Survey of Volunteer Managers shows huge untapped volunteering potential

20th April 2022

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New Helpforce research with over 50 Volunteer Managers across a range of Trusts shows that the pandemic has led to significant opportunities for volunteering – but that its full potential is still not recognised by all senior healthcare leaders.

53 Volunteer Managers across a wide range of NHS Trusts throughout the UK were surveyed, to help understand more about current volunteering challenges and opportunities – and what needs to happen to seize the positive volunteering momentum created by the pandemic.

The survey, which was conducted via an anonymous online form, showed:

The pandemic has created an important opportunity to scale up the power of volunteering

  • 77% of Volunteer Managers say the pandemic has resulted in new volunteer interventions being successfully introduced at their Trust

  • 63% say the pandemic led to improved understanding of the value of volunteers among senior leaders at their Trust

  • 49% say the pandemic led to a greater diversity of volunteers at their Trust

Volunteering significantly improves outcomes for patients and staff

  • 94% agree volunteers take pressure off staff by spending time with patients; 92% say volunteers help staff focus on core clinical duties

  • 91% agree volunteers enhance personalised patient care; 94% agree volunteers give comfort to vulnerable patients

  • 89% say integrating volunteering into many more healthcare settings is crucial to recovering more quickly from the pandemic

Volunteering is still not being prioritised by enough senior leaders

  • 45% say their senior leadership does not prioritise volunteering

  • 40% identify low understanding of the power of volunteering among their senior leaders

  • 81% say if healthcare leaders don’t prioritise volunteering, the pressures on the NHS will only get worse

Sally Williams, Helpforce Network Manager, said:

“This survey reinforces how we need a change in mindset across health and care to unlock the full power of volunteering – a brilliant but currently underused asset. We have already seen the huge power of volunteering since the start of the pandemic – and now is the time to scale up its full potential. We must harness the support of trained volunteers to help our health and care system combat exceptional challenges.”

The survey also identified key concerns holding back the full power of volunteering. Volunteer Managers identified a lack of dedicated funding for volunteer training and infrastructure, and a lack of time for training and supporting volunteers, as current barriers.

Concern about blurring roles between professional staff and volunteers was also identified as a barrier for some senior leaders.

Sally Williams added:

“What we put into training and integrating volunteers will be repaid many times over, in the vital support that staff and patients receive. Creating high impact volunteering roles doesn’t have to be costly: a relatively small amount of investment in volunteer management and administration can make a big impact. If we fail to invest time and resources in volunteering now, we risk losing the positive momentum generated during the pandemic.”

If you are a volunteer manager and would like to know more about how Helpforce can support your volunteer service get in touch: help@helpforce.community