There has been a lot of coverage in the media in recent years charting the decline in volunteering. Charities Aid Foundation’s (CAF) UK Giving report found that only 13% of people said they volunteered in the last year, compared with 17% pre-pandemic, representing about 1.6 million fewer people volunteering over the past five years.

The Time Well Spent 2023 report from National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), which surveyed 7,000 adults, found that those raising money or taking part in sponsored events has fallen by 48%, from 11% to 6%, since 2018. The report also found that those organising or helping to run an activity has fallen by 52%, from 14% to 7%, and those campaigning on behalf of a charity has gone down by 49%, from 8% to 4%.

The social restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19 do explain some of this decline. Of course, we went out less, and some regular volunteering was cancelled. The pandemic did also create new opportunities for mutual aid and informal helping out, and for people to become involved in helping deliver local services to their friends and neighbours with schemes such as NHS Volunteer Responders run by RVS (the Royal Voluntary Service).

There are good reasons why people do not volunteer. They may have work commitments, childcare or other caring responsibilities or simply may not know how to get involved. And the obstacles that prevent people from volunteering are likely to have become more significant over the last few years, in particular due to the cost-of-living crisis. But volunteering has a huge, positive impact: 75% of people surveyed in the Time Well Spent survey 2023 agreed it improved their mental health and wellbeing, and gave them more confidence; while 62% of 18- to 24-year-olds agreed it improved their employment prospects.

Catherine Johnstone CBE, Royal Voluntary Service Chief Executive, said:

“I am privileged - through my job - to be able to see first-hand, the power of ‘ordinary’ citizens to do extraordinary things. All - big or small - acts of volunteering has the potential to transform the lives of others and build stronger, more connected communities. We should feel empowered by this – and hence, more optimistic about the future. We know from a breadth of health - and economic - research that greater social and civic participation makes us happier and healthier, and maybe wealthier and wise!”

Volunteering at M&G – A view from Jane Rawnsley, Group Head of Corporate Responsibility

“Here at M&G, we have noticed a significant increase in participation. Of course, our volunteering did decrease, along with the rest of the country, during the pandemic but we started to see an increase from 2021 onwards as things started to open up again. We measure our volunteering numbers for inclusion in our annual report and in 2022 we noticed that our volunteering had doubled but the figures have increased yet again in 2023: 1517 volunteers in 2023 compared to 1345 in 2022; with 12,044 volunteering hours in 2023 compared to 8,964 hours in 2022.

We have noticed a huge shift in teams across M&G wanting to get out into the community and find different ways to give back in a meaningful way and our charity partners are saying the same. Colleagues want to get together and volunteering is a positive experience for both those volunteering and the social benefits in the community.

Volunteering is something we are passionate about at M&G and we are proud to provide two paid days of volunteering to every employee. We understand that everyone has different interests and we have a wide range of short term and long term opportunities, from tree planting, mentoring of young people to furniture upcycling for homes of vulnerable people.”

Beneficiaries have also shared the impact that our programmes have had on their future:

Emily-Grace, student, said: “Skills for Life has helped me discover skills I didn't know I had. It has helped me to feel better about talking to people and made me aware of the opportunities available.”

One of the teachers from Pioneer Academy, Slough, said: “The impact of having external visitors deliver workshops that help students recognise the importance of skills and attributes that they need to become career ready can only be a plus for our students. Helping them nurture their soft skills through the activities that they were involved in has helped them to grow in confidence, work better with their team and improve their communication skills through presentations, mock interviews etc.”