A new report providing overwhelming evidence that volunteering affects key areas of government policy has been launched today by Volunteering England. Volunteering Works, a publication from the Institute for Volunteering Research (IVR), brings together for the first time the best evidence that demonstrates the positive impact of volunteering in five key policy areas: development; safer and stronger communities; social inclusion; quality of life and lifelong learning.
Government has developed numerous policy initiatives in the last twenty years to involve and support volunteers, promoting volunteering as “the essential act of citizenship”, a means for combating social exclusion and an important contributor to the delivery of high quality public services. However, this commitment requires a public appreciation of its impact: a Volunteering England online survey found that a majority of people believe that Government does not sufficiently recognise the contribution of volunteers to areas of social policy. Over half of respondents felt their contribution was “hardly” acknowledged, while a further 35% responded “not at all”.
Justin Davis Smith, Acting Chief Executive of Volunteering England and Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research said:
“Volunteering Works is a great tool for policymakers, volunteer managers and anyone who wants hard evidence of the impact that volunteers can have in priority areas of social policy. The results of the online survey show that very few people believe Government is sufficiently aware of this and I hope this report will reassure those who work with volunteers in both the voluntary and public sectors.”
Baroness Julia Neuberger, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Volunteering, said:
“Government policy has been an odd mixture of enthusiasm for the perceived outputs of volunteering, made real by the testimonies of countless individuals and visits to volunteering projects, and distrust, because it does not work along lines that can be understood and controlled. This report targets both that enthusiasm and that distrust by demonstrating the positive impact of volunteering and The Commission welcomes this report as a very useful contribution to our work.”
Case study
A pilot survey by Help the Hospices estimated that the financial value of volunteers to UK hospices was around £112 million. It found that if hospices had to pay for staff to do the work contributed by volunteers, their running costs would increase by nearly a quarter. The survey showed that for each £1 spent on supporting volunteers, hospices received a return of more than £11. In England, the economic value of volunteers to hospices was nearly equal to the contribution from the NHS.
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- For more information, facts from the research, images or interviews please contact Cat Dean on 020 7520 8932 or email cat.dean@volunteeringengland.org. For out of hours enquiries, please contact Sonya Roberts on 07952 128 057.
- Volunteering England aims to improve the quality, quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering throughout England. For more information please visit www.volunteering.org.uk
- 487 people responded to the online poll. To the question: “To what extent does Government recognise the contribution of volunteers to key areas of social policy? 9% responded “sufficiently”, 56% “hardly” and 35% “not at all”.
- Volunteering Works was funded by the Commission on the Future of Volunteering, which will publish its manifesto report in early 2008. For more information visit www.volcomm.org.uk
- For more information on Help the Hospices, visit www.helpthehospices.org.uk or call Katie Brewin on 07947 107 704 or email k.brewin@helpthehospices.org.uk
- Visit www.volunteering.org.uk/convention for details on Volunteering England’s National Volunteering convention, Transforming Passion into Power, 23-25 April 2008.
