“Deliberate loophole threatens the nature of volunteering”, says VE
29 November 2007
For immediate release
Justin Davis Smith, Acting Chief Executive of Volunteering England (VE), said:
“Volunteering England is concerned that the Education and Skills Bill leaves open the possibility that volunteering could be introduced as one of the compulsory options open to young people. This risks undermining the fundamental nature of volunteering – that it is freely entered into and unpaid, a definition that even the government has signed up to.
“While we would not take issue with the general content of the scheme, an activity that is part of a limited, obligatory choice should not be confused with volunteering. The uniqueness of volunteering as a gift of time and a relationship based on mutual trust gets lost when the term is used to describe paid or compulsory activities. We would also be concerned that young people would see volunteering simply as an alternative to training, education or paid work, rather than something that can be enjoyed in addition to these options. Further clarity is needed on how the sector would be expected to manage the time commitments of these young people – and how this would be funded.
“Volunteering England looks forward to being invited by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to help flesh out their proposals and to ensure any schemes involving volunteering and the student community that are tied to the raising of the compulsory leaving age reflect the best practices for both the programme participant and host organisation.”
-End-
- For more information or interviews please contact Cat Dean on 020 7520 8932 or email cat.dean@volunteeringengland.org. For out of hours enquiries contact Sonya Roberts on 07952 128 057
- The Compact Code of Good Practice on Volunteering states that volunteering is: “…an activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or individuals or groups other than (or in addition to) close relatives”. For more details visit www.volunteering.org.uk/information
- Volunteering England aims to improve the quality, quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering throughout England. For more information please visit www.volunteering.org.uk
- The Volunteering England Convention Transforming Passion into Power: Volunteering at the heart of social change is being held on 23-25 April 2008. Make sure the dates are in your diary. For regular updates, www.volunteering.org.uk/convention
