FAQs

We have written to everyone receiving support to advise them of the closure of Volunteer Responders and included details of how they can contact our Support Team. In addition the most vulnerable patients were contacted directly .

All referrals needed to be input by 31 May for completion on the same day.

Any shifts or tasks that are dated after the Saturday 31 May have been removed and will not be completed.

The last date for one-off task referrals was 31 May 2025.

31 May was the last day of volunteer support. Any shifts or tasks dated after 31 May have been removed and will not be completed.

We have written to everyone receiving support to advise them of the closure of Volunteer Responders and included details of where they can find alternative support.

Following the last task date on 31 May 2025, any decision to allow volunteers to continue supporting your organisation, would be your choice and independent of NHS and Care Responders, NHSE, Royal Voluntary Service and GoodSAM.

NHSE, Royal Voluntary Service and GoodSAM would be unable to support with any issues that may arise, nor would any insurances cover your continued relationship.

If you wish to understand further ways you can continue to involve volunteer support contact [email protected]^[1]

We will process your data in line with the deletion and retention rules specified in the Referrer's Privacy Notice^[2].

The NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme, which was set up in March 2020 to support people during the COVID-19 pandemic has been discontinued. Saturday 31 May was the final day of the programme. 

All live volunteering ceased on 31 May 2025

Yes there were live tasks that ended on the 31 May.

Everyone who received support from Volunteer Responders was notified via a letter. This letter outlined what happened and places they can find support beyond the Volunteer Responders.

They received details of how they can seek further support in their letter telling them about the closure of Volunteer Responders.

References can be requested to support with training, studies or employment. These can be requested by a volunteer directly or relevant organisations. Please note that in order to provide a reference, we are reliant upon the records and information available to us at the time of the request.

Please go to royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/nhs-and-care-volunteer-responders/^[3]

We will process your data in line with the retention periods outlined in the Volunteer Privacy Notice^[4]. This effectively states that we will retain your data for a period of 6 months following the end of the Scheme (for admin purposes and to deal with any queries), at which point it will be deleted.

No, you should not continue to support anyone outside of the Volunteers Responders programme.

As a registered NHSCVR volunteer we will have already emailed you about volunteering opportunities with the NHS, RVS and GoodSAM. This includes an option to opt in to hear more from the NHS and RVS.

You can also explore other NHS roles  roles by visiting the NHS Volunteering ^[5] website, view other opportunities with Royal Voluntary Service^[6] and with GoodSAM^[7] through your continued access to your account on the GoodSAM app.

Many of you have asked about the need to retain the GoodSAM app now that NHS and Care Volunteer Responder tasks have ended. To clarify, you can remain on standby to support the NHS in times of future need through staying registered with GoodSAM.

The final date to submit expenses is 30 June 2025. You can do this via our expenses portal at concur.co.uk/rvs^[8]

The NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme, which was set up in March 2020 to support people during the COVID-19 pandemic was discontinued. Saturday 31 May was the final day of the programme.

In the face of a difficult financial position the decision has been taken to discontinue the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders service.

We have sent you a letter that details where you can get further support from. 

Support ceased on the 31 May 2025.

We will process your data in line with the retention periods outlined in the Supported Individuals Privacy Notice^[9].

This effectively states that we will retain your data for a period of 6 months following the end of the Scheme (for admin purposes and to deal with any queries), at which point it will be deleted.