The last year has underlined the important role of volunteers and volunteering in all our lives and we have all seen and felt the benefits. It is clear that volunteering has a fundamental role to connect people and communities. Volunteering is broad, from spanning hyper-local acts of neighbourliness to national programmes enabling people to help out where they are needed. It is a way for people to share skills, resources and time, and it offers volunteers a sense of purpose and fulfilment as well as delivering services and support to people and communities.

There is a clear need to harness the important role volunteering has played during the pandemic, and nurture it for the coming years as we recover from Covid. Voluntary sector infrastructure organisations The National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA), the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), together with Volunteering Matters and the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM), have been working together through the pandemic as the focus and role of volunteering has changed.

Now AVM, NAVCA, NCVO and Volunteering Matters are working to create a space for people from all parts of the voluntary and community sector to come together and develop a long-term Vision for Volunteering. The intention is to fully integrate volunteering into post-Covid recovery, harnessing the skills, experience and enthusiasm of volunteers.

Find out more on the Vision for Volunteering website.