Formal Volunteering Hours Fall
Latest figures from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport show that the total number of hours spent volunteering formally dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Formal volunteering is defined as giving unpaid help through groups, clubs, or organisations. Whereas informal volunteering is any kind of unpaid help given to individuals who are not relatives.
The number of hours spent completing formal volunteer work in 2019/20 were 1.2 billion. On the other hand, this reduced to 700 million in 2020/21. This is a decrease of over 40%.
However, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Here at TeamKinetic we saw first-hand the impact of volunteers during the pandemic. While it wasn’t possible for them to volunteer formally, they definitely helped out in their local communities in a way that was inspiring to see.
Figures show that 47% of people in the UK informally volunteered during the pandemic. 52% of those volunteers were helping people affected by COVID-19.
Is this the new normal for volunteering? Do people prefer the freedom that comes with informal volunteering? Or will we see formal volunteering numbers make a comeback in the next report?
Time will tell, but if you have any thoughts on this, feel free to comment below with your ideas to start the discussion.
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