For current volunteers
Giving phone support
We have produced a phone support guidance document, that you can find here. It’s the first chapter of our learning on phone support and open to all of you to add to, from your experience as visitors offering phone support.
Every time you encounter a new situation or a new learning opportunity for us all, please share it and if you send it to Hannah, it’ll be added to our notes. We love advice sheets that don’t ossify but grow with our combined learning. View the Phone Support notes here.
Please view our Post-Detention Support spreadsheet here. We have put together a list of organisations across the UK that may be suitable to refer the person you’re supporting for assistance.
Visitor groups
Some Visitor Support Group meetings are held both in person and via Zoom – please contact the office for info.
Reigate and Redhill
Crawley and Horsham
Oxted and East Grinstead
Brighton
Volunteer Visitor Feedback Form
This form relates to your contact with a specific individual you have supported in or post-detention. Please fill in this form:
When your visits stop
Every 3 months
Please fill in this form as accurately and as fully as you can. Your feedback is very important to us for a couple of reasons. Firstly, many of our large funders require us to provide regular monitoring and evaluation reports, and your detailed feedback is vital in complying with that requirement. Secondly, your feedback helps us understand better the issues you, our volunteer visitors, face in our core role of helping those in detention, so that we can improve the support we give both to those in detention and to you. The information also helps us with our future applications for funding and for other purposes such as policy outreach, awareness raising, PR etc. Thank you.
Useful Training Resources
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Refugee Tales de-escalation training - Click here for the slides
Immigration and Asylum Act Training from GDWG - Click here for the recording
Safeguarding Training - Click here
Immigration and Asylum Bill - Click here
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Trauma Informed Visiting Training, November 2025 - Click here for the training notes
De-escalation Training, May 2025 - Click here for the training notes
Interpreter Training, March 2025 - Link to the PowerPoint here
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Safeguarding Training, November 2024 - Link to the PowerPoint here
Rwanda Information Session, June 2024 - Link to session here
Mental Capacity Act Training, March 2024 - Mental Capacity Act Training PowerPoint
GDWG Safeguarding Training, February 2024 -Safeguarding PowerPoint
GDWG Information sheet February 2024 - Information sheet
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Difficult Conversations Training 2023 - Difficult Conversations PowerPoint (Part 1), Difficult Conversations Handout, GDWG Handout
Detention Duty Advice (DDA) Training, November 2023 - DDA PowerPoint
Vulnerable People in Detention, November 2023 - Vulnerable People PowerPoint
Accommodation Training, October 2023 - Accommodation Training PowerPoint
Public Inquiry Training October 2023 - download the information sheet here.
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Complaints Training February 2022 – download the information sheet here.
Unlawful Detention February 2021 – download the training note here.
Delivering phone support April 2020 – download the information sheet here.
Volunteer policies and forms
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Safeguarding policies
Safeguarding report forms
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We’re delighted to share our new Volunteer Fundraising Toolkit created in collaboration with others in the sector, packed with ideas, inspiration and practical examples to help you support our work and raise funds in your community. We’re incredibly grateful for any support you can give. If you have an idea for a fundraising activity, we’d love to hear from you, please do get in touch with Anna, our Friends, Fundraising and Partnerships Lead, on aseifu@gdwg.org.uk
All fundraising activity should follow the Fundraising Code of Practice. Please get in touch to discuss your fundraising plans and find out how we can support you and share resources.
Thank you for considering supporting us in this way. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
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