with St John's Ambulance. 

  • Training for coronavirus volunteers

The British Red Cross has designed and produced online training for anyone volunteering in response to the coronavirus crisis.   This training is for anyone supporting a charity or helping neighbours in your local community. It provides you with details to help you look after yourself others. You can access the online training resource. 

Share your stories

It is incredibly valuable for many of our staff and students and the wider public to hear about how our University community is stepping up to meet the coronavirus challenges. We are looking for great stories that we can share on our channels including social media or the dedicated section of our external website.

  • Contact uninews@manchester.ac.uk if you would be happy for one of the internal communications team to contact you to discuss your story.

Kind regards,

Professor Nalin Thakkar

Vice-President for Social Responsibility