Volunteering – The Cure For All Our Ills?

I don’t know about you but I’m a tad concerned. Volunteering has never had such a high profile, it’s like its's suddenly acquired celebrity status. On many levels this is great, but as most celebrities will testify fame is a fickle mistress and I’m waiting for the inevitable backlash, when volunteering will be caught in a compromising position with a senior member of the establishment, with its pants round its ankles and its vulnerabilities and limitations exposed for all to see.

So why am I concerned? Volunteering is increasingly being seen by government as the answer to our society’s ills – from combating youth anti social behaviour through enforced service, responding to the unemployment crisis and more recently as a way to measure a migrant’s suitability to become a UK citizen. Now we hear that volunteers could be the nation’s solution to the Swine Flu pandemic! Ok I’m being a tad flippant on that last one - getting volunteers to help distribute swine flu medication is probably a good thing and if cash strapped Volunteer Centres can make a buck out of it then good for them.

My main grumble here are the increasing attempts by government to manipulate the volunteering landscape to combat a growing list of social issues. This sort of pressure and expectation on volunteering is simply unrealistic and sooner or later it’s going to have a breakdown. Even the Prime Minister’s former Volunteering Champion, Julia Neuberger, has condemned government plans to use volunteering as a measure to fast track citizenship – and too right, I’d love to know who the hell dreamt that one up! For a government that has hitherto been so good for our sector, I’m disappointed that they are resorting to such initiatives that seem to have little or no support from volunteers or those that work with them.

Neuberger has also argued that volunteers and the act of volunteering cannot and should not be controlled by the state or anyone else. I wholeheartedly agree with her. Personally I’m not even convinced that volunteers can or should be ‘managed’. Enabled yes, supported definitely and cajoled, pampered and loved, without question. Yes it does take someone with the right mix of skills and experience to maximise the gift that volunteers make but I’m not sure that this is, or should be perceived as, the same as ‘managing’ paid staff. Volunteers are there because they want to be and because they care enough about something to get in there and help. They may well want something in return, whether it’s to enhance their employment prospects or to go and see Lady GaGa in concert, and this is cool and all part of the mutual arrangement that we have with them. Don’t get me wrong I’m not dissing volunteer managers – put away those swords AVM members! – far from it, if anything I’m saying that the term does the often complex and frequently challenging job of harnessing volunteer time and effort a disservice, in that it’s both restrictive and in my view misleading.

But I digress. The main issue here for me is that the act of volunteering is exactly what it says on the tin. People volunteer, they step forward and give their time, skills and passion for a whole variety of reasons and causes, and this act is not something that can or should be managed or manipulated by us or the state. Likewise we should not spend too much time trying to define, analyse or measure volunteers either. We should just accept that we are lucky in this country to have so many people willing to give up their time to make a difference and let them get on with it. Of course we do need some support structures in place, like properly funded high street Centres for volunteers to get help and information, we have to safeguard the vulnerable and we also need to be more responsive to what volunteers want to do instead of expecting them to always fit in with what we need, but much beyond that we should leave well alone.

So what’s next? Volunteering seen as the answer to regulate our banking system? Or perhaps we should call on volunteers to serve as MPs and civil servants? At least then they’d get their expenses paid...

Jamie Thomas is CEO of Red Foundation and blogs in a personal capacity.