Baroness Julia Neuberger made the statement in her speech launching the new Commission, established by the England Volunteering Development Council to provide a non-political investigation into all sectors of volunteering. The Commission plans to report in June 2007 as to the current state of volunteering and what can be hoped for in ten years time, and will provide recommendations for necessary policy changes and practical proposals for bringing about those changes.

Baroness Neuberger said: “While volunteering has always played a vital part in the life of our communities, our nation and our world, I cannot remember a time when volunteering has featured so prominently in the thinking of policy makers. While this is encouraging, I do not believe that volunteering should be a way of offering public services on the cheap. Volunteering is a gift of time freely given by individuals. The relationship between this gift and the development and implementation of policy will be an area that the commission will explore in depth.”