New platform aims to supercharge volunteering in Britain
New platform aims to supercharge volunteering in Britain
- The digital platform is being built with £5 million thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery
- Announcement comes at a time when Britain faces a volunteer shortage with many charities struggling to recruit the support they need
- Research suggests 164 million more volunteering hours per month could be unlocked if there was a way of accessing more flexible opportunities digitally
Royal Voluntary Service has today unveiled it is developing a game-changing new digital platform to boost volunteering in Britain.
Supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the platform will widen access and remove barriers to volunteering. It will make it easier for people to give their time, and for charities to recruit and retain volunteers, reducing complexity.
Completely free for the public and charities of all sizes to use, the platform aims to become the biggest ever digital community for volunteering roles. It will be home to thousands of flexible, diverse opportunities from short, one-off tasks to more regular activities, in-person and remote, to meet the need for volunteering to fit around people’s lives and commitments.
Research indicates that having a digital way to find more flexible volunteering opportunities could help unlock 164 million more volunteering hours per month in Britain. Through the platform, Royal Voluntary Service will open-up volunteering to all, regardless of age, background or personal circumstance, offering people the ability to search and ‘click and connect’ with the causes they care about.
The platform, which Royal Voluntary Service is building inhouse, is expected to help charities, causes, non-profits and grassroots organisations to reduce costs and admin associated with recruitment and provide a steady pipeline of volunteers. The goal is to create a simple and innovative ‘on-board once’ process for volunteers. This will mean that once a person has registered and completed an identity check, they will be able to move seamlessly between volunteering opportunities - choosing to give their time to a range of different charities and causes they care about – without having to re-register and repeat basic assurances multiple times.
Other planned features include tracking and measurement, with charities able to benefit from data insights to demonstrate the impact of the platform to their cause.
Helping to unlock employee volunteering hours that go unused each year, businesses will be able to use the platform to match employees with suitable volunteering activities and create team building days. The platform also forms part of Royal Voluntary Service’s new offering, the Volunteering Marketplace, a range of consultancy services designed to support businesses to optimise their employee volunteering and social impact activities.
The new platform will launch to the public later this year, and charities are being encouraged to register their interest
and will be able to upload volunteering roles in the summer.
The development of the platform builds on Royal Voluntary Service’s track record of delivering digital initiatives to mobilise volunteers at scale. The charity launched the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme which harnessed digital technology to rally hundreds of thousands of volunteers to support the NHS during the pandemic.
"Welcoming millions more into the volunteering world could be transformational and improve life for all. I’m therefore delighted that thanks to Postcode Lottery players we’re able to create a platform that will help supercharge volunteering in Britain.
"Volunteer recruitment and retention is becoming increasingly difficult for many charities. There’s a keen desire to volunteer, we just need to remove barriers and widen access with opportunities to fit into modern life. Flexibility is at the heart of our new platform design and there will be roles to suit all commitments and interest areas.
"Crucial to success is having a diverse range and high volume of roles available for the public. We’re now inviting all charities and non-profits to register their interest and start uploading their roles in the summer, ready for public launch later this year."
Catherine Johnstone CBE, Chief Executive of Royal Voluntary Service
"Volunteers are the lifeblood of Britain and fundamental to so many of the nation’s charities and good causes. We believe this award of £5 Million for Royal Voluntary Service to build a new digital platform will grow volunteering nationwide and help charities meet increasing demand for their support. It’s an ambitious project but has potential to create real and positive change for Britain and I’d like to thank everyone who plays People’s Postcode Lottery for their support in making this possible."
Clara Govier, Managing Director at People’s Postcode Lottery
Made possible by players of People's Postcode Lottery
