Volunteers are essential to the work of LASSN, and we are committed to ensuring volunteers are able to claim back any out of pocket expenses they generate as part of their volunteering. In fact, LASSN gets grant funding specifically to meet these costs (and if volunteers don’t claim their expenses, we have to give it back!)
The last time we reviewed our Expenses policy was in 2011. At that time, Trustees capped the amount each volunteer could claim at £30 per month.
In October 2018 Trustees reviewed this policy, and decided that from November 2018 LASSN will increase the amount volunteers can claim to £37 per month, per person, in line with cost of living increases. Trustees have also agreed to review this amount annually.
We know that volunteering with LASSN is never about the expenses. But we also appreciate that as costs increase, so must the amount we are able to refund.
If you prefer not to claim back your out of pocket expenses, we respect your decision and we will the pay back unclaimed monies to our grant givers.
That said, we also know that some of our volunteers claim their out of pocket expenses and then donate them back to LASSN. If they pay tax, then by Gift Aiding their £37 of expenses back to LASSN, we get the benefit of £46.25 of unrestricted income.
Whatever you choose to do about claiming your expenses from LASSN, we want you to know how much we value your contribution, and what a difference you are making to the lives of asylum seekers and refugees in Leeds.
Thank you from everyone at LASSN
Jon
