I am very proud to be launching today the UK Employee Volunteering 2022-23 Report produced by non-for-profit social enterprise Works4U, a specialist in employee volunteering.
It provides genuinely new analysis and revealing insights into employee volunteering from the perspective of employees. Despite corporate volunteering being carried out for decades there is little analysis and data, let alone behind the scenes experiences of how it happens. Until now!
25% did not know how much time their employer allowed
94% stated employers should do more to promote volunteering
However, the report also shows that employers are doing much more to organise employee volunteering but they are not keeping up with the demand from their employees.
There has been a perception shift by employees who in the past may have seen the opportunity to volunteer during work as something special and a nice to have, now see it as a business as usual activity and that it is odd or wrong if an employer does not offer it.
Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV), as it is referred to in the voluntary and community sector (VCS), has nowhere near reached its potential and the increase levels in employee volunteering is a positive trend but work needs to be carried out within the VCS to build capacity and skills to harness this. Works4U is trying to achieve this through the national ESV Network it has set up and manages.
The evidence of the report also shows that employers need to promote their employee volunteering programmes more effectively as otherwise they are not reaping the many business benefits of having one. As well as being an effective mechanism to support employee wellbeing and employee engagement, it helps with talent acquisition, talent recruitment and demonstrates to clients, partners, stakeholders, investors, supply chain that your business takes ESG, CSR, social impact and social responsibility very seriously.
Finally, a huge and massive thank you to everyone who helped make this report happen, it is no small thing for a non-profit like Works4U who punches far above its weight. A big thank you to all those who took the time to complete the survey and to promote it to others. The biggest thank you goes to my talented colleague Martyna who designed the report, including some original illustrations.
The UK Employee Volunteering 2022-23 Report can be downloaded here, I hope you find it interesting.
If this sounds like one of those deliberately provocative ‘clickbait’ headlines, then I’m sorry to have to say this is a real question being asked in the voluntary and community sector. Only this week I got an email from someone struggling to recruit volunteers for an event who told me, ‘volunteering is a dying trait’.
Without volunteers there is no voluntary sector.
This is, of course, the bleeding obvious. It is so obvious, it seems, that it is completely forgotten and taken for granted.
Volunteering is the lifeblood of the voluntary and community sector. From informal gifts of time through helping a neighbour or at a community event through to formal roles such as Trustees, volunteering is ESSENTIAL to the sector functioning.
If volunteering is dying, then the result is the sector is dying. If the sector is dying, then communities are weakened and unsupported increasing demand on public services that are either already at capacity or do not exist as that is what our sector does. Bottom line, if volunteering is dying then everyone should be worried.
All across the UK, towns, cities and rural areas are reporting significant drops in the levels of formal volunteering:
Volunteer Now published their findings on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on volunteering in Northern Ireland in December 2022 stating, ‘The emphasis and frequency with which volunteer recruitment was raised by interviewees was concerning.’ They also report the negative impact this is having on the mental health of volunteer managers.
Volunteer Scotland has been carrying out some great research into volunteering and how the cost-of-living crisis has impacted Scotland’s volunteer involving organisations (VIOs). Their February 2023 report has some important analysis and I would direct readers to the Key Findings on page 12 of their report.
I co-chair the London Volunteer Centre Network and members across London are reporting issues around volunteer recruitment and retention. The Hammersmith & Fulham Volunteer Intelligence Report (Mar 2023) also highlights that the biggest issue affecting local VIOs is recruiting new volunteers.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of evidence, but hopefully enough to convince that there is a real decline in formal volunteering and that this is causing real problems for charities and the communities they serve.
The cost-of-living crisis is clearly a large contributing factor, but to think volunteering issues will disappear once that has passed is to misunderstand the situation.
Volunteering has serious structural and systemic issues which have been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis but will remain, or be worse, once the crisis over:
Trends for volunteers and VIOs moving in oppositedirections – this has been happening for a few years and was accelerated by the pandemic. VIOs are increasingly more safeguarding conscious with long on-boarding processes to train and support volunteers to carry out their roles. As a result, they are naturally keen to have volunteers who will commit to giving significant amount of time over a long period. Whereas those interested in volunteering increasingly want to do it on their terms, when it is convenient for them, on an ad hoc basis and as soon as possible. Although VIOs are making some efforts for more flexible volunteer roles, they have a long way to go.
Post-pandemic volunteering is different. As well as the cost-of-living, there are many factors that have impacted volunteering, such as: (i) Many older people who volunteered in-person have not returned to their volunteer roles; (ii) Perception that the pandemic is over and so volunteers not needed so much; (iii) Fatigue and burnout of volunteers who have already given so much of their time; (iv) Desire to volunteer remotely and/or less inclination for in-person volunteering
Lack of funding to support volunteer programmes – to manage effective volunteer programmes that recruit and retain volunteers well you need good volunteer management resources. The economic squeeze of VIOs over the past 10 or more years has led to a reduction in these resources and, in many cases, managing volunteers is tacked onto existing roles rather than it being a dedicated roles.
Voluntary sector infrastructure funding has reduced in real terms. The Feb 2023 360 Giving report highlights how VCS infrastructure funding, in the last 12 years has reduced, in real terms, compared to the rest of the sector.
Weak national bodies – the national agencies which represent and champion volunteering and volunteer infrastructure do not have the clout and influence to persuade national and local government to invest in this area.
The economic value of both volunteering and the infrastructure needed to keep it prospering and responding to needs is not understood. Obviously, local authorities and funders do understand it has a value, but they do not understand what they receive, in monetary terms, for their investment. Because of this, investment has reduced and, in some areas, has ended (for example, very sad to hear of the closing of Volunteer Centre Swindon)
The Value of Volunteering? If we can solve the issue of understanding the value of volunteering this will go a long way to help solving the other issues.
There is an often-used quote in our sector by Sherry Anderson, “Volunteers are not paid; not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless.” As much as I love the sentiment behind this, it is also extremely unhelpful as we live in a society where only things with a clear economic value are supported, developed and invested in.
The benefits of volunteering for the individual and communities are, I hope, well known. As well as the actual impact of the volunteering, for individuals, volunteering helps mental health, builds social and professional networks, develops skills and is fun. For communities, people giving a little of their time formally or informally makes them resilient, cohesive and nice places to live. However, the economic value for these benefits is unknown.
Martin Brookes, the CEO of London Plus (which champions charities and community groups in London), highlighted a useful example that illustrates this issue in a short article ‘A better way to value and think about charities’. To summarise, it describes how volunteers from Good Gym stepped in to deliver prescriptions during the pandemic, as the private sector did not want to do this, not only did this volunteering activity not count towards calculating our GDP, it reduces it, whereas when the private sector carries this task out, it increases GDP. It is just one very real example which shows that as well as the value and impact on our society and economy of volunteering is not being measured or counted, when it does happen it can create a negative effect on the financial measures currently used.
Although the article does not mention it, as it was not relevant for the point being made, but it was the infrastructure organisation Voluntary Action Camden who facilitated the connection between the GPs/pharmacies and Good Gym who provided the volunteers. This clearly shows the benefits of infrastructure organisations, but the monetary value of this very important facilitation and brokerage is also unknown.
Therefore, those who work in the sector, whether it local, regional or national infrastructure, need to quickly come up with some measures of value to demonstrate the importance of volunteering. If we do not, then it could lead to decisions being made to stop investing in volunteer infrastructure with the inevitable consequence of having to re-establish it again later which not only costs more in the long run but takes time to do and weakens the whole sector whilst this happens.
What can we actually do?
The reality of volunteering right now in the UK is not good and looks quite bleak given the structural and systemic issues, but we are not in an impossible situation. Understanding what the problems are is definitely part of being able to create a solution.
Waiting for the cost-of-living crisis to end is not the answer. We need to tackle the issue on multiple fronts and we all have a part to play in the solution.
Showing economic value of Volunteering Even if they are imperfect, we need to start estimating the economic impact of volunteering and volunteer infrastructure. In his article referenced above, Martin Brookes states, ‘The Law Family Commission on Civil Society offers a large number of very practical recommendations about data. They offer the prospect of improving how we measure the value and contribution of people like the runners of GoodGym in Camden.’
Young People Pro Bono Economics wrote an article in December 2022 asking, ‘Is 2023 set to be the year of the volunteer?’ highlighting that there could be a wave of new volunteers stating, ‘1 in 6 young people, aged 18-34, plan to start volunteering. At the time of writing (March 2023), we are not seeing a lot of this yet and some of the structural issues of volunteering, particularly lack of flexible volunteering, are likely holding this back. However, having said that, one Hammersmith & Fulham VIO reported ‘we need volunteers and have less applications from adults and more from young people.‘ So, as well as making volunteering more flexible we need to make changes so that more younger people can get involved.
Increased Awareness of Need of Volunteering When people think there is a real need or crisis, they step up to volunteer. This has been proven. Right now, in general terms, no one really knows that there is a real need for volunteers.
Although many volunteer infrastructure organisations do very well with social media and communications, none of them have a loud enough voice for this current situation. These organisations need help from others with bigger voices such as local authorities, national bodies and the government to significantly raise the profile of the ask for volunteer support. For example, a national promotion but locally delivered would be very impactful. However, these need to be coordinated between national and local bodies to be effective as the poorly thought through Big Help Out has shown.
Local authorities can play a stronger role in amplifying the messages of volunteer infrastructure organisations and if they can work together on dedicated campaigns it can reach more people who could volunteer.
Conclusion
Volunteering is not dying, far from it, but it is injured. The need for effective healthcare, i.e. local and national volunteer infrastructure, has never been stronger.
I have been in denial. No, I am not doing a bad joke about a river in Egypt, but referring to my coming around to the notion that the word ‘volunteer’ is not as cool and sexy as it used to be. The concept of giving time to help others is still very much cool, it’s just that the word volunteer is not so much.
This is hard for me to accept. I am a passionate and determined proponent of volunteering and firmly believe and can demonstrate that volunteers, every day, change the world to make our communities better places. How can the notion of someone giving just a little bit of their busy lives to help someone else not be seen as amazing or cool?
The problem is that volunteering actually covers a vast range of activities but is often used to refer to something far more narrow, namely formal volunteering, i.e. a formal defined in detail volunteer role within a charity, usually involving the volunteer committing time regularly on an ongoing basis. The reality is that volunteering covers all giving of time, including informal volunteering such as being a good neighbour or baby-sitting for a friend, micro-volunteering such as Be My Eyes or ad hoc volunteering.
Although any giving of time is volunteering the core work of Volunteer Centres is focused on formal volunteering, acting as a much needed volunteer recruitment service for the thousands of great charities that desperately need the involvement of volunteers to support their service to the community. However, I strongly believe that Volunteer Centres should not be constrained by such a narrow field of work and that they can and should work to promote and develop all forms of volunteering.
In the last couple of years the word ‘participation’ has become more popular. There is a significant strengthening trend and desire to create a more participatory culture within communities where people feel they should and can be the part of a solution to a problem rather than simply writing a letter of complaint for their local authority to deal with. To help make communities more resilient and cohesive, there needs to be tools as well as a culture to enable people, organisations and businesses to work together to tackle priority social issues.
Although this type of participation or social action is, technically, very much volunteering it is not really seen as such by those who are doing it. I know of a couple of people who would actually hate and object to being described as someone who volunteers but they often give their time informally, which is still volunteering but they will not hear of it. Those in a street who campaign and fundraise to improve the environment and air quality in their area would probably not consider themselves volunteers, but yet they are.
So, instead do we say they are participating? The word participation is by itself too vague to be used. It’s not enough to say someone is participating, it needs to be stronger and suggest something positive, that it creates action leading to a change.
Put that all together and we have Participaction. Admittedly, the word looks better than it sounds, but it encapsulates exactly what is desired from volunteering today. Participaction covers both informal and formal volunteering that delivers positive action through a person participating in their local community. I am not suggesting abandoning the term ‘volunteering’ but sometimes new terms help focus motivations through aligning with current trends.
So Participaction is still volunteering but it’s framing it in a way that reflects the way people want to volunteer today. Whether it’s formal or informal, volunteering today needs to take a participaction approach to get high levels of engagement and support.
Doing jury service is not volunteering but it is considered civic duty so I hope you do not mind a slight deviation from my normal posts.
I recently carried out jury service (Feb 2026) and before I did I looked online to try and find out more about what it is like and found surprisingly little information so I am sharing my experience in case it is of help to others who are about to do it or are just generally interested to know what it is like.
Although approximately 180,000 people a year carry out jury service in the UK, which is like the entire population of Swindon or Milton Keynes doing it, there is very little information out there in the internet-AI-o-sphere on what it is really like and what actually happens? Now some of this is because you are legally not allowed to talk about the trial when it is happening and then you are NEVER allowed to talk about what is said during the jury deliberation. However, there is no reason why more information cannot be shared about going to court, the selection process, the facilities, expenses, the space where you wait, security, how to spend your time etc.
“Rather than being 12 angry men my experience was more 12 jolly souls!”
Overall, I really found my experience doing jury service very interesting and if summoned again, and available, I would happily do so again. However, my experience ended up being a bit anti-climatic, as I will explain further below, and also rather than being 12 angry men my experience was more 12 jolly souls!
Jury Summons I received my jury summons by post in the middle of December to attend the following February. The letter stated the date my jury service would start and underneath it says, ‘Jury service usually lasts for up to 10 workling days, but can be longer.‘ Who gets called up is random based on people on the electoral register. My jury summons letter had the parliamentary constituency I live in stated on the address.
The letter also says you must reply within 7 days of receiving the summons (online or return form by post) and a Warning! ‘If you do not reply to this summons or do not go to court to do your jury service without reasonable cause, you may be committing a criminal offence and you could be fined up to £1,000‘
Although as a younger man I was super keen and interested in serving on a jury, my first thought and action on receiving this summons was to see what the valid reasons are to get out of it? Not because I was not interested, but just that I have a very busy, some might say ridiculous, life and it is not particularly convenient to take out 2 weeks from my normal activities.
I first spoke to my Dad as he had done jury service some time ago and wanted to know more about his experience. The first thing he said was that there is a lot of hanging around, waiting to be called into court. Pretty much everyone I spoke to about jury service said something similar, e.g. “make sure you bring a good book!“.
I also posted on Facebook to ask if any of my friends had done it and if they had any suggestions or recommendations. Comments included:
‘When I finally got called I found the process fascinating.’
‘Take a good book, there is a lot of hanging around. Try and keep an open mind, but focus on the evidence. If you get to be the jury foreman try and get everyone to speak up in the discussion and respect that they may have different conclusion to yours no matter how outlandish in the face of the evidence it is.’
‘I’ve done it twice … very costly… if you are a contractor. Advice? If you believe something, dont give up. Dont go back to the judge with questions once you start deliberating, the Jury is the boss. … dont break the law – its tempting but no outside discussion, no google or other research.‘
‘Just did it. 8 days off work, during which I spent no more than 5 hours in court hearing evidence. Magnificent. Rest of it was in various cafés and ‘Spoons.’ ‘Take lots and lots of books to read while waiting…..‘
Some others got in touch privately to share their experience as they did not want to say it publicly. No one recommended I should not do it, but some people noticed a lack of diversity on their jury. Some mentioned the WiFi being so bad they abandoned it and also being in a room all day with windows you cannot open gave them a headache. Many mentioned about how it was good to be able to do your civic duty and recognising that this is part of living in a democratic nation.
This all helped convince me that I should definitely say yes and I quickly remembered all the reasons why I was interested in doing it years ago. 12 Angry Men is one of my favourite films and Henry Fonda as juror no.8 is one of my favourite film characters.
There are not many reasons to get out of doing jury duty but it is more possible to defer it. I thought about this but could not think of a better time to do it as any time is going to be inconvenient! You can defer 2 times but on your third time, so I was told by other jurors on their third deferment, you need to provide 3 sets of 2 weeks you can do and then you have to do the one they select.
After sending back the form to say I will attend, I was sent further information by email and post confirming my acceptance to attend. This information is important to read as they will tell you which court to attend, what time and what you need to bring. I live in the wonderful Buckinghamshire town of Amersham at the end of the Metropolitan line and was asked to attend Aylesbury Crown Court (about 35mins drive). However, they also mentioned that I might be asked to serve at the Amersham Law Courts. For convenience I was obviously hoping for the latter and so I was very pleased to receive the email the Friday before the Monday I was due to start that I was to report to the Amersham Courts.
I discovered that Amersham is a satellite court of Aylesbury Crown Court where they have courts numbered 1-3 and Amersham has courts 4 and 5.
The information about jury service sent through the post says juries hear the most serious cases – theft, burglary and drugs offences… murder and rape, but the last two are less common.
You are given a juror reference number (9 digits) which you will need to hang onto for your first day in court and for claiming expenses.
Information is also sent by email, if you provided an email address when you accepted the jury summons, which also contains useful information and reminders your service is coming up soon. The email also links to an official video on YouTube about being a juror:
This is a helpful video but note the section about being challenged as a potential juror is out of date as they eliminate a lot of this before you are called to court. The only things that may prevent you serving is covered in the ‘JURY SELECTION” section below.
If you look through the comments on the video you will see lots of people are nervous and anxious about having to do jury duty. This is something to be aware of and considerate of when you spend time with your fellow jurors and specifically during the deliberation process.
Amersham Law Courts (Satellite of Aylesbury Crown Court)
First Day at Court I was asked to bring: – Photo ID (Driving Licence or Passport) – Jury Summons Letter
When you arrive on your first day as, well as normal security bag checks, they will ask to see your ID to check if you are the right person and that your ID matches the address on your jury summons. I was asked to show my ID a second time, a short time later, in the jury assembly room by the usher but after that I was never asked for ID but was told to have it with me each day as they can ask to see it at any time.
After going through security I was escorted to the jury assembly room which was in an area only accessible by a security swipe card operated by security. The room itself was a thin rectangular shaped room with a total of 23 chairs squeezed together covering each side, each fitted with a small swivel desk. About 7 or so jurors had arrived before me and I picked a free chair that had a form on the desk part of the chair.
The usher, wearing her legal robes, went round the room checking everyone’s ID and asking people to complete the second half of the first page of the form (shown above). The second half of the form covers your emergency contact and to state if you have any appointments they need to be aware of, e.g. medical appointment, job interview etc. We were then asked to tear off the second half of the page and hand it to the usher. The paper is not perforated so some of us were better than others at neatly tearing the paper. I was not so good at this and jealous that others had clearly developed a skill I did not know I needed! 🙂
A total of 16 people arrived for jury duty that morning, 11 men and 5 women. The youngest was about 30 years old going right up to several people of retirement age. Everyone is friendly but mostly quiet without much chatter and they seem a little nervous about what is going to happen.
With all jurors in the room who were expected to be there, the usher went through the welcome and induction (see list of topics in image above) which includes watching a DVD. This is the same video on YouTube I had already seen.
The usher also told us that although the public are allowed to attend court trials your family and friends cannot come into the court you are sitting at as a juror.
About to watch the ‘Your role as a juror’ DVD
EXPENSES The usher then explained the expenses process and this caused the most number of questions from our group, not because she explained it poorly but just that the courts are quite specific (read mean) in what you can or cannot claim for. The rules for this may vary slightly for each court so listen carefully to the usher and/or contact the courts before you attend for the first day to understand what you are eligible to claim for.
For example, claiming for car mileage and parking has specific rules. Our group were told that you can claim for mileage (31.4p per mile) but could not claim for parking if you could get to the court using public transport within 1hr and 30mins. The usher suggested using the traveline website to check the time it takes to get somewhere using public transport (https://www.traveline.info/). Even if you are eligible to claim for parking they have a limit (£4.10 per day) and also suggested using the Sycamore Road Car Park in Amersham, 7mins walk approx., as it is the cheapest, but still more than they compensate, compared to the multi-storey car park which is less than a minute away.
There is a standard set subsistence allowance, £5.71 per day (up to and including 10hrs and £12.17 per day for over 10hrs) so you do not need to provide receipts. You need to make your claim after the jury service has ended.
FACILITIES – Tea/Coffee/Toilets As a small court the facilities available to us were very limited. There was a kettle, some water in jugs, a microwave and a fridge. There was some tea and coffee but this was leftover from previous jurors who had brought it. The court did not provide any tea or coffee. In larger courts I do not think there is much more available and you may find some vending machines but not much more.
The facilities for jurors! Microwave and fridge to the side
There were toilets (men and women) in the secure area just before you enter the jury assembly room. Inside the jury assembly room were two doors, each leading to a jury deliberation room and each connected by a short corridor with 12 small lockers (3 sets of 4) and toilets (men and women).
For the first week our group of jurors had sole use of the assembly room and the two deliberation rooms but in the second week we were essentially confined to wait, as there were more jurors for other cases, in one deliberation room and adjoining toilets. The deliberation room we used had a door that connected directly to the court via a short hallway.
Jury Deliberation Room – the court is the other side of the far wall
What you can bring to jury service I fully recommend bringing whatever you feel you need to productively or serenely pass the time whilst you wait. Things to consider:
(i) The lockers they provide may be too small for a reasonable size rucksack but also know you will be waiting in a fairly secure area that can only be accessed by other jurors and court staff (security, ushers).
(ii) the lockers we could use required a pound coin to operate. The first couple of times I forgot the pound drops down when you unlock the locker.
(iii) you cannot bring any metal or glass with you. One of my fellow jurors brought metal cutlery for their lunch on their first day and had it confiscated by security and she had to pick it up when she left for the day.
(iv) Sandwich bags if you do not already have them.
I brought with me each day the following, but please note I brought more than most people did: – Laptop – Phone – Lunchbox – Bottle of water – Magazine – Books x 3 – Earphones – Powerbank and cable – Pound coin x 2 – ID (Driver’s Licence)
The Jury Experience (During a Trial)
Jury Dress Code – Official Guidance
JURY SELECTION Receiving a jury summons and going to court does not actually mean you will carry out any jury service. It makes sense they get more people than they need to allow for any conflicts, people being sick or other issues arising. Approximately twice as many people receive a summons than actually serve each year.
In my group the 16 of us, referred to by the usher as a jury panel, were taken into the court room with all the key people present: the judge, the defendants, all legal representatives and court staff. We are told to stand in line and for the court in Amersham we needed to make an L-shaped line so we could fit. The judge then introduces each of the key people in the court to ask if any of the jury panel knows them. We are told to raise our hand if we do. A list of witnesses and relevant case places/locations is then read out, again to see if any of the jurors knows them. For example, if a pub is significant in the case and a juror is a regular there then that would likely disqualify them from serving for that particular trial.
After any jurors are dismissed for any connections to the case the court then selects the 12 jurors who will serve on the trial. The court clerk has a card for each of the potential jurors, shuffles them and picks one randomly at a time. The first person’s name is read out and the person responds ‘yes’ and they become Juror No.1 and they go to sit in the allocated spot in the jury box. The next person’s name is read out and they become juror no.2 and so on.
In my case eleven people had been selected and with a remaining one in six chance of being selected I thought I would probably not actually serve. However, my name was read out and I became juror no.12 and took the final allocated spot in the jury box. These allocated spaces are set for the duration of the trial and so I always sat in the juror no.12 seat.
The remaining unselected jurors are then asked to stand at the back of the court. Each of the jurors, in turn, then makes an oath and can choose to make a religious one or an affirmation, which is an oath without any god being mentioned. The unselected jurors are then asked to leave.
The jury box was split into two rows of 6, with jurors 1 to 6 sitting at the front with 1 nearest the judge, and jurors 7 to 12 sitting at the back, with juror 7 behind juror 1, on a higher level so they can see everything just as well. The seats we had were just a basic fixed-in-position chair, all quite close together, with a seat that flips up when finished, so the other jurors can get out. In front of us is a narrow desk, about as a deep as the short edge of an A4 piece of paper, that runs along the entire bench for the 6 jurors. At the back of the desk is a small raised part which has small jug of water and some cups, a pencil sitting upright in a pencil sharpener and on each row are 3 monitors for the jury to look at relevant video and photos. On the desk is a folder with some blank paper in it and a pink booklet about your responsibilities as a juror:
From my position as juror no.12 I could see around the room, going left to right: – the public gallery (90 degrees to my left) with 13 seats, 8 at the back and 5 at the front and a gap for people to enter – the main entrance to the courtroom – the dock: an L-shaped area protected by glass in the corner of the court with 3 seats on one part of the L and about 5 seats on the other. The four defendants of my case were sitting there and at least 3 or 4 security people. There is also a door that leads to toilets and other rooms but you cannot see much. – 4 rows of benches in the middle of the court facing the judge, each can accommodate about 4-5 people, for the legal representatives. The prosecutor and their colleague are on the front row at the far end from the jury. – In-between the legal representatives and the judge are the clerk and usher(s). – The judge sits higher up than everyone to see everything that is going on.
WIGS Yes, all the legal representatives and judge wear wigs whilst in court. Even though you may be very aware of this already, it is still unusual to see for the first time so many people going about such serious work wearing wigs. You cannot help but wonder how annoying this must be? Don’t they itch? Do they worry about them falling off? etc. The judge at one point noted the room was hot and is even hotter when wearing a wig.
TECHNOLOGY Each of the four defendants had legal representation, plus the prosecuting barrister meant 5 different people needing to use technology to show video clips and images. Barristers are not any better at doing this than the rest of us and there were some almost comical moments where they had to help each other to sort out issues of sharing their screens.
THE JUDGE I realised I am getting old because my first thought on seeing the judge was, ‘he looks young?’! The judge we had was a very nice chap who was very polite, empathetic and thankful to all the jurors for giving their time to carry out this duty. Although he was very polite and respectful he will still quite firm and strict about things he needed to be firm and strict about. He told us we MUST NOT:
(i) Research the case in any way – although it will be very tempting to do a quick, seemingly harmless internet search on the defendant(s), the judge, the barristers, witnesses, but you just cannot do this. Although you may be tempted to do this out of keenness and interest of wanting to do a good job as a juror, you must not do this and the judge makes it clear you could get a fine and/or a prison sentence for doing so. You must come to any verdict using ONLY the information you are given in court.
(ii) Talk about the trial when it is in progress – the judge said to us that when you get home your family and friends will ask about what happened and you cannot say anything. He said to blame him that the judge has told you that you must not discuss the trial whilst it is happening. This may seem odd as members of the public can attend but the integrity of the trial process is compromised if other people talk to you about it and potentially, even if inadvertently, influence your thoughts about the case. The ONLY people you can discuss the case with, the judge tells us, are the other jurors and ONLY when all twelve of us are present.
(iii) NEVER reveal any of the discussions, comments, votes of the jury deliberation process – What happens during jury deliberation forever stays in jury deliberation.
These are not guidelines, but very strict rules you MUST follow and if you do not you could get yourself a fine and/or time in prison as well as causing the trial to have be run all over again which is both traumatic and costly for all those involved.
TIMINGS The typical court day runs from 10am to 4pm with a lunch break from 1pm to 2pm. However, this is a guideline and not a fixed rule … far from it. When I served, we never started at 10am and also never finished at exactly 4pm. The latest we finished was 4.30pm and most days we were told to be ready to go into court at 10.30am although we very rarely did go in at this time.
SECURITY Every day you go to court you will need to pass through security, which will include a metal detector and having your bags inspected. I brought in a rucksack each day and the security guy said to me on the first day, “I don’t like big bags!”. I then proceeded to take in the same bag to the same guy each day and had to open up my laptop, open up my packed lunch, glasses case and take a swig of my bottled water to prove it was nothing dodgy. Security also asked me, on the first day only, if I had any deodorant which I thought was odd as not something I would normally carry with me, but aerosol cans are not allowed. Being friendly with these guys definitely helps with this process. All the people I met who work at the court were all very nice and helpful.
LUNCH You will be able to leave the court at lunchtime and most jurors take this opportunity to get some fresh air and to stretch their legs. However, I brought a packed lunch and, for me, it was a good time to check emails and do other work. Avoid bringing in any smelly food as with no openable windows you will just stink out the room for everyone and make yourself very unpopular.
SEEING DEFENDANTS & LEGAL PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF COURT When you arrive and depart the court it is very likely you may see a defendant and/or legal representatives of the people involved in the trial. This may feel a bit weird and awkward but it is important you do not have any contact with them.
On one occasion a defendant left the court just ahead of me and so I took a different route just to avoid any contact. Another day I left the court and went to Amersham high street to buy a couple of things and came back to the multi-storey car park on a wet and rapidly getting dark February late afternoon. As I approached the pedestrian entrance there was a lady in front of me saying “see you tomorrow” to someone and I realised this was the prosecution barrister. I slowed down so I entered a short time after her rather than just behind. I followed her up the stairs and hoped she wasn’t parked on the same level as me, but she was! I hung back a flight of stairs but in my hooded raincoat probably appeared quite dodgy. I exited the staircase into the carpark and was glad I had parked close to the doors so she would (hopefully) realise I was not a weirdo and was just trying to avoid any contact!
If you are approached by someone about the case just say you cannot speak to them and then report it to the usher or security if it is a more serious transgression. The courts take this super seriously so you must do too.
GOING INTO COURT The usher will give you notice that you will be going into court shorty, but be aware ‘jury minutes’ are often a lot longer than standard minutes. You eagerly put your stuff in your locker , use the loo and then ‘hurry up and wait’ before actually getting called in. The usher comes in and asks you to stand up and line up in your order of your jury number, from 1 to 12. This was easy for me as I was no.12 and so was at the back.
As a group you may nervously have friendly or even jokey chatter whilst waiting and this is quite a juxtaposition from when you enter the very sober and serious court room. Everyone in the court is waiting for the jury to arrive as they cannot continue until you are all sitting comfortably.
WHAT IF YOU NEED THE TOILET? The judge explains that if a juror needs the toilet whilst in court this is perfectly normal and not to worry. The process for this is you write that you need this on a bit of paper and hold it in the air for the attention of usher or clerk. This will then be collected and passed to the judge. The judge will then at the soonest appropriate moment, which may still be a few minutes, pause proceedings to enable you to go to the loo. However, be aware the whole trial needs to stop whilst you do this and all twelve jurors need to exit the court at the same time.
If you need the toilet, do not wait until you are bursting, get your note written and hold it in the air.
My Experience After being selected as juror no.12 on a Monday we were told that the trial would take approximately 7 days.
When the trial begins the prosecutor outlines the details of the case and she explained there was CCTV footage showing the defendants were involved in stabbing someone in a Buckinghamshire town several years ago. I was shocked that the incident took place so long ago and as the defendants were young men I thought this was potentially a long time to have this hanging over them.
We are shown the CCTV footage of the incident which has been compiled together by the police and appears to show one group of guys arriving in a taxi and one guy getting out and putting a knife in his back pocket. He goes to meet someone, then others join, there is a chat and then a fight breaks out but its mostly obscured by a van and you can only see the occasional blurry head, flying arms etc and then some people running away. However, the footage looks quite condemning.
The jury were asked to leave the room for a moment and as a group we discuss what we have seen. One juror thinks he has the whole situation figured out but I say the defendants have pleaded not guilty and so it is likely that this is just episode one in a long TV series. On reflection this was actually a good analogy to use. As a juror you need to keep an open mind as you will receive different bits of information and evidence like a long TV series that has twists and reveals. You cannot reach any conclusions until you have seen every episode.
This does not stop or prevent jurors from guessing what the complete story is going to be. As long as jurors have not 100% made up their mind before all the information is given then you need to be patient that others will try to skip ahead. I believe this is just their way of dealing with the situation, particularly as we are less tolerant of being drip-fed information. We live in an increasingly on-demand culture and as a juror you only get the information when they choose to broadcast it to you. You cannot binge-watch all the testimony, but you would like to.
Whilst not in court, I tried to use my time productively as I could so I was on my laptop working most of the time. I run three not-for-profit organisations and so I just wanted to keep on top of emails and any urgent things needing doing as there are always things to do, even if its just having to authorise payments. I even managed to submit a small funding application.
It was difficult, however, to plan to go to any meetings. One day I wanted to attend an online meeting at 4pm and could be a few minutes late but that happened to be the day we finished in court at 4.30pm. I rushed out of court, grabbed my laptop and went and sat in an office room off the jury assembly room. I had not asked permission but the usher and security seemed fine with this, but they did interrupt me to check if I was going to be longer than 5pm as they needed to lock up then.
There was an in-person volunteering workshop I was hoping to get to one afternoon and the organisers kept chasing me to see if I could make it but could not confirm either way, just saying it is unlikely but if I could I would be there. By good fortune, the judge dismissed us for the day at lunchtime so I could rush off and made it just in time.
When not working on my laptop I tried listening to an audio book but only did this once. It felt a little anti-social and more difficult to join in spontaneous chat, i.e. I felt it held me back getting to know my other jurors and thought building good connections was important given what we needed to collectively do. A magazine was very good to read as it is easy to dip in and out of rather than focus on something more substantial.
During the first week our jury group had the run of the assembly room and two deliberation rooms and we naturally spread out to fill this space and little groups formed. Some played cards but most people were reading a book. Conversation sprung up from time to time but then people got back to their book. Most group chat happened when we were waiting as we had been told we were just about to go into court. I was pleased to discover that one of the jurors was a local volunteer for parkrun and several others also volunteered.
There can be extended delays before you go in court and it will be normal for jurors to speculate what is going on as we cannot see what is or is not happening in the courtroom. Fun speculations included that we were actually part of a social experiment that tested to see how long we would wait and other suggested there was some sort of party going on in the court our absence.
There were only a few moments we as a jury actually discussed the case as often when we came out of court, people dashed off either to the loo or to go home. On the second week of the case, when we were waiting for extra long periods to go into court, was when we started having informal deliberations as a group of twelve. This was really interesting and it was clear people had different views and perspectives of the testimony of one of the witnesses giving evidence. Even though we had some different views, we had a good natured and respectful discussion where we were interested to hear the different views and understand why they thought something different, rather than trying to persuade each other they were wrong. This made me think that we would do a good job as a group when it actually came to crunch time of jury deliberation. There were some strong personalities and opinions but we could work together in a respectful way.
In my trial we had got to the end of the prosecution witnesses and were prepared then to listen to the defence but there were some delays, further delays and the judge told us he had to listen to some legal arguments. We were let home early one day and then told to come back late morning the next. We dutifully arrived on time but there were still some delays before going into court. Finally, we got an explanation to what had been going on.
The reason for all the delays was that the defence counsels had petitioned the judge to say that the evidence was not strong enough for the jury to consider as the analysis of the CCTV showed that certain defendants could not have done it and/or you could not see what was happening. The CCTV footage we had seen on the first day looked condemning but when the defence barristers went through it frame by frame we got a very different picture. For example, the footage that appeared to be a person putting a knife in their pocket was clearly a phone or something that was clearly not a knife into their pocket.
The judge explained that it is normally for the jury to determine the facts of the case but sometimes the judge can determine the evidence is not strong enough and can make a determination themself. In this situation, the jury just need to accept this decision which is just a formality rather than a deliberation. The judge picked juror no.1 as he was the closest to him to be the foreman and he was asked to stand up whilst the clerk read the determination by the judge and if the jury accepts this? Juror no.1 then said “Yes” and that was it for the case, accept for the surprising bit of information that one of our jury had done something wrong!
As a group of twelve we had had an informal deliberation the day before and had come to some different views about the testimony of a witness who works in the judicial process. It transpired one of the jurors had researched more on the job role and responsibilities of this position and had printed out some information. He had asked the usher if it was okay to share this information with the other jurors? Although it was done in a well meaning way this is NOT ALLOWED.
The judge did not single out the person but made it very clear to all of us that this type of activity cannot happen. As this trial was now finishing he would not pursue the matter any further but if the trial had not ended then he would have had to and it could have caused the trial to have been carried out again.
The lesson here for others is do not do any research at all. If you are not sure if it is okay then just do not do it.
So that was my jury experience and was definitely anti-climatic to finish without a prper deliberation but I was pleased the judge’s reason for ending the trial confirmed my personal views on the evidence I had seen so it saved everyone time by not dragging out the process further.
The stabbing incident took place in a small carpark that I was not familiar with but proved helpful to know as I had a meeting on the Saturday after the trial very close by and so I ended up parking there!
Choosing a Foreman A friend who had done jury service before me said choosing a foreman was a little bit like on the TV show ‘The Apprentice‘ where they choose who is going to be project manager for that week’s task. For his jury there were three people, he thinks, who put themselves forward. They chose the person who had been on a jury a couple of times before.
There is no guidance for jurors on good criteria to pick a foreperson let alone good practice or advice on how to be a foreperson. From what I can tell most people do not want to be the foreman. It is a thankless task that does not give you any extra power (such as a casting vote) and means you have to organise a group of strangers to reach an agreed decision as well as being the person who has to stand up publicly in court to tell the judge the verdict(s) of the jury.
There are no right or wrong choices but these are the qualities I personally feel you should consider in selecting your foreperson: – They have experience in facilitating or chairing meetings – including experience of getting everyone to speak; dealing with people with strong opinions and keeping focused on the task and time – They have engaged well with the other jurors so far, in particular, they have asked others questions rather than just given their opinions – They have come across as calm, diplomatic and friendly – They are not the loudest person in the group and/or not the person with the strongest opinions
Things that I personally think are less relevant but I have heard or read that have been considered by other juries: – Who has the most important job or has the highest social status – They really want to do it – Has done jury service before (this can be helpful but does not mean the person needs or should be the foreman)
When I was consulting friends about doing jury service quite a few, without prompting, suggested I would be a good foreman. It’s not something I would love to do, but I definitely have a lot of relevant experience and qualities and so I was prepared to do it if we got to the deliberation. The person who was juror no.1 told me after the trial had finished that he was worried he would be asked to do it by the others just because he was sat closest to the judge. Ironically, that did prove the case but not how he imagined (see above).
Whoever is chosen as the foreperson, give them your support and just because there is a foreman does not mean you are not abdicating your responsibility to help come to a collective agreed position.
Jury Deliberating Advice/Suggestions There is not any guidance on how to do jury deliberation well, it seems you are left to your own devices. I did not get to participate in a proper jury deliberation but I had done some research and this is the learning I took with me which seemed helpful:
(i) Don’t rush to immediately voting, first go round the group and temperature check how ready they feel … are they confident in their views and can articulate them? or do some have a leaning on which way they are going but want the group to discuss some things? or feeling a bit lost or confused and so definitely need the group to discuss and clarify points. This is particularly important if your case has many counts and multiple defendants.
(ii) Be patient and understanding – The jury is 12 strangers who all have an equal voice but not everyone is going to get to their decision in the same way or at the same pace. Some may be feeling quite anxious about this process and will need time and maybe some support to get to a decision. Pressuring people or getting frustrated with others will only make matters worse. Every person of the jury will have something else they would rather be doing but rushing things will most likely backfire.
(iii) Start with the easy or less contentious counts – if you have multiple counts then begin with the ones that seem more straight-forward. Although you have been with the group for a while and it’s been nice and friendly, deliberation is a more pressured situation and you need to get used to working together in this way. Getting agreement on something more straight-forward will help you all feel you are making progress and have established a way of talking with each other that is productive and respectful.
I hope this is of some help or use! Below is some further information and film/tv recommendations related to jury service.
Films/TV Programmes The following you might enjoy as ‘preparation’ for your jury service but be aware your trial will be nowhere near as dramatic and, unlike those in some of the below, you will get into serious trouble doing some of the things the jurors do:
FILMS
12 Angry Men (1957) – still the best, for me, film about jury service. Henry Fonda as juror no.8 (Mr Davis) is fantastic as the one juror who tries to convince the other 11 that
Juror #2 (2024) directed by Clint Eastwood- Nowhere near as good as 12 Angry Men but shows the experience of being on a jury.
Runaway Jury (2003) – Based on the John Grisham book and starring John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Rachel Weisz
Suspect (1987) – starring Cher, Dennis Quaid and Liam Neeson in an early role.
TV
Jury Duty – (Amazon Prime) 8 part documentary following a jury in the US. However, it is all fake except for one juror who thinks it is real. This is interesting and also has some quite funny moments. Available on Amazon Prime.
The Jury: Murder Trial (2024) *- (Channel 4) this programme restages real life murder trials. The first series has 2 juries, unaware of each other, and tests to see if they come to the same verdict. *My recommendation is to watch this AFTER you do any jury service as this TV programme does not fully replicate the real experience and artificially adds a little drama to the process. The biggest differences I noticed were you are not allowed to discuss the case during the trial unless all 12 jurors are present and facilities for the TV juries are far more plush than in real life!
Note: All above information correct at the time of writingand is based on my single experience of doing jury service in Amersham.
SHOUT VOLUNTEERING – This was the clear message of a fantastic project launched on Saturday led by the wonderful Pippa Kirkbride and produced by the equally fantastic Christopher Hall.
Far more than volunteering case studies, the Shout Volunteering project has collated real stories about how volunteering has changed people’s lives.
As High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, Pippa has focused her shrieval year on volunteering. In the introduction to the brilliant Shout Volunteering book she writes:
‘volunteering is too often described in modest terms: as “nice”, “helpful”, or “something extra”. The reality is far more profound. Volunteering is part of our social infrastructure. Without it, many services would falter, communities would fragment, and opportunities for connection, purpose and belonging would be lost. At the same time, the way people want to volunteer is changing. Lives are busy, commitment looks different, and barriers – perceived or real – can deter people who would otherwise be willing to give their time. If we care about the future of volunteering, we must both value it properly and adapt how we support it.’
Thank you Pippa and Chris for inviting me to this great event and for being true volunteering kindred spirits.
It was also nice and quietly satisfying that some attendees I met and spoke with were quoting or mentioning facts within my ‘What if everyone stopped volunteering?‘ report to me not realising I had produced it. I didn’t say anything of course but just wholeheartedly agreed with what they were saying 🙂
Evidence suggests that in 2026 it is going to be critical to shout about the importance of volunteering to our society.
We need to shout that volunteering is not a ‘nice to have‘ but an essential part of how we function and that volunteering will play a key success factor in the plans of national, regional and local governments.
We need to shout that volunteering cannot be taken for granted, it does not just happen and it is not free.
We also need to shout that investment in volunteering brings huge multiplier returns and reduced investment brings equally huge losses.
The United Nations has declared that 2026 is the International Volunteer Year to recognise the importance of volunteerism as a key driver of sustainable development.
For my part, I promise to continue to keep banging on about volunteering, to continue working collaboratively with some amazing people and organisations and I will also have some exciting developments to share over the year ….
This report is yet another example of me giving myself extra work when I think I have had a ‘good idea’! It was not intended to be a report initially, just a blog post as a follow on from my volunteering cake analogy (that volunteering is not a nice to have like the icing on the cake, it is key ingredient of the cake itself) which states without volunteering society would crumble. I thought it would be interesting to look into further just what would happen if everyone stopped volunteering?
What if everyone stopped volunteering is a BIG question that a blog post would not do sufficient justice to. Also, I realised that just me answering this question would not be sufficient, so I called on my contacts and made lots of new ones to get 33 expert stakeholders to also answer the question based on their organisation and/or their experience.
I also realised to give a full comprehensive answer to this question would be hugely difficult but thought focusing on areas that people do not always associate volunteering playing an important role would help those who may not have considered the importance of volunteering, just how vital it is to the everyday functioning of UK society. As one example, the chapter on law and justice may surprise some, even those who work in the voluntary and community sector, with fantastic contributions from the Police, LawWorks and Law Centres Network.
Other sections include Democracy, the Environment, Young people, Health & care, Communities, Emergency Response. Each individual section illustrates just how devastating an impact it would be if all volunteers stopped. When you add all the sections together, which is not meant to be an exhaustive response to the question, you have the inescapable conclusion that supporting volunteering is essential for the smooth running of the UK.
If everyone stopped volunteering and no corrective action was taken then UK society would quickly descend into a dystopian state. This is no exaggeration when you consider the consequences outlined in the report: increase in social isolation, reduced health and wellbeing of the population, decreased social cohesion, lower community resilience, more unequal and unjust society, increase in social disorder, support and education of young people would drop significantly, end of or heavily weakened democracy and productivity of the nation would fall and its descent would quicken.
The aim of the report is not to advocate for more or less reliance on volunteering in the future, although a worthy and useful discussion, the aim is to create awareness of the level or reliance we have right now and the multiplier effects of reduced levels of volunteering. The realisation that the UK is so reliant on the free choice of its citizens giving up their time may be an uncomfortable reality for some, but this perceived vulnerability is also a strength when volunteering is properly supported.
To avoid any of the negative and costly impacts outlined in the report, it argues it essential to support and develop volunteering across the UK. To achieve this, implementing the 36 practical and strategic recommendations of the ‘London Vision for Volunteering’ report would be a great way to start as together these offer a blueprint for developing volunteering for the UK.
The conclusion of the report is to ask for more investment in volunteering at a time of great economic challenges, but given the by far greater financial consequences outlined within it, it’s not a question of whether the country can afford to support volunteering more, but can the country afford not to?
I would like to give a huge thank you to the 33 independent expert stakeholders who gave up their time to provide written contributions to this big question.
Volunteering is not declining, it has just changed.
Data shows that rates of formal volunteering have been declining across the UK for a few years now, but does this actually mean the desire to volunteer is declining?
The short answer is no. Volunteering is not declining but the culture of volunteering has fundamentally and permanently changed.
The simplest comparison to help explain is looking at the viewing figures of broadcast television. These have been in heavy decline for more than a decade now. Does this mean television is in decline? No, the way people watch television has changed and some may argue that this has actually increased the desire to watch television output, just not on traditional television broadcast channels.
We now watch television in far more flexible ways, on demand, in a way that suits us, whether streaming or downloading to watch later (e.g. whilst we travel to work). Recently the news reported that YouTube has become the UK’s second most-watched media service, behind only the BBC which has the successful iPlayer platform.
Just as television is not in decline, it has just changed, the same is happening with volunteering. The old days of a charity asking for someone to volunteer a day a week for the rest of their life are gone. People still have the strong desire to volunteer but they want to do it when suits them, to meet their more complicated and diverse personal schedules.
They don’t want to wait weeks or months to start volunteering, they want to begin straight away. Unfortunately, the voluntary and community sector is not ready, speaking generally, for this at the moment and many volunteer involving organisations (VIOs) have actually moved in the opposite direction, being more safeguarding conscious and requiring longer onboarding periods for new volunteers. The result is a decline in formal volunteering.
This move to flexible volunteering is not new and started more than ten years ago, but grew slowly and then accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent cost-of-living crisis. This change is here to stay and the sector has a long way to go to adapt fully. It must be noted that many organisations have adapted or trying to adapt and are getting great results but it is not a one-size-fits-all approach and each individual organisations needs to adapt in a way that is right for them and the resources they have (or don’t have).
VIOs now have to work harder and smarter to recruit and retain volunteers but this also follows, in addition, more than ten years of austerity and further and continuing economic hardship. This also contributes to the decline in formal volunteering in the traditional way.
Looking at volunteering overall, however, it is not in decline, volunteering has just changed and the sector is still trying to adapt during an economically very challenging era.
It is harder than ever for voluntary sector organisations, whether an individual volunteer involving organisation (VIO) or a volunteer infrastructure organisation, to promote volunteering to people who might be interested in volunteering. The world was very different twenty years ago.
For starters the world of marketing has changed. In 2005 there were no iPhones and apps, but we did have email. We had posters and leaflets and do you remember business cards? I actually gave one out last week, but that was an unusual experience. But then it could be just that no one wants my details?!
The average person living in the UK is bombarded with marketing messages from the very moment they wake up until they lay their head back down on their pillow at night. Our phones are often used to wake us up and as soon as they do we will be presented with app notifications, instant messages and emails waiting for our attention, many of them tempting us to buy that thing we looked at once briefly.
After we wake up we may turn on our smart TV, watch YouTube or other streaming service and, again, will be presented with marketing, branding and advertisements in various forms. As we travel to work we will see physical adverts on the streets, on buses and trains. Our heads often glued to our phone seeing more adverts and often hearing them in our earphones as well.
We get to work and all day we will receive emails, perhaps even calls, of companies that want to sell the organisation you work for their product or service. Heaven forbid we pop out for a coffee or lunch and we are again bombarded with marketing messages all around us as well as on our phones that we cannot stop checking.
This continues for the rest of the day as we travel home and then spend our evening being subtly and not so subtly marketed too via our televisions and phones.
Realising this, what percentage of the marketing messages we receive throughout an average day are related to volunteering?
It is negligible, tiny and mostly barely noticed. When voluntary sector organisations try to promote volunteering we are competing with every other single marketing message.
Being realistic the best a volunteer involving organisation (VIO) can do is:
encourage people to follow its social media accounts
utilise SEO so people can find its website
hope people sign up to their newsletter (or are newsletters now dead?)
If we get an email address we can send a targeted message so it has an increased chance of being read if they have shown interest previously, but even then we are still competing with all the other messages, not just email, we receive.
Too many volunteering platforms I hope it is not a controversial thing to say, as it seems rather obvious, but in the UK we have too many volunteering platforms. There are too many websites, platforms and apps to search for volunteering and more keep on coming. This means that there is not a single place for an individual to go to find a suitable role as they are spread across these ever-growing platforms and apps.
During my working leading the London Vision for Volunteering report (March 2025), many Londoners complained how it was difficult to know where to look for volunteering opportunities.
“if you are not already linked into local networks and don’t know what platforms exist then it is hard to know where to start.” Londoner feedback to London Vision for Volunteering
Up until the mid 2010s there was mainly one national website for volunteering, called Do-it and pretty much all local volunteer infrastructure systems used a local Do-it database that fed into the national one. Because the new version of Do-it in the mid 2010s did not have a free to use local database, volunteer infrastructure organisations each went their own way and started to use a platform that worked for them, e.g. integrating with their other systems and work as well as within their ever-decreasing budget.
In 2025 there are now a number of different platforms used by volunteer infrastructure organisations across the country which are not joined up. In London, Simply Connect London joins up the London boroughs which use the Simply Connect platform which is about half of them. As well as the local authority area platforms across the country there are a number of different apps and this year the NHS has launched its national volunteering platform (currently still in Beta form) and the Royal Voluntary Service will be launching a new national platform on October 17th.
If you are VIO looking to promote a volunteer role you will likely have a local platform you can use and your own social media, but where else do you choose? Other platforms mean more work in uploading the information in each provider’s specific way. Most VIOs just don’t have this time or resource.
Wrapping this up All these factors together means that connecting a person who wants to volunteer with an organisation who needs a volunteer is so much harder than it ever used to be. Promoting volunteering opportunities now means to compete with global brands with a budget of millions plus dealing with an over complicated web of mostly unjoined up volunteer brokerage platforms.
Have you heard of the Volunteering Multiplier Principle?
The Volunteering Multiplier Principle states that changes to the overall level of volunteering lead to a much more significant change for society and the economy.
For example, if the general level of volunteering for the UK increased by 1% the knock-on multiplier effect would lead to a much larger boost to communities and wider society in ways that also benefit the economy. In contrast a 1% decrease would lead to a bigger negative impact on communities, wider society and worsen the economy.
This is almost an extension or extrapolation of my volunteering and cake analogy (apologies if you are already bored of hearing this) where I liken the mistaken perception of volunteering as being the icing of the cake of society, whereas the reality is that volunteering is a key ingredient of the cake itself. If there is no volunteering then the cake will crumble completely. The Volunteering Multiplier Principle implies that increases to volunteering will create a disproportionately much better and bigger cake and decreases to volunteering will make the cake disproportionately worse and smaller.
So how does volunteering have this multiplier effect? Volunteering has multiplier benefits for the individual as well as for groups or general levels of volunteering in a region or country.
When an individual volunteers, several effects will occur:
(i) The volunteering act benefits a person, community or environment
(ii) The volunteering benefits a community group, charity or other organisation who organised the volunteering, e.g. it helps them to do something they could not otherwise do or do more of something that benefits others
(iii) The act of volunteering benefits the person doing the volunteering, whether is physical or mental health, improving social and professional networks etc.
Therefore, the multiplier is achieved from the volunteering effects of (ii) and (iii).
When assessing the general level of volunteering, i.e. all the individuals who volunteer in a country or region, you get the same outcomes listed above. If this general level of volunteering drops then:
(a) A lower level of volunteering takes place and so there is a drop in support for the community or environment taking place
AND
(b) Lower levels of volunteering means community groups, charities and other organisations are less supported and so can do less or have to stop doing things they want to do to help people, i.e. their capacity drops
(c) Lower levels of volunteering means that fewer people are getting the physical and mental health benefits from volunteering and more people are socially isolated. This has obvious knock-on negative effects with increased demand on health services as well as lower employment and productivity.
However, if the general level of volunteering increases you get the same multiplier effects of (b) and (c) but with a positive impact.
How big is the multiplier effect? This is an area we need to research more but volunteering experts and practitioners will say it is significant. However, because we do not have measurements or reasonable estimates this multiplier effect is not taken into account when making investments in volunteering (at all levels).
Obviously, the multiplier effect will be smaller or larger in different circumstances and for different volunteer roles. Nevertheless, it does not mean we cannot propose to establish a rule of thumb in the meantime which will redress the inaccurate perception of the importance of volunteering in society.
If we came to accept the Volunteering Multiplier Principle, decision makers in organisations, local, regional and national authorities would be able to confidently invest in volunteering knowing the return on investment will be significantly higher than the outlay.
When describing the importance and, in particular, the perception of the importance of volunteering, my cake analogy has become quite popular. Well, everyone loves cake don’t they?
Volunteering is most commonly seen by wider society and decision-makers as a ‘nice to have’, like the icing on the cake of society. People will always say positive things about volunteering and that it should be celebrated but they often do not recognise just how important volunteering is.
By referring to volunteering as the icing on the cake it means people think of volunteering as something that makes society nicer but if you take it away you still have a good cake, i.e. a functioning society. The reality is, however, that if everyone who volunteers, whether formally or informally, stops volunteering tomorrow our society would fall apart very quickly.
Volunteering is not just about charities, volunteering is key in so many other areas of our society:
Health and care Housing Sports Arts and culture Education Emergency response/Community resilience Law and justice Community groups, clubs & events Faith/religion Defence/military Politics
Therefore, volunteering is not the icing on the cake of society, it is a key and essential ingredient of the cake itself.
I did not start out the week thinking my not-for-profit social enterprise Works4U would be the main sponsor of Volunteers’ Week. It was not even on my radar.
However, a short break from work to make a nice cup of tea and I had an idea. That idea led to me sending an immediate email. That email led to other emails, then a meeting and then it was confirmed, Works4U would be the main sponsor of Volunteers’ Week. I could not be more proud and happy.
Launched in 1984, Volunteers’ Week has become the UK’s biggest volunteering campaign and a veritable rock-solid institution within our voluntary and community sector. Its objective to celebrate and recognise volunteers directly aligns with Works4U’s mission to show the importance and value of volunteering in our society.
Founded in 2009 as a subsidiary of the Hammersmith & Fulham Volunteer Centre, not-for-profit Works4U is now an award-winning social enterprise which is taking a lead role in developing employee volunteering in the UK as well as carrying out ground-breaking and pioneering volunteering research that reframes how we look at volunteering in the UK.
Unfortunately, volunteering is undervalued and often seen as a “nice to have”, the icing on the cake of society, but if you look closely, it is actually a key ingredient of the cake itself. Our research and analysis from 2023 show that volunteering provides an annual equivalent monetary value of £326 billion to the UK. This is why Volunteers’ Week is so important.
My first experience of promoting Volunteers’ Week was in 2013 where my Volunteer Centre colleagues had a stall and gazebo set up in Hammersmith’s Lyric Square. I still have my Volunteers’ Week hat from that day! We had invited the Mayor of Hammersmith & Fulham and I officially opened Volunteers’ Week for the borough by shouting this at passers-by like a street market trader. We all then had a great day talking to people about local volunteering opportunities and encouraged many people to sign up.
Launching 2013 Volunteers’ Week in Hammersmith’s Lyric Square
Fast-forward 12 years and Works4U’s work and impact has grown so much. In March 2025 we published the London Vision for Volunteering report, a London-wide collaborative programme, which has 36 practical and strategic recommendations that act as a blueprint for developing volunteering. As part of the research for this work, we collected evidence that many Londoners started volunteering due to the Volunteers’ Week campaign.
Volunteers’ Week is such an important and collaborative campaign that brings us all together, individuals, communities, organisations and businesses to celebrate volunteers across the UK and Works4U is honoured to play a small part in making that happen.
Since May last year I have led the ‘London Vision for Volunteering‘ programme and in March 2025 we launched the final report and its 36 recommendations.
I am so proud of this work. Not just because I think it has produced some great recommendations that act as a blueprint for developing volunteering across the capital, but particularly as it has been a true collaboration that has brought input from every single borough in London. All 33! The report has a really good mixture of both practical and strategic recommendations. It is both ambitious and realistic about how change needs to come about .
Every person who writes a report such as this must think their report is really going to bring about change, but it is extremely rare that one ever does. Even where there has been lots of positive feedback and enthusiasm, like their has for this piece of work, there is still the strong likelihood of it being both praised and then forgotten about.
I built into the methodology some factors that might help its success. The first was to release the draft report with its recommendations for consultation. This is mainly because I have contributed to reports in the past, through surveys and interviews, and sometimes have been disappointed when I saw the final report that it had ignored or misunderstood the points I had made.
For this report, we published the draft for just over 7 weeks, during December 2024 and January 2025, and spent a lot of work encouraging people and organisations to give their feedback and thoughts. We actively encouraged people to tell us if we had something wrong, forgotten something or had made recommendations that were too weak or too strong, then we wanted to hear about it.
As well as being a good process to get some good recommendations this also means that lots of people, organisations and businesses rightly feel they have part ownership of this report. So, I hope this means they will help share it and promote it but also it means it is harder for anyone else to criticise as the report and its recommendations are not my individual personal recommendations, these are the recommendations that have come from the expertise and experience of stakeholders and Londoners across the capital.
The report also had a great steering group of expert and engaged volunteer stakeholders, the London Volunteering Strategy Group (LVSG). They have been a huge help in all areas of the report and I led meetings with them each month as the programme developed.
I have also been careful to add a caveat at the start of the report by stating that it is not meant to be comprehensive and all knowing, but a bold confident step forward that will develop volunteering across the capital, but needs more input, research and, importantly, oversight to implement the recommendations. This seems sensible and realistic and life and the world changes and so these recommendations are likely to evolve and develop, they are not written in stone. As we implement them we may realise further issues and/or come up with better ways of realising our objectives. That’s all fine with me.
I have also received many nice comments about how comprehensive the report it is, which is great to read but also a relief as we have such a knowledgeable sector who can be quick to say, “but you forgot about …”. Touch wood, I have not received such a comment yet.
Another very unusual, for me, area of work to make this report more successful is to get some high profile people to read it and add some quotes/comments. This was very outside my comfort zone as I do not move in such exalted social circles. I had to find and navigate between the managers, agents and publicists of these celebrities. It made me very glad that I am not famous as I would not want to need such people in my life.
Most of the high profile people contacted did not respond. This could be just that I did not reach the right person but suspect mostly it was that this was not of interest to them or at least their representatives believed it was not of interest? Some did reply thought, via their people, to say it was a pass or not for them or they were focusing on a particular charity. I have no complaints as I do not know them and by contacting them I was adding to the long list of demands they must get from earnest people and organisations asking for help.
It would be bad form to say who said no, but I hope he does not mind as I thought Sir Ian McKellen gave a great and completely valid response for not contributing. He wrote to me, ‘Please forgive my not sending you a comment to be quoted in your report. I just don’t feel qualified.’ That is a totally fair response and very kind and humble that he did respond at all.
Sir Ian did highlight that I was asking people to comment on what is probably a quite technical issue and so it is unsurprising that many people did not respond. I am pleased to say that we did get some contributions from some great people who took the time to read it and write a comment that could be published:
Sir Stephen Fry
Dwayne Fields (Chief Scout)
Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard (Deputy London Mayor for Communities and Social Justice)
Andy Haldane (CEO of Royal Society of Arts and former Chief Economist at Bank of England)
Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE (Lawyer, business person and Patron of Girls Brigade Ministries)
Fekky (Lewisham rapper and founder of CC Foundation)
Lord Gus O’Donnell
I am unashamedly proud of the report and give the hugest of massive thanks to everyone who has contributed to it.
Dominic Pinkney's World of Volunteering 