Overwhelmingly positive experience of volunteers revealed in new report
Melanie May | 25 January 2024 | News
A new report into the experiences of the volunteers of ten major UK charities has shown that for the vast majority, it is an overwhelmingly positive experience impacting wellbeing, skills development and more.
Almost 29,000 volunteers at the charities shared their views for the report, which has been published by Shaping the Future with Volunteering, a coalition of 31 charities. The 10 members who took part anonymously were Citizens Advice, Girlguiding, National Trust, RNIB, Royal Voluntary Service, RSPCA, RSPB, Scouts, The British Red Cross and Trussell Trust.
Wellbeing and skills benefits
Overall, the study found that 80% of the 28,494 volunteers say volunteering improves their wellbeing. 69% say they have benefited from gaining new skills and knowledge through the training they have received.
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89% also said they feel comfortable being themselves whilst volunteering and /or can express their opinions freely and feel listened to. 85% feel they have flexibility around their volunteering commitment. Overall, 85% would recommend their charity as a great place to volunteer.
There are however some significant variations across charities. Results on individual questions differed across the charities by up to 55%, though in most cases much less than this. The analysis enables individual charities to benchmark their own results against the anonymised results of the others.
The coalition agreed seven common questions to ask in their individual volunteer surveys:
- I would recommend X as a great place/organisation to volunteer.
- I have the opportunity to get involved in different ways and/or The organisation is flexible around the time I give.
- I feel comfortable being myself whilst volunteering; and /or I can express my opinions freely and I feel listened to.
- I feel I have the right level of training or support to fulfil my role.
- The X communicates well with volunteers.
- I have benefited from gaining new skills and knowledge through training I have received.
- I feel volunteering improves my wellbeing.
Catherine Johnstone CBE, Chief Executive of Royal Voluntary Service and Co Chair of Shaping the Future with Volunteering, commented:
“The powerful voice of these shared results is that volunteering is good for you. That’s why campaigns such as The Big Help Out that put volunteering centre stage and showcase the opportunities available to all are so important to get behind.”
Tina Lewis, People Director at National Trust, added:
“We want everyone who volunteers with us to have a positive experience so every year we survey the views of our volunteers to understand what is going well and ideas for improvement. Now for the first time we can compare what our volunteers are telling us with those of other charities, and can work together as a network to share ideas and support each other. It’s a great opportunity to collaborate and improve volunteer experiences for all.”
This first analysis from Shaping the Future with Volunterring covers the charities who asked these questions in surveys during the 12 months up to October 2023. A further analysis in summer 2024 will consolidate the results from surveys conducted since then.
Last year’s Big Help Out saw some 6mn people take part, and it was announced in November that it will return this year as a three-day event.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.