Employer/ Voluntary work Insurance and unstable epilepsy

lindapr1 · January 2018

I have just joined this community as the mum of a 33 year old son who has unstable epilepsy and ptsd.

He very much wants to be involved in something but is constantly running into hurdles.

The main problem seems to be insurance. Even in the voluntary sector he has not been able to take part because of the issues over safety in the workplace. Insurers refuse or can only provide with prohibitively high premiums.

I am enquiring on his behalf as I have come across some volunteering opportunities at spurn point which is on our doorstep. These are listed in the search accessed through Scope's page.

I would like to look into this further but at the moment he is saying that he doesn't feel that he could handle another rejection. I don't want to put him in that position so have not even mentioned it to him.

I would very much appreciate your help with this as I would like to be able to explore this initially to determine whether or not it is a viable option for him. If it does turn out that they would be able to accept a volunteer with his disability including the insurance required, I could then advise him that this is doable . If not, then he would not be dealing with further disappointment.

At this point, he feels that all of the legislation in favour of inclusion for the disabled has been of no benefit to those who find themselves sidelined because of insurance issues.

He is a very capable young man who wants to be useful in the community and to feel that he has a life.

Is there any way that you can assist me with this?

Sam_Alumni · January 2018

Hi @lindapr1
Welcome to the community and I am sorry to hear about the struggles your son has faced. I have moved your post to our employment category where I hope you can get a bit of feedback and I will also get in touch with our volunteering team to get some information from them.

We do have online volunteering opportunities with this online community, we have a team of Community Champions who give us an hour or more a week to welcome new members and help answering questions and supporting members, so if your son would be interested in this, I would be happy to have a chat with him. If you want to find out more, please email me on samantha.cleasby@scope.org.uk

Max_Bell · January 2018

Hi @lindapr1

Thank you for your post, and very moving story. Scope's Volunteering Team should hopefully be able to help out your enquiry. If they don't reach out, you can also e-mail them at volunteering@scope.org.uk

If you want to find out more about how to get insurance generally, and your legal rights, please see our website and the sections here; https://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/money/choosing-insurance#your-legal-rights

I hope that the replies to your post are helpful, and that you're able to find a suitable opportunity for your son.

Best Regards,

Max Bell.
Scope.

lindapr1 · January 2018

Thanks very much to Max and Sam for their responses.

Sam_Alumni · January 2018

Hi @lindapr1

Our volunteering team have said that this wouldn’t be a problem when volunteering with Scope, if you are interested in volunteering, please speak to Verity Steddon on verity.steddon@scope.org.uk and they can liaise with the charity shop or team you are interested in.

As for volunteering outside of Scope, it would probably depend on various people’s insurance policies. It’s possible that some people just aren’t sure what their insurance policies cover so they either say they’re not sure or they err on the side of caution and say that they can’t cover it.

For more information about volunteering with Scope, get in touch with the Volunteering Team at volunteering@scope.org.uk or you can call them on 020 7619 7100. You can also take a look at our information around volunteering here.

I hope this helps

lindapr1 · January 2018

It does. Thank you

lindapr1 · January 2018

It does
Thank you

Employer/ Voluntary work Insurance and unstable epilepsy

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