Regular formal volunteering rates in England have risen but remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to government research published today.
The latest Community Life Survey shows that 17% of adults reported partaking in formal volunteering, “giving unpaid help to groups or clubs”, every month in 2024-25, compared to 2023-24’s figure of 16%.
Despite being a 1 percentage point increase on 2023-24’s stats, regular volunteering rates have failed to fully recover since the last pre-pandemic year in 2019-20, when the rate was 23%.
Some 28% of adults took part in less regular formal volunteering (at least once in the last year) in 2024-25, the same proportion as in 2023-24, but also below pre-pandemic levels when 37% did so.
Meanwhile, 24% of adults had participated in informal volunteering, defined as “giving unpaid help to individuals who are not a relative”, regularly in the last 12 months, the same figure as in 2023-24.
Some 44% of adults had participated in informal volunteering at least once in the last year, which was also the same figure as in 2023-24 and continue a decline from 2021-22’s figure of 46% and 2020-21’s figure of 54%.
Older people remain age group most likely to volunteer
Conducted annually by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the survey is based on a nationally representative sample of adults in England.
Respondents aged 65 to 74 remained the age group most likely to volunteer, with 23% of those in this demographic participating in formal volunteering at least once a month.
Those aged 75 and over were the age group second most likely to engage in regular formal volunteering, with 20% of those aged 75 and over doing so.
Meanwhile, adults aged 25-34 remained the age group least likely to engage in regular formal volunteering, at 11%, the same figure as 2023-24.
Adults from rural areas remained more likely to have formally volunteered at least once a month (21%) than their peers living in urban areas (16%), which showed little change on last year’s figures.
Respondents whose gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth (29%) remained more likely to participate in regular informal volunteering than those whose gender identity was the same as their sex registered at birth (24%).
Work commitments remain a barrier
Work commitments remained the number one reason cited by adults who had not participated in formal volunteering at last once a month in the last 12 months as to why they had not volunteered, at 51%, similar to 2023-24’s figures.
“I do other things in my spare time” remained the second most cited reason, at (32%), and “I have to look after children” was the third most cited reason (22%).
Meanwhile, the most common reasons for formal volunteering remained similar to those cited in 2023-24, and included wanting to improve things and help people (46%), having the spare time (31%), and the cause being important to the individual (29%).
The report comes after the Royal Voluntary Service launched a digital platform, GoVo, earlier this year, to make volunteering more accessible and to increase volunteer numbers.
Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of Royal Voluntary Service, said: “Although this year’s findings report similar levels of formal volunteering to the previous year, I remain hopeful that this could signal a deceleration of the downward trend of recent years.
“However, we know there is a growing need for volunteers amongst charities - RVS research estimated a shortfall of over 3 million volunteers at present. These findings are a great motivator for the sector to continue to come together to collectively inspire and mobilise more people to give their time.
“It has been heartening and energising to work with hundreds of charities of all sizes on the creation, launch and implementation of the new GoVo volunteering platform. GoVo is an additional tool the sector can utilise, alongside the great work that is taking place at local level and in specialist areas, to help turn the tide and tackle this shortfall.”
