This document discusses several issues related to volunteering and the third sector in the UK: 1) Formal volunteering levels have remained stable from 2001-2011, while paid employment in the voluntary sector increased 40% in that time period. 2) Much volunteering is oriented towards leisure and social activities rather than more deprived areas with greater needs. 3) Questions are raised about whether volunteers are being asked to do too much and whether their goals align with policymakers, given resource constraints faced by many organizations.

1. Futures Dialogues 2: Mismatch between needs and
Volunteers as free labour?
resources:
Costs of volunteering
No longer a Formal volunteering and third sector
employment found to be lower in Resource constraints
more deprived areas
‘voluntary’ sector? Much volunteering activity is
Volunteering as a route into
paid work
orientated towards leisure/social
Who pays?
Heather Buckingham, TSRC activities (e.g. sports clubs)
H.Buckingham@bham.ac.uk
The third sector workforce: Are volunteers being
marginalised?
Formal volunteering levels have been
fairly stable from 2001-2011 Impacts of contracting and
Paid employment in the UK voluntary No longer professionalisation
sector increased by 40% between 2001
and 2011 a voluntary Advantages of paid staff
Differences between organisations of
sector? different types and characteristics
Niche roles for volunteers?
Is voluntarism bigger than the Big Society?
Advocacy and campaigning roles of TSOs often Is too much being asked of volunteers?
given little policy attention
Volunteers' goals and motivations may not align
Could these roles become more important in the
with those of policy makers
current socio-economic context?
Complexity of client needs
Could budgets cuts lead to greater independence
for TSOs? Lack of consistent coverage
Difficult to influence strategic/structural level issues
that affect wellbeing