Summary of the Focused Discussion on 3 June 2025

Let’s talk about how to be creative in finding funding for a volunteer service

Please find below a summary of the conversations had by two discussion groups at this session. Thank you all who took part and shared their challenges and ideas.

Challenges

• Overall, finding ongoing funding is a challenge and most of you are relying on small pockets of funding from various sources.
• The charities who support Trusts are finding it difficult to raise unrestricted funds for volunteer services.
• In some places there is a ‘blanket ban’ on hospitality which made it hard to plan events for Volunteers’ Week.

Small wins

Activities. £1,000 was raised by two staff taking part in a skydive.

Solicitors. This is an usual source for funding, however, some solicitors will have clients who request that some of the money they leave is used for a good cause. One of our guests experienced this, and the money donated enabled the setting up of a hub.

Construction businesses who are involved in the organisation’s supply chain may be interested in sponsoring events or activities.

Comms and Engagement. Make sure that the Comms team are aware that you are looking for sponsorship for an event. A collective of corporate sponsors came together to pay for volunteers' cream tea for Volunteers’ Week.

Local Councils. Some councils have monthly grant reports available and are able to signpost towards local funding opportunities.

Local Voluntary Action Groups. Some groups send out monthly funding bulletins.

Trust Magazine. Smile Publications publish free publicity magazines for voluntary services and hospital radios within the NHS. All the Trust needs to do is provide some editorial content. The magazines are dropped off in waiting rooms and a small income can be earned in this way.

Bid Writing

If you need some guidance, try to find someone who has fundraising experience to help you. There could be someone working in your organisation or a volunteer who has past experience.

Demonstrating the impact of your volunteers is key. Create a project package that includes the impact it will have on volunteers and end users.

• Pop-up surveys are useful for asking people who have used the service how helpful it was for them.
• Ask people directly for feedback so that you can collect anecdotal information to include.

Sponsorship

For big one-off events it was suggested that approaching a local business and asking them to sponsor the event would be beneficial to both parties. However, the businesses would need to be carefully chosen to make sure that linking their business with a health organisation was appropriate.

Volunteer uniforms

For some organisations there is no longer a budget for new uniforms and where possible they are laundering and reusing returned uniforms. Some hospital charities will fund uniforms but are often limited in how much they can give.

Making the case for uniform funding

Focus on the benefits. Volunteers wearing volunteer polo shirts or similar is very important, making volunteers identifiable to both patients and staff as well as mitigating risk. Wearing a uniform will cover health and safety as well as infection control.

Useful links:

• Find government grants
• NHS Charities Together
• NVCO funding guidance

Past discussions that included funding

• General discussion on engaging & supporting staff, volunteers with disabilities and funding - 25 August 2022
• Focused discussion reflecting on 2023 (Recruitment, Risk Assessments, VtC, Funding) - 10 January 2024
• Focused discussion on funding, young volunteers and mental health - November 2021