(Copy of an article Baroness Hanham wrote for the Local Government First magazine)
Research suggests that some 23 million people volunteer each year, much of this activity taking place locally.
The economic value of formal volunteering in the UK has been estimated at more than ££40bn pounds per year. Volunteering builds a sense of shared responsibility, bringing added value through diversity and increased local engagement and helping to build strong and cohesive communities.
Volunteers play a crucial role in public service delivery, making a significant contribution to economic output.
There are over 350 volunteer centres in England, providing for many people their first introduction to volunteering.
In addition to being places where people can go for advice and information about volunteering opportunities and to be referred to an organisation or group as a volunteer, volunteer centres also market volunteering, support good practice development, assist in developing volunteering opportunities, undertake policy response and campaigning, and facilitate the strategic development of volunteering.
Volunteer centres work with local not for profit organisations ranging from local community groups to statutory services and branches of national charities.
Volunteering opportunities are not confined to social welfare and caring organisations and can be found in all manner of settings including sports, the environment, education, advocacy and community groups.
Most voluntary and public sector agencies recognise the valuable contribution that volunteers can make, not because they are a source of unpaid help but because the volunteer contribution brings an important extra dimension to the work of the agency.
Collectively, the volunteer centre network is in direct contact with over 100,000 volunteer involving organisations.
Volunteer centres are committed to equal opportunities and believe that volunteering should be open to everyone. They enable participation by socially excluded groups and are able to demonstrate a strong track record of working with volunteers with specific support needs: the unemployed, people in receipt of benefits, disabled people, disaffected young people, refugees and asylum seekers.
From a local authority perspective, volunteer centres play an important role in shaping community strategies, through formal involvement in local strategic partnerships and in acting as a delivery agent for the local area agreement.
Guidance issued by the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister identified increased levels of volunteering as an indicator of community cohesion.
Volunteering, while freely given, is not cost tree. The traditional view that volunteering is associated with low cost or 'for free' provision has long underpinned allocation of funding for its support.
This assumption needs to be challenged if we are to continue to depend on volunteers to deliver public services and be the glue that holds society together.
Volunteer centres enable more people to choose to put something into society through volunteering, but this has to be paid for. While many volunteer centres receive some funding from local authorities, many are under-resourced.
Volunteer centres are working to re-model themselves in such a way that they are seen as a modern, dynamic, strategic, coordinated and sustainable network, rationally configured locally, sub-regionally, regionally and nationally.
This process needs to be complemented by realistic sustainable long-term funding through statutory sources, reflecting local demographics, circumstances and priorities. This requires consistent outcome and impact measures.
Volunteering is primarily a local response to a local need or issue. The role of a volunteer centre in supporting this process is pivotal.
For volunteering to flourish, statutory funders and the volunteer centre network must work together to ensure that long-term funding is in place to maintain a modern and dynamic volunteering infrastructure.
