If you have any questions about the application process – including interview, training, referencing and DBS requirements – please see our FAQ.

St Mungo’s meets the requirements of exempted questions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and we are committed to safeguarding and protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults. We welcome applications from a wide range of volunteers, including those with criminal records. Having a criminal record does not automatically bar you from volunteering with us; this will depend on the circumstances and background of the offence(s) in relation to the particular volunteer role.

All our client-facing roles will require a DBS check. It will be clearly stated on the volunteer role advert if the role does require a DBS check.

On the application form you will be asked to declare any unspent convictions, or conditional cautions of less than 3 months old. If your role does require a DBS check then during your initial telephone interview, you will be asked to declare all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings except those “protected” as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013).

A risk assessment will be completed based on the information you give us and the DBS certificate (if required for the role), taking into account the circumstances and background of the offence(s). Any offer of volunteering is subject to this risk assessment being signed off.

We understand that talking about past experiences can be difficult. If you would prefer to speak to someone face to face or to have a telephone conversation before you apply we would be very happy to support you to do this. Please email volunteer@mungos.org or call 0203 856 6160 to arrange this.

As part of any recruitment process, St Mungo’s collects and processes personal data relating to potential volunteers. We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meet our data protection obligations.

What information does the St Mungo’s collect?

We collect a range of information about you. This includes:

• your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number,
• details of your, skills, experience and motivations for volunteering
• whether or not you have a disability for which the organisation needs to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
• information about your criminal record
• equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health, and religion or belief

St Mungo’s collects this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in application forms, CVs, from your passport or other identity documents.

We will also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by former employers, educational / training establishments, work experience providers or other appropriate referees you provide, and information from criminal records checks.

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, in HR management systems and on other IT systems (including email).

Why does St Mungo’s process personal data?

We process data to administer your volunteering application.

St Mungo’s has a legitimate interest in processing personal data during the recruitment process and for keeping records of the process. Processing data from volunteer applications allows us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a potential volunteer’s suitability for the role they have applied for.

Where we rely on legitimate interests as a reason for processing data, we have considered whether or not those interests are overridden by the rights and freedoms of volunteers and have concluded that they are not.

St Mungo’s processes health information to see if reasonable adjustments can be made to support a potential volunteer’s application.

Where we process other special categories of data, such as information about ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health or religion or belief, this is for equal opportunities monitoring purposes.

For some roles, St Mungo’s is obliged to seek information about criminal convictions and offences. Where we seeks this information, we do so because it is necessary for us to carry out our obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to that volunteering role.

Following the conclusion of any recruitment exercise, St Mungo’s will keep your personal data on file for 6 months to respond to any questions about the process.

Who has access to data?

Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes members of the Volunteering team, volunteer supervisors in the service where the role is based and IT staff and business insight teams if access to the data is necessary for the performance of their roles.

St Mungo’s will not share your data with third parties, unless your application to volunteer is successful. We will then share your data with relevant individuals and organisations (provided by yourself) to obtain references for you, and the Disclosure and Barring Service to obtain necessary criminal records checks.

Subject to the exception below your data will not be processed outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).

Your data will only be processed outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) in the following circumstances:

Where we need to obtain reference information where the referee is not based within the EEA this will require basic data transfer outside of the EEA. In this situation you will have provided the relevant contact details for the referee.

How does the St Mungo’s protect data?

We take the security of your data seriously. We have internal policies and controls in place to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by our employees in the proper performance of their duties.

For how long does the St Mungo’s keep data?

If your application to volunteer is unsuccessful, we will will hold your data on file for seven months after the end of the relevant recruitment process.

If your application to volunteer is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your personnel file and retained during your volunteering. The periods for which your data will be held will be provided to you in a new privacy notice.
Your rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights. You can:

• access and obtain a copy of your data on request
• require the organisation to change incorrect or incomplete data
• require the organisation to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing
• object to the processing of your data where the organisation is relying on its legitimate interests as the legal ground for processing; and
• ask the organisation to stop processing data for a period if data is inaccurate or there is a dispute about whether or not your interests override the organisation’s legitimate grounds for processing data.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Maya Kotecha, 020 3856 6121, infosec@mungos.org. You can make a subject access request by providing proof of your identity and outlining the scope of your request.

If you believe that the organisation has not complied with your data protection rights, you can complain to the Information Commissioner.

What if you do not provide personal data?

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to the organisation during the recruitment process. However, if you do not provide the information, the organisation may not be able to process your application properly or at all.

You are under no obligation to provide information for equal opportunities monitoring purposes and there are no consequences for your application if you choose not to provide such information.