Training designed to support you in your role

At Green Hub, we have always taken training seriously for our volunteers – but as we have grown bigger, a new way forward is need for 2024 and beyond. 

There are three very important considerations …
  1. How can we best support you and make you feel confident fulfilling your role?
    • We want you to feel totally assured that you have all the tools necessary to make the very best of your volunteering journey.
  2. How can we ensure that everyone who uses Green Hub as a service experiences the very best that we have to offer?
    • Whether it is teens, parents, the referrer community or potential volunteers, we need them to have a good Green Hub experience, and interactions with volunteers are a vital part of that. The more confident and skilled you become, the better for everyone.
  3. How can we ensure that we meet our charitable obligations and other legislative requirements?
    • If things ever went wrong – an accident, a safeguarding concern and so forth – our training processes and record keeping need to be able to withstand the necessary scrutiny. Did we do our best to help you understand what you need to do and how you need to do it?

For that reason, we have designed FOUR levels of training programme, to meet the needs of FOUR distinct groups of volunteers – click on the relevant group to link to the relevant training programme for you.

  1. The teen garden team who work with teens>>
    • Garden assistants and garden leaders
  2. The non-garden team working with teens>>
    • Parent Hub and Teen Talks presenters, and some admin support
  3. The teen garden team not working with teens>>
    • The mid-week garden support team
  4. The support team not working with teens>>
    • The bulk of the admin support team

1 The teen garden team who work with teens

The training goal

To ensure the volunteers are able to operate safely in the garden and to feel prepared and confident for their teen-facing sessions and to make them feel part of the Green Hub volunteer community.

Mandatory induction elements BEFORE starting in the garden

  • Safeguarding 
    • Exempt if able to demonstrate an equivalent qualification
    • Renewable every 3 years
  • The Green Hub – the basics, ethos and values
  • Garden inductions – parts 1 & 2
  • Green Hub Teen mental health – parts 1 & 2
  • Shadowed session in the garden
    • Garden induction process
    • Garden leader reports back on how they did by completing an online report.
    • Volunteer reviews their own progress.
    • Any training points followed up by Garden Manager.

Mandatory elements in the 6 months following induction

  • Neurodiversity Awareness
  • Gender identity & expression awareness
  • Basic First Aid (undertaken at the first available opportunity) 
    • Exempt if able to demonstrate an equivalent qualification
    • Renewable every 3 years
  • Potential Garden Leaders only
    • Must complete a minimum of 6 garden sessions before taking the lead
    • Two garden leaders (that they have worked with) complete an online review
    • Volunteer reviews their own progress.
    • Any training points followed up by Garden Manager.

Mandatory elements ongoing

  • Ongoing VCD (Volunteer Continuing Development)
    • Must attend a minimum of 2 out of 4 quarterly training events from January to December
    • Pro-rated depending on time of year they enter the programme

Optional elements

  • Life Skills for Teens Programme

2 The non-garden team who work with teens

The training goal

To make the volunteers to feel prepared and confident for role with teens and to make them feel part of the Green Hub volunteer community.

Mandatory induction elements BEFORE undertaking their role

  • Safeguarding 
    • Exempt if able to demonstrate an equivalent qualification
    • Renewable every 3 years
  • The Green Hub – the basics, ethos and values
  • Green Hub Teen mental health – parts 1 & 2
    • Exempt if appropriately professionally qualified
  • Any role specific training – eg. systems and processes
  • Meeting key individuals necessary for their role

Mandatory elements in the 6 months following induction

  • Autism Awareness
    • Exempt if appropriately professionally qualified
  • LGBTQ awareness
    • Exempt if appropriately professionally qualified
  • Basic First Aid (undertaken at the first available opportunity) 
    • Exempt if able to demonstrate an equivalent qualification
    • Renewable every 3 years

Mandatory elements ongoing

  • Maintaining skills and understanding of processes as required
  • Ongoing VCD (Volunteer Continuing Development)
    • Must attend a minimum of 2 out of 4 quarterly training events from January to December
    • Exempt if appropriately professionally qualified with associated CPD programme
    • Pro-rated depending on time of year they enter the programme

Optional elements

  • Life Skills for Teens Programme

3 The teen garden team who don’t work with teens

The training goal

To ensure the volunteers are able to operate safely in the garden and to make them feel part of the Green Hub volunteer community.

Mandatory induction elements BEFORE starting in the garden

  • The Green Hub – the basics, ethos and values
  • Garden induction, part 2
  • Meeting key individuals, including the Garden Manager and Garden Projects Manager

Mandatory elements in the 6 months following induction

  • Basic First Aid (undertaken at the first available opportunity) 
    • Exempt if able to demonstrate an equivalent qualification
    • Renewable every 3 years

Mandatory elements ongoing

  • None

Optional elements

  • Ongoing VCD (Volunteer Continuing Development)
    • May attend any of the 4 quarterly training events from January to December
  • Life Skills for Teens Programme

4 The non-garden team who don’t work with teens

The training goal

To make the volunteers to feel prepared and confident for their role and to make them feel part of the Green Hub volunteer community.

Mandatory induction elements BEFORE undertaking their role

  • The Green Hub – the basics, ethos and values
  • Any role specific training – eg. systems and processes
  • Meeting key individuals necessary for their role

Mandatory elements in the 6 months following induction

  • None

Mandatory elements ongoing

  • Maintaining skills and understanding of processes as required

Optional elements

  • Ongoing VCD (Volunteer Continuing Development)
    • May attend any of the 4 quarterly training events from January to December
  • Life Skills for Teens Programme