The TERN Volunteer Guide provides information for prospective volunteers with The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN). TERN aims to help refugees in the UK start businesses by providing mentors, expert advisors, access to funding sources, and developing a support network. Volunteers play an important role in TERN's work through assisting with outreach, media/communications, event planning, and grant writing. The guide outlines TERN's selection process, volunteer roles and responsibilities, training support provided to volunteers, and process for feedback and evaluation.

1. TERN VOLUNTEER GUIDE
2016
www.wearetern.org/for-Volunteers
hello@wearetern.org

2. 1 © The Entrepreneurial Ref ugee Network
Contents
What We Do.......................................................................................................................................2
Financial Barriers............................................................................................................................3
Lack of SupportNetworks................................................................................................................3
Who Is This Guide For? .......................................................................................................................4
Selection Process................................................................................................................................4
What We Will Offer You......................................................................................................................5
During your time with TERN we will:................................................................................................5
During your time with TERN,we ask you to:.....................................................................................5
Outline of Roles..................................................................................................................................6
Reviewing & Finishing our Collaboration..............................................................................................6

3. 2 © The Entrepreneurial Ref ugee Network
Thank you for taking an interest in TERN! Volunteers play an important part in our work and we
rely on people like you to help us deliver our high-quality support.
We want to make sure you feel welcome and well-informed about our work, so if you have any
questions, please feel free to ask us.
Who We Are
The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN) is a new social enterprise which aims to enable
refugees in the UK to actively participate in their local economies and communities by starting
their own small- to medium-sized businesses.
Everything we do is centred around our two key mission statements:
i. To help refugees become self-sufficient through establishing their own enterprises
ii. To transform public perceptions of refugees’ contributions to economies and
communities
We are incorporated as a Community Interest Company (CIC), and our team currently comprises
of 5 directors with a wide range of experience both in providing refugee-specific support and in
the broader financial world.
We are assisted not only by a fantastic set of volunteers, but by a growing group of successful
refugee entrepreneurs who act as Champions within our network to help inspire and advise
others who are developing their business ideas.
What We Do
Refugees in the United Kingdom face a series of unique challenges when they attempt to start a
business. These include:
Lack of Local Business Understanding
There is often a large gap between the bureaucratic requirements in the UK and those of the
refugees’ countries of origin. This means that even entrepreneurs who have previous experience
of starting and maintaining a business may be confused by the complex British requirements.
The practical and legal challenges involved in this process often seem daunting.
TERN tackles this by matching refugees with a Mentor who will meet with them once a week for
60-90 minutes and offer general support and advice. The entrepreneurs will also gain access to
an expert panel which will consist of legal, accounting, and marketing experts. These will be
available in a biweekly Q&A session and will answer specific, practical questions.

4. 3 © The Entrepreneurial Ref ugee Network
Financial Barriers
Refugee entrepreneurs often have
a hard time accessing mainstream
finance because the disruptive
nature of their displacement means
that their lack core business
credentials such as local credit
history.
TERN helps address this by
developing refugee entrepreneurs’
pitching and grant-writing skills. We
also introduce refugee
entrepreneurs to our network of
funders, which includes
organisations who will provide start-up loans to refugees who graduate from our programme.
These loans will allow the entrepreneurs to build a credit history, enabling them to reach
mainstream finance after a relatively short period of time.
Lack of Support Networks
A 2016 Red Cross report on destitution among refugees and asylum seekers stated that ‘18% of
[participants in the study] did not have even one person close enough to them that they could
be counted on to help or support them with serious problems.’ Furthermore, even of those that
did, 22% either had not or rarely felt close to others over the previous two weeks.
Such figures demonstrate that with the refugee diaspora spread right across the country,
isolation becomes a serious issue for many of its individuals. This isolation prevents them
engaging in wider processes of assimilation, rendering any attempts to engage in entrepreneurial
activity impossible.
TERN looks to overcome this challenge by creating an extensive outreach campaign through our
vast network of over 300 diaspora and community groups. We, as a network, are looking to draw
together the many strands of the refugee support movement such that our support reaches
those who need it most. Our outreach among these groups will include raising awareness about
TERN and the possibilities it offers, as well as the promotion of the stories of the TERN
Champions – our previously successful refugee entrepreneurs – which we hope will not only
inspire other refugees in the UK, but begin influencing the wider public narrative around
refugees.

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Who Is This Guide For?
This guide is for prospective and current volunteers, as well as TERN staff. Its purpose is to offer
outline and steer our work together.
By volunteering you are providing TERN with vital assistance for which we are very grateful. In
return for these contributions we aim to provide you with a volunteering experience that results
in personal and professional development.
Selection Process
TERN strives to work with volunteers who have a breadth of experience, skills, knowledge, and
ambitions. We are usually looking for role-specific volunteers and it is important to note that our
volunteer vacancies are competitive.
The selection process for TERNvolunteers has two stages:the firstis submitting your CV and a one
page Covering Letter. If you fit the criteria for the role, we will invite you in for an interview. This
will be no more than an hour and will allow us to understand what you think you may able to gain
through working with TERN. Its purpose is primarilytoensure that the roleis rightfor both parties,
not to test your existing knowledge or capabilities so it is not something to fear!
We will inform you within a week of the interview if you have been successful.

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What We Will Offer You
It is very important to us that you enjoy volunteering for TERN. To this end, we ensure that
each volunteer plays a part in developing her/his own role, so that we can cater to your
skills and ambitions as much as possible. We will also do our best to ensure that your tasks
are not menial, but have a real impact on our work.
There is no lower limit to how much time you need to commit when volunteering with us,
but most of our roles are 1-2 days a week.
During your time with TERN we will:
 Offer equal opportunities to each of our applicants and treat you with dignity and
respect.
 Talk to you about your skills, motivations, and ambitions to involve you in the
development of your role. Please look at page 6 for an overview which can guide your
understanding of the different roles at TERN.
 Provide you with meaningful tasks that have a real impact in the organisation, and ensure
that you are not simply performing mundane tasks. We will also celebrate success and
we will recognise your contribution.
 Offer a clear volunteer description clarifying the role you will play, your responsibilities,
and the standards required.
 Offer appropriate training and support to encourage you to develop in your role.
 Listen to what you have to say. This includes listening to – and acting on – your concerns
if you feel that your expectations are not being met.
 Make necessary arrangements to ensure your health, safety, and welfare as a volunteer.
 Encourage and foster a positive atmosphere to enable you to have the best possible
experience at TERN.
During your time with TERN, we ask you to:
 Understand that information concerning TERN Participants may be very sensitive and is
absolutely confidential. In no circumstances should any personal information about TERN
participants be disseminated outside of our organisation.
 Aim for a high standard of efficiency, reliability, and quality in your volunteering.
 Support and act in accordance with TERN’s guidelines, procedures, and management
decisions; this includes all aspects of equal opportunities, data protection, safeguarding,
and use of our brand. Always feel free to ask if something isn’t clear.
 Let staff know if you have any problem, so that we may find a solution together.

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Outline of Roles
We aim to have role-specific volunteers, such that your abilities, interests, and skill-sets are
considered and utilized as much as possible. To give you an idea of what our roles might involve,
please find some examples of previous volunteer roles below:
- Outreach Volunteer: researching refugee- and diaspora and community groups,
conducting outreach to relevant organizations, identifying inspirational refugees who
might want to become “Refugee Champions”, setting up meetings with relevant
organizations and individuals, recruiting mentors, and helping in the recruitment of
expert advisors.
- Media volunteer: conducting outreach to traditional media (for example by writing press
releases), updating social media profiles, writing stories and blog posts about TERN, and
ensuring that our website is up to date and presentable.
- Events Management Volunteer: assisting the Directors in planning and hosting events,
including launch events, parties, fundraisers and boot camps for refugees.
- Grant volunteer: researching possible grant sources, writing initial drafts of applications,
leading your own grant applications, and following up on applications.
Please note that these are only examples, and that our vacancies vary.
Reviewing & Finishing our Collaboration
One month after you have started in your role at TERN we will arrange for you to have a meeting
with one of the Directorsinwhich you candiscuss your roleso far,both sides canreceivefeedback,
and we can discuss the scope of our continued collaboration. This is a good time for both sides to
bring up any concerns they may have. However, this should not be seen as your only chance to
raise concerns or ask questions and we hope to always be available to answer questions and
address concerns.
At the end of your volunteering with TERN, we ask you to fill out a feedback form on your time
with us. This helps us improve our volunteering programme for the next cohorts, and we really
appreciate you taking your time to fill it out. We will also endeavour to summarise the work you
have done with us, providing both feedback and scope for reference in regards to future work.