The UK would fall into a “dystopian state” without volunteers, a report has warned, with an increase in social isolation and reduced health and wellbeing.
The report published today by social enterprise Works4U warns that an end to volunteering would lead to a more unequal and unjust society, with a heavily weakened democracy and productivity of the nation.
Work4U estimates that the monetary value of volunteering stands between £25bn and 400bn per year, and that there would be a particularly great impact on education and young people.
Trustees alone, Works4U estimates, provide £33bn-worth of free support every year, roughly equal to 1.7% of GDP.
Report author and Works4U chief executive Pinkney wrote: “The aim of this report is to recognise how reliant, in societal, economic and political terms, we are on volunteers right now.
“This is far more pressing as volunteering is changing and if we do not support it now we are vulnerable to huge problems that come with equally large costs.”
The report was published against a backdrop of declining volunteering rates across the UK and ahead of the Royal Voluntary Service’s (RVS) new online platform, GoVo, which aims to widen access and remove barriers for volunteers.
Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of the RVS, which contributed to the report, said: “National trends in the decline of volunteering give us some insight into the negative impact on society; declines in volunteering rates have created at least a £38.5bn gap over the past five years, and volunteering hours have fallen by around 400 million per year since 2019.
“This is sadly against a backdrop of a rise in demand for charitable services.”
The report concludes: “The conclusion of this report is to ask for more investment in volunteering at a time of great economic challenges, but given the far greater financial consequences outlined within, it’s not a question of whether the country can afford to support volunteering more, but can the country afford not to?”
Government-commissioned research by London Economics, Basis Social and NPC published earlier this year estimated the total economic impact of formal volunteering activity in England at £24.7bn.
Meanwhile, think tank PBE recently estimated the value of volunteering at £15.5bn per year.
Related articles
