Roundtable discussion: What does flexibility in health and care volunteering look like?

Latest data shows that 1.6 million fewer people volunteer over the past five years, and yet, our latest research with YouGov has demonstrated that over half of the UK public is willing to volunteer to support the health and wellbeing of people in their local communities. The research also identified that people would be more willing to volunteer if volunteering opportunities are more flexible to accommodate with their busy lives.

So, the question for all health and care organisations is how they can make volunteering opportunities more flexible to enable more people to step up and support their local communities.

With that in mind, we are inviting national policy makers, leaders, and experts in the health and care sector to come to this roundtable discussion to share their insights and opinions on this matter.

We hope that the discussion will inspire volunteering leaders and decision makers to think outside of traditional volunteering roles and come up with innovative and flexible volunteering roles that can make a greater impact on their local communities' health and wellbeing.

Panellists include:

• Alex Farrow: Director of Influencing and Engagement, NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations)
• Dr Allison Smith: Head of Research and Insight, Royal Voluntary Service
• Emma Valentine: Voluntary Partnerships Lead, NHS England
• Ruth Leonard: Head of Volunteering Development at Macmillan Cancer Support and Chair of AVM (The Association of Volunteer Managers)
• Dr Helen Gilburt, Fellow in Health Policy (mental health), King's Fund
• Paul Deemer, Head of Diversity and Inclusion NHS Employers

You can watch the recording of this session below!