On this page, you will be able to view information on volunteer expenses, as well as guidance and resources on how to claim reimbursement for your travel costs.
ReachOut is committed to giving all our volunteers the opportunity to volunteer with us, without out-of-pocket expenses standing in the way of your participation! As a Volunteer Mentor, you can claim reimbursement for your travel to and from your mentoring project.
Please ensure you take time to read our Volunteer Expenses Policy in full so that you know your rights and responsibilities when claiming reimbursement for your travel expenses.
As a Volunteer Mentor, you can claim reimbursement for your travel to and from your mentoring project. You are entitled to £6 per day per project, for example:
Please note that you can only claim expenses when travelling from university/work/home to your project, and back again. You are not able to claim expenses for travelling to or from other locations!
You can only be reimbursed for travel expenses involving public transport or driving to a project yourself.
You CAN claim for:
You CAN’T claim for:
Finally, you must present proof of your expenses by keeping your travel receipts! This is extremely important, as ReachOut cannot pay you back for any travel costs not backed up by a valid receipt. Remember, no receipt, no payment!
If you are travelling through TFL (i.e. getting the tube), please read this guide to find out how you can get your TFL receipts.
A good tip is to take a picture of your receipt every time you take a trip to your project or from your project. That way, even if you lose a receipt, you can still have proof on your phone and can request reimbursement.
If you are driving to and from your project, you do not need to provide a receipt. Instead, please provide us with the postcode your journey started from and you will be entitled to receive 45 pence per mile.
We recommend submitting your expenses once a month, to prevent large amounts of expenses piling up or receipts being lost over a long period of time.
Remember that we will not be able to back-date any expense claims that are submitted 2 months after the date being claimed for, so claiming for your expenses once a month is the best way to ensure that you can be reimbursed fully and on time!
When you are ready to request reimbursement for your travel costs, you will need the following:
Once you have everything you need, please do the following:
1) Fill in your Volunteer Expenses Claim Form in full. Please to record every trip that you want to claim for on the form, along with the date and details of your trip. Remember to provide your bank details in the relevant section!
2) Take pictures of ALL of your receipts. Please note that if the information you have provided on the form and the receipts that you have do not match, this will delay your claim as the team will need to follow up with you.
3) Send an email to volunteer@reachoutuk.org attaching a) your completed Volunteer Expenses Claim Form and b) ALL of your receipts. Set the subject of the email to ‘Volunteer Expenses – Your Name’ to help out the team.
Once you have done this, your Volunteer Officer will be able to check the information that you have provided them with. They will verify and sign your expenses form, and send this across to the Operations and Finance team so that your claim can be processed.
We try our best to have your expenses processed as soon as possible, but please bear in mind that this can take slightly longer during busy times!
For any questions regarding volunteer expenses or anything mentioned in this guide, please contact the Volunteer Team at volunteer@reachoutuk.org.
For any questions regarding the expenses policy or the reimbursement process, please contact the Operations and Finance Team at finance@reachoutuk.org.
“At first, I was really hesitant to take on the Project Leader role, despite having mentored with ReachOut. However, with the support of the team I’ve really developed my skills. For example, at the Mentee Graduation, I stood up in front of 200 people and presented an award which is something I would never ever have been able to have done before, and isn’t an opportunity I could gain in my other situations.”
Amy McCutcheon, Project Leader at ReachOut Academy, Dean Trust Ardwick, Manchester.
“Being able to spend the summer working at Rede Partners, was an amazing experience. Whether it was working in HR or Finance, I learned so much about the world of private equity, made great connections with fantastic people and I got to learn first-hand what it would be like to work there! I really believe that I can go onto build the career I want now I’ve been a part for a workplace for real”
Victor Adekunle, 18 years old, ReachOut Ambassador, London
“When I first my mentee, she was very reluctant to participate in the sessions. Now, I see a completely different person! Her confidence has grown and she is happy to join in! She still has some self-doubt when it comes to academic work, but that’s what I hope to help her overcome, because she is a very bright person!
Through mentoring, I’ve learnt I’m a lot more patient than I realised. There will be days where she refuses to participate and those are the days that I really see the importance of the character strengths, for both the mentees and the mentors. It also makes it easier for the mentee to understand the character strengths, when I use them myself”
Myrtle, ReachOut Club mentor at Tufnell Primary School, London
“There are more distractions than ever outside of school, and the commitment of our students to attend ReachOut sessions is testament to the value they place on the relationships they foster there, and the challenge and enjoyment they provide.
ReachOut’s focus on communication skills and character development has become an important aspect of our provision of support for these students. The opportunity to relate to a positive role- model other than their usual teachers is key to the programme’s impact, and the evidence of this has been seen in the students’ attendance, resilience and to their overall progress across all the subjects in the school.”
Thomas Janvrin, Assistant Vice Principal at the Petchey Academy London
