Skip to content
Main Menu
Menu

Accessible training for volunteers with learning disabilities

A group of people in a bright room taking part in a first aid training session. One person is kneeling on the floor practicing chest compressions on a medical mannequin, while others sit nearby and watch.

Offering choice

Offering the volunteer a choice in the way their training is delivered is a good start.

Some volunteers with learning disabilities may prefer face to face training with a scribe and extended time.

Face to face, online, or written training may appeal to some individuals and not others.

Quiet spaces

Phil, a volunteer with a learning disability who volunteers with the British Heart Foundation, told us that he liked it when their training was arranged in a quiet space where there was someone around to offer support.

A volunteer with a learning disability may prefer somewhere with fewer distractions.

Allowing them to focus on their training and no other tasks is helpful for someone who finds concentration difficult.

Outsourcing or reformatting training

Outsourcing training to a provider who can offer a more tailored version to adults with learning disabilities is a fantastic option.

Alternatively, why not have a go at reformatting the training yourself.

Innovate Trust have offered many tailored training opportunities over the years including First Aid, Food Hygiene and Manual Handling, all of which can be made accessible for adults with learning disabilities. Get in touch to find out more.

Essential training

Think about which training needs to be essential and which can be optional.

You can then offer the optional training as a choice.

Some volunteers with learning disabilities may want to do more training whereas others may be put off by this.

Incorporating training into volunteering sessions is a good way of improving skills without it feeling like a mammoth task.

Short training sessions

Aaron, a volunteer with a learning disability across many of Innovate Trust’s projects, enjoyed the training he did as part of his woodwork volunteering with Down To Earth.

This training was a more vocational Agored woodland management qualification with lots of practical elements.

They spent about 20 minutes doing this each session over a period of 6 weeks which they much preferred to spending several hours doing it all at once.

Words from our volunteers

Natalie

Natalie, a volunteer with a learning disability who helped create the Volunteering Hub, gave some insightful comments about Innovate Trust’s accessible training.

It is brilliant! I really enjoy it! I love doing courses, we have done mental health and being happy and confidence. It has been good to try new activities.

- Natalie, Yoga co-assistant volunteer
Natalie smiling at the camera, holding a white flower up with both hands. Natalie is sat on a yoga mat, wearing a leopard print tshirt, red glasses and has short brown hair.
Dean holding his hand in the air ready to answer a question. Dean is wearing a black and white striped jumper with a brown scarf tied around his neck

Dean

Dean is another volunteer with a learning disability who has helped to create the Volunteering Hub.

Accessible training has helped get me out of my comfort zone and that has been good.

- Dean, Volunteering Hub Creator volunteer

Mark

Mark, a volunteer with a learning disability who helped create the Volunteering Hub, said that he found Innovate Trust’s training sessions excellent and well planned.

He has enjoyed them all, particularly the First Aid as he learnt how to put someone in a recovery position and how to prevent death!

He also liked the Makaton sessions as he learnt a lot of signs which he tries to put into practice.

Two people are sitting on a green yoga mat in a large room, looking together at a spiral-bound notebook. One person is sitting cross-legged in a grey sweatshirt, while the other is kneeling in a red hoodie and wearing glasses, holding the notebook open for both to see.

More best practice resources for supporting volunteers with learning disabilities

2 people are communicating using Makaton. One person is seated in a wheelchair while the other sits beside them. Both are focused on their hand movements as they interact.

How to communicate with a volunteer with a learning disability

A woman with blonde hair and red glasses is sitting at a desk in an office setting. She is wearing a colorful floral pattern shirt and is smiling towards the camera.

Safeguarding adults with learning disabilities

In a bright room with a colorful mural on the wall, two men are sitting at a wooden table and talking. They are looking at each other over papers spread out on the table, and a cup of coffee is visible to the right.

How to support a volunteer with a learning disability with a DBS check

In a domestic kitchen, two men are seated at a wooden table together looking into a small black cash box filled with paper currency and coins. A blue binder and various papers are also visible on the table.

Understanding the network of a volunteer with a learning disability

A man sitting at a table in a bright room, holding up a Welsh-language 'Easy Read' document about volunteering with the Innovate Trust logo.

How to produce an Easy Read document

A group of people in a bright room taking part in a first aid training session. One person is kneeling on the floor practicing chest compressions on a medical mannequin, while others sit nearby and watch.

Accessible training for volunteers with learning disabilities

Two people smiling while potting a flowering plant together in a garden, with one person using a wheelchair.

What level of support does a volunteer with a learning disability need?

A woman with short, bright red hair and red-framed glasses is smiling warmly at the camera. She is wearing a green fleece zip-up jacket that features a logo for "Meadow Street Community Cymuned Stryd Y Ddol."

How to make volunteering a positive experience

In a bright hallway, two men are involved in filming a demonstration. On the right, a man wearing a yellow hard hat and a blue "California" t-shirt points toward a red fire extinguisher mounted on the wall near a glass exit door. On the left, another man in a dark blazer and glasses holds a video camera up to his eye, recording the scene.

How to support a volunteer with a learning disability with references