First Timers: Kickstarting a New Volunteer Revolution
Explores first-time volunteering and makes recommendations for ways to encourage more individuals to volunteer for the first time.
Take me thereOur research & policy work
We are a national charity built on local volunteering. Our role is to inspire and enable volunteers to support people in need in our communities and hospitals.
Our research and policy work is crucial as it can help propel volunteering forward for the benefit of individuals, communities and society and assist us in delivering our charitable activities.
Through sharing our evidence, published reports and policy positions we engage with and seek to influence relevant stakeholders and decision makers regarding the NHS, social care policy and volunteering.
This area of our work is important as it enables decision makers and other interested stakeholders to be informed of the value and opportunities for volunteering when developing relevant policy.
Recent research
Report: Untapped impact: unlocking the 140 million hour opportunity - June 2025
Kickstarting a New Volunteer Revolution research series
We want to see a nation where volunteering is part of everyone’s life:
Social Mobility: Unleashing the Power of Volunteering
Examines the motivations, attitudes, benefits, routes and barriers to volunteering, and discusses the implications for civic life and society.
Take me there
Volunteering for a Healthier Britain
Sets out how boosting civic participation can tackle health inequalities.
Take me there
Reimagining Social Care: The Role of Active Citizenship
Discovers how volunteering in social care settings boosts wellbeing, mood, and cognitive function amongst residents.
Take me there
First Timers: Kickstarting a New Volunteer Revolution
Explores first-time volunteering and makes recommendations for ways to encourage more individuals to volunteer for the first time.
Take me there
Social Mobility: Unleashing the Power of Volunteering
Examines the motivations, attitudes, benefits, routes and barriers to volunteering, and discusses the implications for civic life and society.
Take me there
Volunteering for a Healthier Britain
Sets out how boosting civic participation can tackle health inequalities.
Take me there
Reimagining Social Care: The Role of Active Citizenship
Discovers how volunteering in social care settings boosts wellbeing, mood, and cognitive function amongst residents.
Take me thereRecent research reports written or commissioned by Royal Voluntary Service
Living well with dementia: better community provision for all
Research report reveals serious gaps in dementia support.
Take me there
A pro bono bonus: The impact of volunteering on wages and productivity
Written by Pro Bono Economics, this report discovers how volunteering is delivering productivity gains worth billions to the UK economy each year.
Take me there
Volunteering – a powerful social prescription
This research identifies the impact of volunteering as a social prescribing tool for those living with long-term health conditions.
Take me there
Volunteering, COVID and Integrated Care
This report looks at volunteering in the NHS and what’s changed in the last decade, particularly in 2020 as a result of the response to COVID.
Take me there
Principles of Volunteering
Written by Royal Voluntary Service CEO, Catherine Johnstone CBE, Principles of Volunteering discusses the future of volunteering in Britain.
Take me there
Living well with dementia: better community provision for all
Research report reveals serious gaps in dementia support.
Take me there
A pro bono bonus: The impact of volunteering on wages and productivity
Written by Pro Bono Economics, this report discovers how volunteering is delivering productivity gains worth billions to the UK economy each year.
Take me there
Volunteering – a powerful social prescription
This research identifies the impact of volunteering as a social prescribing tool for those living with long-term health conditions.
Take me there
Volunteering, COVID and Integrated Care
This report looks at volunteering in the NHS and what’s changed in the last decade, particularly in 2020 as a result of the response to COVID.
Take me there
Principles of Volunteering
Written by Royal Voluntary Service CEO, Catherine Johnstone CBE, Principles of Volunteering discusses the future of volunteering in Britain.
Take me thereTalk to us...
We're always happy to share our experiences and discuss new ways we could work together in partnership in the NHS and in the community.