Some argue that voluntary action simply shores up a failing (or non-existent) statutory sector. Or worse, papers over the cracks without doing anything about root causes.
On the other hand, it is undoubtedly an antidote to our proclivity towards a “me first”, consumption riven culture. At it’s best, volunteering builds bridges of understanding and compassion across the seismic divides of society, which reduces crime and the degradation of the environment while confronting isolation and some of the other sources of mental suffering.
The Volunteering Research report also found that volunteers cited a sense of personal achievement, as well as gaining new skills and meeting people, as the positives of using their unpaid spare time for the benefit of others.
Soberingly, for the voluntary organisations themselves, 71% of the volunteers surveyed, were dissatisfied with the way their volunteering was organised.
It is obviously a vicious circle for associations. How do they encourage new volunteers to join them and stay by offering a high standard of professionalism while the reality is that they are surviving on a fluctuating volunteer and funding base?
There’s no denying the desperate need which exists - both of individuals we encounter in our neighbourhoods or on the streets and of the voluntary organisations which are in place to support them and, just perhaps, to build a better society for everyone. Crisis at Christmas points to the special difficulties experienced by people at this time of year, but there should be no reason why goodwill to all shouldn’t last out the holidays.
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