Artist's Resource Pack

Some disabled people volunteer in the arts rather than work. This means they give their time voluntarily and do not get paid for what they do. Some people do this as a way of building skills and experience, or because they are interested in supporting a particular organisation, or because they do not want to risk altering their benefits status.

You are allowed to do voluntary work if you are getting Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, National Insurance Credits or Income Support because of incapacity for work.

You can do voluntary work for anyone, as long as they are not a close relative.

You must not be paid for your work in any way, including being given gift vouchers.

You can be given money to cover your expenses. You can claim for any expenses that have been reasonably incurred by you in connection with that work. This can include travel, childminding or the costs of caring for another dependant, equipment needed for work and use of a telephone. There is no limit on the number of hours you can volunteer.

Until last year, an organisation could buy you lunch providing it paid for it directly, but now they can also give you the money to buy it yourself.

Each organisation decides for itself what expenses to pay volunteers and how to do this, so check with them before you start.

Some organisations ask people to claim back their expenses (so you pay for the items initially and then claim the money back), others buy them for you so you never have to deal with the money yourself.

If you are interested in volunteering, this link will take you to the volunteering section of the artist’s resource site.