Volunteering Matters is a UK charity focused on "''the advancement of citizenship and community development for the public benefit through the promotion of volunteering''". It was founded in 1962 as Community Service Volunteers (CSV) by Mora and
Alec Dickson.
In the 2018/2019 financial year, Volunteering Matters engaged around 20,000 volunteers through its hundreds of voluntary projects across England, Scotland and Wales.
As of 2021, the president of Volunteering Matters is
Lord Freud
David Anthony Freud, Baron Freud, (born 24 June 1950) is a British politician, life peer, and former investment banker who served as Minister for Welfare Reform from 2010 to 2016. Before he joined the Conservative Party, he was vice-chairman ...
. He succeeded
Lord Levy
Michael Abraham Levy, Baron Levy, (born 11 July 1944) is a Labour Party peer. He is a former chartered accountant and was chairman and CEO of a large independent group of music companies. He now acts as a consultant for a number of companies a ...
, who had been President from 1999, in 2019. The charity is led by a
Trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...
Board headed by Anne Heal. Its Chief Executive since 2019 is Paul Reddish.
History
In 1958, Dr Alec Dickson founded
Voluntary Service Overseas
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is a not-for-profit international development organization charity with a vision for "a fair world for everyone" and a mission to "create lasting change through volunteering". VSO delivers development impact throug ...
(VSO) which focused on international volunteering projects. After leaving VSO, in 1962, Dickson and his wife Mora Dickson formed Community Service Volunteers, which focused on UK-based volunteer projects.
Elisabeth Hoodless
Dame Elisabeth Anne Marian Hoodless, (née Frost; born 11 February 1941) was the Executive Director (1975–2011) of Community Service Volunteers (CSV, which was re-named Volunteering Matters in 2015.
She is also a former Labour councillor i ...
was appointed Assistant Director of CSV in 1963, becoming the only paid staff member, since the founding director Alec Dickson (1914–1994), and his wife, Maura, were volunteers. Hoodless became CSV's Deputy Director in 1972 and Executive Director in 1975, a role she held until 2011.
In 1995, CSV launched Make A Difference Day, billed then as the UK's biggest day of volunteering aiming to "create a wave of kindness throughout the UK - to bring people together…and help build stronger, happier and safer communities".
Make a Difference Day
''USA Weekend'' was an American weekend newspaper magazine owned by the Gannett Company. Structured as a sister publication to Gannett's flagship newspaper ''USA Today'' and distributed in the Sunday editions of participating local newspapers, ...
also exists in the USA.
In 1996, CSV began offering Employee Volunteering Programs.
Oonagh Aitken, who had been with CEO since 2012, became CEO in October, 2014. She had led the organisation through a significant transformation which resulted in CSV becoming Volunteering Matters in April, 2015.
Paul Reddish became CEO in July, 2019 moving from
ProjectScotland. In January, 2021, the trustees of Volunteering Matters and ProjectScotland agreed for both charities to merge. The charities announced that the two brands would continue to operate under one charitable organisation. Both brands would continue their existing programmes and current volunteers and the people they support would not be directly affected by the proposed merger.
In June, 2021, Reddish rode 1000km by bicycle from Edinburgh to London via Wales with his father Paralympian
Tim Reddish
Timothy Robert Reddish (born 12 April 1957) is an English sports administrator and former Paralympic swimmer who was the Chairman of the British Paralympic Association. Governing Board member International Paralympic Committee. He won a total ...
to say "thank you" to people across the UK who volunteered in their communities during COVID19.
Programs
Around 20,000 people volunteer with Volunteering Matters each year from various demographics and backgrounds.
Volunteering Matters pioneered the idea of teaching citizenship in schools – it became part of the
National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or other ...
in England in 2002.
Projects include RSVP, Active Volunteering, Choices, Sporting Chance, Sex Matters Too, Lifelines, Grandmentors for volunteers over 50 years of age, Volunteers Supporting Families as well as befriending projects to assist older, young and disabled people.
They also have a journalist network through which journalists can volunteer their skills to non-profit organisations who need promotional help. Additionally, Volunteering Matters Action Desks work in partnership with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
at 36 BBC local radio stations. They broadcast appeals for volunteers, run awareness campaigns and promote Lifelong Learning.
In 1995, what was then CSV began providing volunteering opportunities for the staff of UK companies. The programme has continued and now involves fifty UK-based companies participating in activities that include one-off team building days through to long-term partnerships with local charities and schools.
Volunteering Matters runs full-time volunteer projects across the UK, where volunteers are provided with accommodation and a weekly food and essentials budget. A full-time placement can last between 6 and 12 months, although it is sometimes possible to extend a placement after this date.
Each year Volunteering Matters involves thousands of part-time volunteers throughout the UK.
The IAVM was a training event held each year from 1998 to 2012 by Volunteering Matter's predecessor CSV. A three-day residential training event, it was focused on raising the standard of volunteering management. The IAVM had an international faculty drawn from Australia, Canada, the UK and USA. Core faculty included
. Guest faculty included Andy Fryar,
.
The IAVM was seen as significant by the sector for the impact it made on volunteering managers across the UK. It also served as a model for other similar training intensives including IAVMs in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA in 2000 and 2001 and the
Volunteering Matters was named charity of the year in September, 2015 at the European Diversity Awards (EDAs).