Why do so few people volunteer now?

Cabbie21

I volunteered for one organisation for about fourteen years until my husband’s health deteriorated and he needed my care and attention. I did start again briefly then he died. Since then I have had neither the time nor the head space for the emotionally demanding work. I have not finally decided but if I do go back, I shall certainly need a refresher course on the changing technology needed to do the admin side of the work. Although I am no Luddite, I am not sure I want to do that, so I probably won’t go back, but maybe find something else.

You give invaluable advice on here, though (which was very much appreciated by me!)

I think many retired people also now do daycare for their 'grandchildren'

Grammaretto

I agree Kitty although its very easy to get sucked in to doing more than you intend.

It is, as well as being taken for granted.

I volunteered for one organisation for about fourteen years until my husband’s health deteriorated and he needed my care and attention. I did start again briefly then he died. Since then I have had neither the time nor the head space for the emotionally demanding work. I have not finally decided but if I do go back, I shall certainly need a refresher course on the changing technology needed to do the admin side of the work. Although I am no Luddite, I am not sure I want to do that, so I probably won’t go back, but maybe find something else.

I agree Kitty although its very easy to get sucked in to doing more than you intend.

There is a large element of self-interest in my volunteering. I love making a difference (for the better) to people's lives and I love it when they appreciate the help given. It also help add structure to my life. I would hate to just drift from day to day.

Once when shaking a can or similar for my charity, a security guard at the supermarket door asked why we worked for nothing as noone in his country did. He found it odd.

Despite my explanation, he shook his head and it made me consider why did I do it?
I think partly because we see it as a privilege because not everyone can afford the time or money and perhaps something to do with a Protestant work ethic?

When I worked with the elderly, we had a lady who came in and did their nails.

No set days: she soaked their hands, put some cream on them, and filed then painted their nails.

It might be worth enquiring about something like that, if people want to just do a bit of kindness, because it was really appreciated.

Volunteering is obviously a personal choice as is finding the right role in an organisation that meets your needs (it is not just about meeting the charity's needs). I volunteered for around 15 years as a Charity Trustee with varying experiences some good some not so good. The best Charites are the ones that are interested in your background and what you can bring to their organisation. The worst are those that tell you this is how we do things and are not interested in your views. The very worst are those that treat their Volunteers (including Trustees) as employees and expect you to be available 24/7 without any consideration of your life outside their charity. This I think contributes to the difficulties they have in recruiting Volunteers.

That chart is interesting, TS. My main issue is the top one (not being able to commit to the same day every week), and they don't cover the other one, which is that I don't drive. I do run interest groups, and have run campaigns, but I don't see that as volunteering, so much as 'doing things' .

The NCVO report looked at what more could be done to enourage people to volunteer, bearing in mind that many people answered: I have not been asked; I have never thought about it; I haven't heard about opportunities to give help/ I couldn't find opportunities.

It concluded that:

Proactively asking and signposting to opportunities may be a helpful first step to encourage people to volunteer.

Aside from flexibility, being asked to volunteer (15%) and knowing what opportunities are available (12%) are among the most likely ways that people could be encouraged to get involved. Therefore, actively asking and showing people how they can help could be a good way engage people not already involved to take part in volunteering.

Almost all the volunteer jobs I have done over the many years have come from informal contact, being asked if I have some time to offer rather than responding to advertised opportunities.

PS. Sorry, I didn't answer the OP question. I'm not sure that I can, but perhaps, pre-retirement courses could provide retirees with information about opportunities, some of which can make use of their experience and many of which can open their eyes about life outside the office or the classroom....

In 2023 the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) conducted some research into barriers to volunteering called Time Well Spent. The findings are based on responses from 1,957 people who had not voluntered in the past three years or ever.

www.ncvo.org.uk/news-and-insights/news-index/time-well-spent-2023/volunteering-barriers-enablers/

NCVO had conducted similar research in 2019 with similar results but with a difference in the order of importance,

By 2023, cost was a major factor. Reimbursing expenses was not commonplace, with only 55% of volunteers saying that their organisation would reimburse them if they asked, and a further 16% unsure. Given the ongoing cost of living crisis, it is unsurprising to see that among non-volunteers, more people are concerned about the financial impact of volunteering. When asked why they would not volunteer, the number of people who stated: ‘I'd be worried I might end up out of pocket (eg transport costs to go volunteer)’ rose from 5% in 2019 to 14% in 2023. This figure is even higher among younger people, with almost one in five (18%) 18 to 24 year olds citing it as a reason for not volunteering.

For eleven years after retiring, I was a CAB volunteer. The training was quite intensive and rewarding. In the Bureau there was great cameraderie among the volunteers, with mutual support in dealing with difficult issues. I was qualified in teaching speakers of other languages (ESOL) and used this in a voluntary capacity, working with a young Bangladeshi housewife in her own home - she always felt the need to feed me and her samosas were wonderful. I also served as a school governor and chaired one of 'my' governing bdies. Volunteering can broaden your outlook on life and socienty; and also make good use of your professional expertise.

I don't want to appear selfish but I worked all my life, lived by a time table, had to do things I did not like. I dont want to do that especially if I am not paid for it

I dont think this is a selfish attitude at all. I am constantly aware of the years of work and taxes I have given to the community in client and customer facings roles and it is more than enough. I also did my share of volunteering when I was younger (mostly committee work) and even did some telephone work during the lockdown. All my time now goes into my online business and has to be paid for at commercial rates.

I look at the immense salaries some of the heads of large charities are paid and the corruption of what has become an industry.

After 40+ years working outside the home and bringing up children, and now working until now working until 66, there is only a small, if non-existent, window before our bodies start to rebel.
Amongst my friends, knees, feet or hips seem to limit our mobility, together with hearing and fatigue topping the list. All of which are not conducive to volunteering.

I can see on many visits to our local hospital that there is a great need for volunteers .
The pastoral staff told me that Covid caused huge problems with maintaining the service and that it hasn't recovered .
Other people said that signing up to volunteer made them feel as though they were applying for a job and that they weren't good enough !
I was hoping to volunteer , but my health problems are limiting me .
It's why I visit my elderly ladies as I can arrange it myself .
I think that I've known them for about 35 years .
If they don't want a visit I understand completely and I'm not offended .
Last week , I was asked to check on one that I visit anyway .
I found that she was ill and receiving treatment .

The community store in our town where I volunteer once a week relies on several part-time paid staff and lots of volunteers. One staff member's main job is recruiting and training volunteers.

There's a rapid turnover especially the youngsters who are great but they have exams and just have to stop.

A paid post was advertised recently.
Over 20 applicants: 6 called for interview but only 2 turned up!

I have always volunteered as have my DC and DGC. I only do things i like so its not a hardship.

I was with RDA for 17 years which was healthy exercise and was a chance to be around horses which I love as well as seeing the pure joy of the riders.
I still miss it.

But Doodlebug there are so many things out there I haven’t always volunteered in a shop I spent 10 years with a Rape Crisis organisation and volunteered with a gardening group, I still do work with a park group and do beach cleans and street cleans (as and when) I ve found my niche in the shop but there’s lots else going on I don’t drive but there seems scope there, I know our local hospital use people's to drive them to doctors hospitals etc also as guides around the hospital etc One of my friends does that another is with the coastguard ‘look out’ There’s reading with school children paramedics though highly trained are volunteers My ex husband was a volunteer fireman We ve just had a group of volunteers taking shifts on the beach to watch a poorly young seal

Perhaps it’s the cost of living now and no one feels they can afford time off earning
Perhaps it depends on the area you live in I ve just never heard of a more than normal shortage here I mean yes people always say they need more but I haven’t seen a big difference perhaps my eyes are shut I can imagine a lot of paperwork etc does put people off and some voluntary organisation are run like big businesses

Yes, preferences are important too. Not everyone wants to work in a charity shop, or be a befriender, for instance. Obviously it’s great that some people do, but volunteering should play to the strengths of the volunteers, so that they get back as well as giving.

As a non-driver I am unable to do some things that I might be good at, as I’d struggle to get to them. I expect that that must put off a lot of potential volunteers outside of cities.

I’ve done quite a bit of voluntary work in the past before I retired. I was a Home Start volunteer and a school governor. The local Home Start merged with another branch which was too far away to be practical. I gave up the school reluctantly because the technology became so demanding and all meetings stayed on line even after Covid. I’m looking for other options now but would prefer to be involved with younger people rather than older ones.

We are moving soon to an area we do not know and I am already lining up the oganisations we will join or volunteer with.

This is for the simple reason that although we will be nearer our children, making their journeys to visit us so much easier, we do not want to be burden them iunto being our ony social contacts - which is bad for our mental health anyway and the best way to get to know people in a new plac, like it or not, is to join things and volunteer.

I have always been involved in voluntary work of some kind until COVID, but in recent years I have found that recruitment processes have become cumbersome.

I understand the need for character and criminal record searches, but one charity I tried to work for said volunteers were needed urgently but asked me to do a course, fine , no problem, but couldn't get me on one for nearly 4 months. the same charity also had an arcane and complex computer system that would not run properly on my computer, but they had no means of giving me any IT help, even though I was happy to bring the compute5 into their offices. In the end DH spent a day on it and finally sorted the problem, but by that time I was so fed up by waiting for the course, which was grossly inadequate, having no help at all with my IT problems,Six mnths after I volunteered, I still hadn't started wor, so I decided against working with that Charity.

Have volunteered for many organisations over the years,gained valuable experience and transferrable skills,lockdown cane along,organisations folded or closed.
I have just been accepted to become a volunteer with a National Trust property in our area,but due to transport and no bus service I am relying on a friend who also volunteers there to take me.
I am looking forward to starting.

BlueBelle, I volunteer with AgeUK on the dementia side. We are really short of volunteers for our services, the main part of AgeUk is short of people to be befriended, our village is short of volunteers for the library, cubs,befriended etc.

I recently helped on a recruitment stand and not one person showed any interest at all.

I think I m very lucky in the charity shop I work in we have about 30/35 volunteers old /young male/ female (less men, hopefully they are all working ) Nobody takes time off without warning we have a calendar to fill holidays etc in and a phone ! very recently a lady didn’t turn up for work and we couldn’t contact her she didn’t answer any calls, after lunch time with still no contact we alerted a daughter out of town she drove to her flat and by teatime the lady was in hospital in high dependency… without our shop she would have possibly died.
We have a Christmas meal together and although there are ups and downs and some people like others more than some but we all work together and it’s a really good atmosphere like a family
I think volunteering gives a lot more than it takes and I hope more people get involved in some form
I think professional bodies like CAB etc have to use the same vetting process as a paid job it’s not the same as working in a shop
I feel it has helped me so much when my job finished I was 68/9 My mum and dad both died that year I was heavily involved in their care With all that gone volunteering is my lifeline to being ‘useful’ to meeting people to being ‘part of’ something, to belonging . I do other stuff too, beach cleans street clean ups but they are one offs not regular I like the regularity of the shop
I think young people have it so tough now and have to work hard in their jobs and will probably volunteer when they are older and middle folks are having to work longer and often at two jobs

Is it official that volunteering numbers have gone down if so I think it’s well and truly linked to the financial state of the country