‘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 giver their time. If we care about the future of volunteering, we must both value it properly and adapt how we support it.’
Pippa Kirkbride, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire (Shout Volunteering, Feb 2026)

We all need to #ShoutVolunteering because the misunderstanding of the importance of volunteering to society and our economy leads to it being significantly undervalued and therefore not properly supported and protected.

Although volunteering is usually seen as a positive thing to do it is often treated as a ‘nice to have’ as it were the icing on the cake of society, but the reality is that it is a key ingredient of the cake itself. Volunteering is an essential part of how our society functions but in almost every sphere volunteering is undervalued and under-appreciated.

The #ShoutVolunteering ask #7 goes into more detail but here are some key reasons why we need to shout:

• levels of formal ‘traditional’ volunteering are dropping and so our communities, society and economy weaken by an even larger amount (Volunteering Multiplier Principle), however, the desire to volunteer has not dropped it is just that way people want to volunteer has fundamentally changed.

• there are so many misconceptions about volunteering such as that it is free or cheap labour rather than a practice worthy of investment and/or a strategic asset for local development

• UK volunteering delivers approximately as much social and economic impact as all UK manufacturing but the level of support and development we give the latter dwarves the attention we give to volunteering

• volunteering is the almost invisible infrastructure keeping our society together and communities strong but because no one really talks about it, it stays invisible and under-supported

• rather than top-down strategies, volunteering is usually the key to enabling community-up solutions

Volunteering does not have the budgets and resources of global companies and national institutions to promote itself so needs all of us to help to raise its profile to its rightful place.

The 7 things you can do page lists quick and easy things you can do to help.