# Furlunteering UK – matching furloughed staff to charities needing support

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/04/13/furlunteering-uk-matching-furloughed-staff-to-charities-needing-support/
- Published: 2020-04-13T18:03:58+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Furlunteer: to give time or skills to a charity, whilst being furloughed from 
an employer.**

 

 

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For many of the UK’s 166,000 charities, this is not the time to be onboarding new
volunteers.

 

 

 

For many of the estimated nine million Brits who will be furloughed under the government’s
Job Retention Scheme, this is not the time to be thinking about supporting a charity.

 

 

 

That said, for some charities, and for some furloughed workers, there is a connection
to be made.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

## Matching skills with need

 

 

 

On balance a charity may feel that they can benefit from a few hours, days or weeks
with an accountant, graphic designer, data scientist or marketer.

 

 

 

An employee, prevented from working for the employer who has furloughed them, may
decide that they want to make a difference, to an organisation and to others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

## A timely idea

 

 

 

Furlunteering is nothing more and nothing less than a timely idea. It is not an “
organisation”, “scheme” or “initiative”.

 

 

 

• Individuals can begin to identify as potential furlunteers, through their LinkedIn
profiles and Twitter handles, to more easily be found.

 

 

 

• Charities can share that they are seeking furlunteers, to more easily be supported.

 

 

 

• Agencies and job-boards can begin to use the language of furlunteers and furlunteering.

 

 

 

Furlunteering is not for every charity, and it is not for every employee. For some
though, this simple idea, connecting furloughed workers with charities, will make
a difference. Charities, employers and agencies are encouraged to unleash this into
the mainstream and promote furlunteering to their stakeholders and networks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> More than 9m workers are expected to be furloughed (BBC)
> Thousands of charities are under threat.
> Here's an idea;
> Furlunteering UK.
> Thousands of furloughed workers, giving their time and skills to help others. 
> Enabled by [@LinkedIn](https://twitter.com/LinkedIn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@Twitter](https://twitter.com/twitter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> and [@Facebook](https://twitter.com/facebook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [#iFurlunteer](https://twitter.com/hashtag/iFurlunteer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/yG0vIKwQaj](https://t.co/yG0vIKwQaj)
> — Oli Barrett (@OliBarrett) [April 8, 2020](https://twitter.com/OliBarrett/status/1247896045893201923?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**#iFurlunteer #Furlunteer #Furlunteering**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_[**Oli Barrett**](http://www.olibarrett.com)** MBE** is a serial founder who enjoys
making useful connections between people and ideas. He created Tenner, the UK’s 
largest schools enterprise challenge, in which over 250,000 pupils have made money
and made a difference in a month, starting with just ten pounds. He co-founded Volunteer
It Yourself (VIY), the social venture, which has helped thousands of young people
to fix their own youth clubs. He is also the founder of TOTS (Turn on the Subtitles),
the children’s literacy campaign._

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