The Ambassador Pack

Everything a volunteer Ambassador needs: what the role is, what to do on a visit, what to claim, how we look after you, and the agreement to sign. Ambassadors are the reason the badge means something.

1. What an Ambassador is

An Ambassador is a volunteer from one of the communities The Glitter Standard exists for, who visits accredited venues in their own city as an ordinary guest and tells us what they found. Venues are never told when a visit is coming. That is the whole point: a badge that is only checked on the day the paperwork is filed is a sticker.

1.1 What you are not

• You are not an inspector, a mystery shopper for hire, or a member of staff. You do not have powers and you never need to use any.
• You are not there to catch anyone out. Most visits pass, and a pass is as useful to us as a fail.
• You are not required to disclose anything about yourself, to anyone, ever.

2. Before you go

• You are always in a pair. You will know who you are with before the night.
• You will be given the list of venues for that night and the order. Tell us if any of them does not work for you, for any reason, and it comes off your list without explanation.
• Never visit a venue where you work, have worked, or have a personal connection with the people running it. Tell us and we will swap it.
• Never visit the same venue twice in twelve months.
• Do not drink alcohol before or during a visiting night.
• Agree your expenses with us before the night: how you are travelling, whether you need a meal, whether you need a room. Nothing is a surprise on either side, and anything unexpected on the night is covered if you tell us at the time.
• Save the duty number in your phone. Someone is on the end of it for the whole night.

3. What to do in the venue

Twenty minutes, in this order. You are checking ten things and nothing else. If you cannot do one of them, skip it and say so in the report: a missed step is not a fail for the venue.

4. Asking for Angela, safely

• One of you goes to the bar alone and asks, in a normal voice, "Is Angela here?" Do not act distressed.
• The moment a member of staff starts to respond, moving you away, asking if you are all right, offering somewhere to sit, say the agreed words: "Thank you, I am fine, I thought I saw someone I know." The test ends there.
• Do not let it run on. No taxi, no police, nobody removed. If staff want to keep checking, thank them and say again that you are fine.
• What we are recording is the first thirty seconds: was the ask recognised, were they calm, did they put you first.
• If something real is happening in the venue, do not test. Be a guest, help if asked, and tell us afterwards.

5. The rules

• Never say who you are or who you are with. Not to staff, not to friends in the venue, not afterwards.
• Never tell a venue the result. The report goes from us to them within 48 hours.
• No photographs, no video, no audio recording, ever.
• Never name a member of staff in a report. Describe the role: the person on the door, the woman behind the bar.
• Never post about a visit on social media, before or after.
• If you know someone working in the venue, step outside and tell your partner. One of you can still complete the visit.
• You are visiting licensed premises as an adult guest. No DBS check is needed and we do not take one.

6. How we look after you

• You can stop at any moment, in any venue, for any reason at all, and you never have to explain. Your expenses are paid in full anyway.
• Someone is on the phone all night. The duty number is answered from the first venue to the last.
• Ask a venue for anything you need. An adjustment you genuinely need is not part of the test and is never recorded against the venue.
• Bring your assistance dog. Tell us in advance so we can note it.
• If a night goes badly we call you the next day. If something happened to you personally, nothing goes into a report about the venue without your agreement.
• If you are refused entry: if the venue applies its own rules to everyone, that is not a fail and we record it as a refusal. If you are refused because of who you are, how you look, your ID, your race or your disability, that is a serious failure by the venue, we tell them within 48 hours, and we will support you through any complaint you want to make.
• If you feel unsafe, leave. Both of you, together, straight away. The visit is over and that is the right decision every time.

7. Expenses

Expenses are agreed with you before the night and reimbursed on receipt within ten working days. We tell you what is covered when we send you the venue list, and you tell us then if you need anything else: a taxi rather than a bus, a room, something for your assistance dog. If something unexpected comes up during the night, call the duty number and it is covered.

We reimburse what you actually spend. This is not payment for your time: Ambassadors are volunteers, and paying an allowance rather than real costs would change that in law and take away the freedom to say no.

Claim on the form in the app or by email with photographs of receipts, within thirty days. If a receipt is lost, tell us what it was and we will pay it.

8. Volunteer agreement

This is a statement of what we each expect. It is not a contract of employment or of work, it creates no obligation on either of us, and nothing in it is intended to be legally binding.

What The Glitter Standard will do

• Train you before your first visit and pair you with someone experienced.
• Give you the venue list in advance, agree your expenses with you, and take off anything that does not work for you.
• Reimburse your actual costs on receipt within ten working days.
• Keep you anonymous. Your name never appears in a report, on the website or to a venue.
• Have someone on the phone for the whole of every visiting night, and call you the next day if a night goes badly.
• Tell you what happened to your report and what the venue did.
• Treat you the way we ask venues to treat their guests.

What we ask of you

• Come to the nights you say yes to, or tell us as soon as you know you cannot.
• Follow the visit steps and the rules in sections 3 to 5.
• Keep what you see confidential, including from the venue and from social media.
• Tell us about any connection you have to a venue on your list.
• Do not drink alcohol on a visiting night.
• Claim only what you actually spent, and only what was agreed beforehand or with the duty number on the night.

Ending it

Either of us can stop at any time, without notice and without giving a reason. If you stop, we delete your personal details within two years and keep only your expense receipts for the six years the law requires.

Declaration

I have read the Ambassador Pack. I understand that I am a volunteer, that this is not a contract of employment or of work, and that I am free to stop at any time. I will keep visits confidential and I will not identify myself as an Ambassador.

Name: __________________________________________

Email: __________________________________________

Mobile: __________________________________________

Area: __________________________________________

Signed: __________________________________________ Date: ______________

Conflict declaration

Tick anything that applies and give details, so we can keep it off your list.

☐ I work, or have worked, in a licensed venue in this area

☐ I have a family member or close friend working in a venue in this area

☐ I have been refused entry to, or barred from, a venue in this area

☐ I have an interest in a business that supplies venues in this area

☐ None of these

Details: __________________________________________

9. The visit report

Completed on your phone in the venue before you leave. One report per venue, signed by both of you.

Venue: __________________________________________

Date and time in / out: __________________________________________

Ambassador reference numbers: __________________________________________

Both Ambassadors sign. If you disagree about what happened, write both accounts. We would rather have two honest views than one tidy one.

The Glitter Standard CIC, incorporation in progress · theglitterstandard.co.uk · Trained. Tested. Earned.