Current projects 

Shaping the Future with Volunteering has called on Parliamentary Candidates to support a’ Volunteering Pledge’ setting out five aims:

1. Volunteering is the backbone of our society. It brings people together, promotes social cohesion and is good for the individual’s physical and mental well-being as well as the cause they are supporting.
2. Volunteering depends on a well resourced and sustained voluntary sector made up of organisations of all sizes. Both local and central governments should do everything they can to enable the sector to flourish.
3. Volunteering should be available to all. Every effort should be made to ensure there is access to volunteering opportunities whatever your background and individual circumstances.
4. Governments should encourage volunteering as a way of developing social, personal and wider skillbase that increase employability.
5. The Big Help Out should be supported as a national initiative that each year reaches out to people not currently volunteering.

In addition, we asked Parliamentary Candidates to support volunteering once more by joining in Volunteers Week (June 3-9) and Big Help Out (June 7-9) activity in their constituency and to share their intentions on social media.

Two research projects are being developed:

1. In collaboration with Community Action Bradford & District and British Future, it will be looking at how diverse communities see national voluntary organisations and what barriers there are to getting involved as volunteers. The Shaping the Future members will then be able to look at how to adapt themselves to increase accessibility and engagement with communities where they are currently not well represented.
2. In collaboration with Belong, it will review the evidence that volunteering helps increase social cohesion and develop guidance on how to promote this positive impact. Both research projects are currently securing funding.