Roundtable: Flexibilities in volunteering

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 invited national policy makers, leaders, and experts in the health and care sector to come to this roundtable discussion on 19th July 2023 to share their insights and opinions on this matter.

Panellists:

• 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!

See the attachment below for a downloadable copy of the presentation slides.

Useful links

• News story: High demand from UK public for flexible volunteering in health and care
• Deloitte article: Flexibility at work is proving to be a trending
• Deloitte press release: Two thirds of UK Gen Zs
• NVCO: TIME WELL SPENT 2023 A national survey on the volunteer experience
• Centre for Ageing Better: Review - Age friendly inclusive volunteering