The key thing about my volunteer horror story, I think, is that if you read it carefully, you will probably realise that we had all the usual things in place, training that included multicultural awareness, visitor sensitivity, presentation skills, working with children, dealing with difficult visitors (I would recommend the John Cleese training films on difficult customers); assessment, counselling procedures, alternative employment options, warnings, even firing procedures but in the case of our little old dragon lady, NONE of it worked! We interview potential volunteers just as we do potential staff, and our volunteer coordinator has developed an excellent and very detailed policy document which covers practically everything (except dragons). We have over 170 volunteers of very varied age and interests; some work behind the scenes, some with visitors (taking tours, running touch trolleys, helping schools etc) and 99% of them are a joy to work with. Heleanor Feltham [log in to unmask]