From late 2021 to May last year a group of national volunteering organisations came together to create a vision for an inclusive, collaborative and thriving volunteering landscape. Led by NAVCA, NCVO, Volunteering Matters, the Association of Volunteer Managers and Sport England they engaged with more than 300 organisations to map how volunteering was changing and interrogated and tested the themes that emerged.

In May 2022 Vision for Volunteering was launched. It is a bold vision that sets ambitious targets to ensure a thriving, inclusive, collaborative and self-confident volunteering sector that can navigate the challenges ahead and continue to create positive change in our communities. Read the full document here.

Turning the vision into reality requires action. It was encouraging to read that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have recognised the importance of this work. They have committed to investing £600,000 towards the next phase of Vision for Volunteering. They will also create three new posts to take this work forward.

Closer to home, one of our partners – Voluntary Norfolk – is leading on developing a volunteering strategy for the county. Over 300 people have contributed to online surveys, discussion sessions and consultation workshops. This has helped build a picture of how volunteering is changing. It has also allowed us to gain a better understanding of the motivations and barriers to getting involved. The strategy, which will set out key objectives for the sector, will be launched in April. A monitoring group will be set up. This will ensure that the themes and objectives are actively promoted for the ongoing benefit of volunteers, organisations and the wider community.