The Yorkshire Post has published an article on volunteering highlighted that volunteering groups are warning that Yorkshire could see a drop-off in local services unless more dedicated long-term volunteers are found, particularly those with specialist skills.
They spoke to our resident expert on all things volunteering, our Volunteering Development Officer, Lizzie Clapham:
Those charities who have not actively been able to recruit new volunteers because they have been forced to furlough staff themselves, particularly at the start of the pandemic, have found that potential volunteers have moved on.
She said: “We will come to a crisis where those organisations will be needing to find other ways to attract and recruit new volunteers.
“There hasn’t been the opportunity for those organisations to take advantage of these people coming forward.”
Ms Clapham said: “It’s those volunteer roles where somebody needs to have done quite an involved induction process or training process.”
She said many charities are looking at how they can continue to provide the extra services they have been providing during lockdown, which have proved essential in some communities, and also how to break down volunteering roles to make them more flexible for people who were furloughed but are now going back to work.
“We can see obviously that the number of people who are becoming unemployed are beginning to increase and I think that volunteering is a fantastic stepping stone potentially for people into employment. There’s a real place for volunteering in that context as well.”
Ms Clapham, who has volunteered herself for more than 30 years, remained optimistic, adding: “I’ve never been as excited at the potential of what could be achieved as now.”
Here’s a link to the full article from The Yorkshire Post.