> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rescueconsole.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Volunteers

> Who is waiting for approval, who is cleared but has not started, and approving a volunteer for a role.

**Volunteers** lists everybody who carries the Volunteer role, and what stands between each of them and a shift. Its reason for being is the volunteer who signed up weeks ago and still cannot take anything, because nobody has approved them.

The page has no row of its own in the sidebar. Find it by typing **Volunteers** into search (see [Finding your way](/getting-started/finding-your-way)). It opens for anyone whose role can **See** Shifts, but the list itself shows only for someone whose role can also **See** People: it is a list of other people's approvals.

Approving somebody is done on their own record, not here. Every name on this page links to that record.

## Who is on the list

Everybody whose person record has the Volunteer role (see [the person record](/people/record)). The role is added by hand on the record, and it is added for them when they sign up for a shift or come along on somebody else's sign-up.

## Where they are

Each volunteer is at one of three stages. Hover over the badge in the list to read what it means.

| Stage                    | What it means                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Waiting for approval** | They hold no approval that is in force today: none was ever given, or every one they had has run out or been withdrawn. This counts somebody who has taken shifts before and whose approval has since lapsed. |
| **Ready, not started**   | They hold at least one approval in force, and have never taken a shift. They are cleared; somebody may just need to ask them.                                                                                 |
| **Taking shifts**        | They hold at least one approval in force, and have taken at least one shift.                                                                                                                                  |

A shift counts as taken when they signed up for it, or came along on somebody else's sign-up, and it was not given up.

<Note>
  The stages look at approvals only. A role that does not need approval is open to anybody, so a volunteer who is **Waiting for approval** can still sign up for those.
</Note>

## The list

Waiting volunteers come first, the ones who have been on the books longest at the top, then those ready but not started, then those taking shifts.

| Column                 | What it shows                                                           |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Volunteer**          | Their name, which opens their record.                                   |
| **Where they are**     | Their stage.                                                            |
| **Approved for**       | How many approvals they hold that are in force today, or *Nothing yet*. |
| **Shifts taken**       | How many shifts they have taken, including ones still ahead.            |
| **On the books since** | The date their person record was added.                                 |

The rail beside the list filters by **Where they are**, with a count for each stage. **Name** searches by name. **Clear filters** puts both back.

## Approving a volunteer for a role

A role that needs approval can only be taken by somebody approved for it. You approve people on their record:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open their record">
    Click their name on this list, or find them in People.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Go to the Roles tab">
    In the **Volunteer** section is a card called **Approved to do**: which volunteer roles this person may sign up for, and where.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the role">
    Under **Role**, choose the role. For a role approved separately at each location, a **Location** box appears; choose where they are approved to do it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set an end date if the approval runs out">
    **Expires (optional)** is the last day the approval is good for. Leave it empty for an approval that does not run out.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Press Approve">
    The approval is in force at once, and the volunteer can sign up for that role.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Approving needs **Change** on Shifts and **See** on People. The roles offered are the ones your rescue is currently scheduling (see [Volunteer roles and rules](/settings/volunteers)).

Approving somebody again for a role (and location) they already hold renews that approval with the new expiry date, rather than adding a second one.

When somebody is approved for a role they do not already hold, any workflow set to start *when they are approved as a volunteer* starts for them (see [Workflows](/settings/workflows)). Renewing an approval does not start it again.

### Choosing the location

A per-location approval covers shifts at exactly that location and no other. A shift's location is always one of the sites on your housing map, so approve people at the site itself, which is the first choice in each group of the **Location** box, rather than at a building or room inside it.

A shift with no location cannot be taken under a role that needs approval separately at each location, by anybody.

## What the Approved to do card shows

Each approval the person has ever had is listed, including the ones that no longer count, because the question a coordinator usually brings is *why can't she sign up for that?*

| Badge         | What it means                                                                                                                                     |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Approved**  | In force today.                                                                                                                                   |
| **Expired**   | Its expiry date has passed. On **Sign up**, the volunteer is told the date it expired and that it needs renewing. Approve them again to renew it. |
| **Withdrawn** | Somebody took it back. The volunteer sees *Approval for Dog walker was withdrawn. Speak to a coordinator.*                                        |

Under each is the date it was approved, and when it expires, expired or was withdrawn. An approval is good for the whole of its expiry day.

A person with no approvals shows *Not approved for anything yet. Roles that need no approval can still be signed up for.*

### Withdrawing an approval

Press **Withdraw** beside an approval. It happens at once, with no second question, and the approval stays on the list marked **Withdrawn**. Shifts the volunteer has already signed up for stay booked; withdrawing stops new sign-ups for that role. To clear them again, approve them again.

## Preferred locations

Below **Approved to do**, the **Preferred locations** card records where the volunteer would rather work: any of your sites, and **Remote** for work that is not at a site. It is a preference, not an approval. It decides who to ask, not what they may sign up for.

Press **Edit**, tick or untick places (each tick is saved as you make it), and press **Done**. Changing it needs **Change** on Shifts and **See** on People.

## Their hours so far

The **Volunteering** card in the same section shows **Lifetime hours** (every hour recorded for them, signed off or not), **Sessions** (the shifts they have taken) and **Events** (how many different schedules those shifts belong to). Hours are recorded and signed off on the [Roster](/shifts/roster).