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When a volunteer gives up a shift close to its start, they do not come off it straight away. Their sign-up becomes a request, and a coordinator decides on Cancellation requests whether to let them off. Until somebody answers, the volunteer is still down for the shift. The page has no row of its own in the sidebar. Find it by typing Cancellation requests into search (see Finding your way). Anyone whose role can See Shifts can open it; answering a request needs Change on Shifts and See on People. Someone whose role can also See People sees every request; anybody else sees only requests on shifts they are on themselves.

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The notice period

Your rescue sets the notice period with the rule Cancelling needs approval inside this window, a number of hours before a shift starts, under Settings → Team & volunteers → Volunteer rules (see Volunteer roles and rules). The rule can be set for the whole rescue, and differently for one role or one location. When a volunteer presses Give it up:
  • Before the notice period starts, the sign-up is given up at once. The place is free for somebody else, and nothing comes to this page.
  • Inside the notice period, the sign-up becomes a request. It stays on the shift and still holds the place, the volunteer is told they are still down for it until somebody answers, and the request appears here.
  • With no notice rule at all, every sign-up is given up at once, and this page stays empty.
Nobody is sent a message about a new request, so check this page.

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The list

The number of requests waiting shows beside the page’s title. They are listed soonest shift first, not oldest request first, because the shift that starts tomorrow is the one to solve before one next month. The list shows 25 at a time. Each request shows:

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Asked before

When a volunteer has asked about the same shift before, an amber box above their reason says so, for example Asked twice, and was refused once. Under it is each earlier request: its date, the reason they gave, and how it ended (let off, told we still needed them or never answered), with what the coordinator wrote back. Somebody asking again after being told no is telling you the first answer did not work, so read what was said last time before answering.

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Answering a request

Type what the volunteer should be told under What should they be told? It is optional, but it is the explanation they get. Then press one of the two buttons. The request leaves the list, and your answer shows at the top of the page so you can see which button you pressed. After We still need them, the volunteer sees, beside the shift on their Sign up page, that a coordinator said the rescue still needs them, followed by your note. No email is sent. They can ask again, and the next request shows this one under Asked before.
An answer cannot be changed. After Let them off, the volunteer is no longer on the shift; to put them back, they sign up again, if a place is still free.

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Requests on the roster

A request shows on the Roster with the outcome Asking to be let off, and its outcome cannot be changed there until it has been answered. The Roster’s usual Outcome choice, Everything that stands, leaves requests out; choose Asking to be let off to see them. On Shifts, a request still counts as a sign-up on its role until it is answered.