15/12/09

By Andrew Holt

With rising unemployment and fewer job vacancies, the current financial crisis has seen renewed policy emphasis in both Europe and the UK on volunteering as a route to employment, according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC.)

The Value of Volunteering - which features contributions from academics, representatives from the UK government, third sector organisations and volunteers themselves - outlines fresh UK government initiatives to use volunteering to help people into jobs, and offers powerful examples of how volunteering can change people's lives for the better.

It also calls for more effective use of European Social Fund to incentivise providers to offer voluntary activity as a pathway to integration especially for groups furthest from the labour market.

Liam Clements, now employed as a youth worker, explains how volunteering helped him: "I felt the whole experience turned me into a leader and a great communicator, and I'm now very optimistic."

Paul Murphy is also now in full-time paid work, with the experience he gained through his voluntary work considered invaluable by his new employer.

Recent months have seen significant activity from the UK government in the area of volunteering.

Between April and July 2009, 1,200 Jobseeker's Allowance claimants reaching six months of unemployment took up volunteering placements through a new national brokerage service.

Additionally, the Office of the Third Sector now funds a National Talent Bank to provide volunteering opportunities for people whose work has been affected by the recession, and has created an Access to Volunteering programme to enable more people with disabilities to volunteer.

Dr Jeremy Kendall of the University of Kent points out that the value of volunteering now enjoys great recognition in both the UK and Europe - including the European Union (EU), the European Social Fund for example has long recognised voluntary activity as a positive outcome especially for disadvantaged groups.

But he warns that the EU's emphasis on market-led economic growth may underplay the richness and breadth of volunteering, and that policy makers will need to keep this in mind when seeking to benefit from the EU's interest.

Concentrating on refugees as a group disadvantaged in the employment market, Dr Frances Tomlinson of London Metropolitan University argues that the value of refugee volunteering must be recognised, and that it must be properly resourced.

She said: "Even highly skilled refugees face a range of barriers to employment, and the transition from volunteering to paid work is often difficult. Resource issues aside, volunteers must be better protected by equal opportunities policies and practice, and volunteer experience should be given parity with that arising from paid work."

Speaking at the seminar The Value of Volunteering - Helping to build an inclusive and cohesive society, at which the report was launched, chair Tamara Flanagan of Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and the Third Sector European Network (TSEN) commented: "It is clear that, whilst good work is being done in the UK, there are concerns that some current policy approaches might limit the extent to which volunteering helps people and contributes to our society - we must find new outcomes to reward, and new ways of evaluating them."

Home     More News


Other stories you may find of interest:

David Cameron: Leadership for a better Britain
David Cameron put the Big Society at the heart of his keynote conference speech yesterday, stating: "My driving mission in politics is to build a Big Society, a stronger society." He said: "It starts with families. I want to make this the most family-friendly government the country has ever seen. More childcare. More health visitors. More relationship support. More help with parenting. And for the 120,000 families that are most troubled - and causing the most trouble - a commitment to turn their lives around by the end of this Parliament."

Budget 2011: Sector verdict is broadly positive
The sector has given its verdict on the budget, and there is much positive comment, but this is tempered by some disappointment and criticism. The Chancellor’s budget speech did herald some significant – and in some cases unexpected – changes to the reliefs available for charities and philanthropists. Key measures announced in the Budget include proposals to simplify Gift Aid, encourage wealthy people to give more to charity...

Sector expresses disappointment at 2012 Budget
After last year’s positive Budget for charities, the sector has expressed deep disappointment at the Chancellor George Osborne's 2012 Budget. The CFG described it as a budget for business, CAF warned tax changes could strangle major donations, the Charity Tax Group said it was very concerned about some of the Budget announcements, law firm Withers warned that the Budget could be a significant attack on charity funding, NCVO said this is not “George’s Marvellous Medicine” for the charity sector, NAVCA has warned the budget should have gone further, ACEVO is worried by the cap on tax reliefs, Citizens Advice Scotland has said there is nothing in the Budget to help people struggling and Justice for All said the budget revealed there is no long term plan for the advice sector.