News

National Volunteers Week 2025 closes today and has been a tremendous success, and here at Volunteering Kingston, we are constantly reminded of the invaluable contributions of volunteers. We believe in spreading this celebratory spirit to all organizations engaging with their communities. That is why we are thrilled to support and promote the upcoming Celebrating Communities in Kingston event, set to take place on Thursday, June 26th, at the vibrant All Saints Church in Kingston, from tbc to tbc.

The Celebrating Communities in Kingston event, inspired by the previous Big Thank You gathering and Discovering Volunteering events, is designed for everyone eager to explore local volunteering opportunities and express gratitude to those already making a difference. This event is a collaborative effort with partners like The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Kingston Hospital, Kingston University, Kingston Voluntary Action and many others, all contributing to its planning. With such fantastic support, we hope to welcome a remarkable number of residents to join in on the festivities.

Please see the Celebrating Communities Eventbrite page for more information, and to sign up.

Volunteering in your community isn’t just for National Volunteers Week or Communities Month, it’s 27/7/365. Whether is supporting Kingston 2025 this summer or the Kingston Carnival in September, whether its planning for supporting people in crises at Xmas or contributing to the all year round battle against homelessness, the work and the need goes on. Here at Volunteering Kingston we are proud that the Kingston Volunteer Strategy launched on June 5th will help shape the future of volunteering locally but we remain fully aware it’s the volunteers and the communities of Kingston that give an they remain the ultimate hero’s.

Michael Green – Projects Manager – Volunteering Kingston.

My colleagues at Volunteering Kingston asked me if I would like to contribute to their National Volunteers’ Week activity. As someone overseeing similar work in Volunteering Barnet, I was very happy oblige. I’ve decided to share some thoughts on something that I am passionate about – inclusivity in volunteering.

You may recall and have seen a programme, from a few years ago, on the BBC called “Then Barbara met Alan”, which powerfully explored the history of the disability rights movement in the UK and the phrase ‘Nothing about us without us’. It highlighted the importance of choice and control for Disabled people and the less-than-helpful attitudes that society can often have towards disability. National Volunteers’ Week is an ideal opportunity to challenge barriers to volunteering and to champion that volunteering should be open to everyone. Inclusion in volunteering is something we should all take interest in.

Figures from our volunteer services – Volunteering Kingston and Volunteering Barnet – tell us that approximately 13% of our registered volunteers are Disabled, or require additional support. That is a significant number of volunteers who are excited to give their time to support a local community or cause. If you think of Disabled volunteers as a community of people with one set of needs, you would be missing a range of talents, enthusiasm and perspectives. Of course, Disabled people volunteer for as many different reasons as non-disabled people; and people’s experiences are just as varied. A Disabled volunteer could be:

· A teenager with a learning disability looking for work experience.

· An autistic parent who wants to use their perspective to help families with autistic children.

· A wheelchair-using CEO who wants to give their business expertise to help struggling charities tackling food poverty.

· A person with anxiety who wants to meet new people and make friends without pressure.

· A marketing executive with chronic asthma who wants to join an environmental campaign.

· A visually impaired accountant who wants to volunteer as they have been advised it will support their career progression.

· A deaf student who volunteers at a charity shop because they are interested in vintage fashion.

For organisations that want to involve more Disabled volunteers, and therefore benefit from more perspectives and lived experiences, here are some top tips you might find helpful: · Learn about the social model of disability and challenge your thinking about people’s potential. · Take care that you use accepted, up-to-date language. See best practice guides.

· Look carefully at the required skills and experiences for your volunteering roles – what is essential and what is a ‘nice to have’. For example, if you have an autistic volunteer who does not feel comfortable using the telephone, but would be excellent at other parts of the role, consider making adaptations.

· Consider having versions of your role descriptions in large print, audio recording, BSL interpretation and Easy Read form.

· Provide clear information for others to make decisions, rather than deciding for them. For example if your building has a step, do not say “not accessible to wheelchair users”, but rather “there is an 8cm step”. The volunteer can then decide for themselves and ask for an adjustment where possible.

· Allow volunteers to give their time from home if possible.

· Money is tight in the voluntary sector, we know. However, when making funding applications consider how you could ask for things that make your organisation, and therefore volunteering opportunities, more accessible and inclusive.

· Be willing to have an honest and open conversation about disability and the needs of your volunteers, but be guided by the individual.

· Accept that sometimes a volunteer’s impairment or health condition may mean things take longer or are done in differently. However, you may even find that someone’s adjustments or adaptations are better for everyone.

If you are a Disabled person who is interested in volunteering, our Volunteer Services would welcome hearing about your experiences and suggestions of how we can improve our service. Please do get in touch.

National Volunteers’ Week serves as a reminder that volunteering is for everyone, but let’s keep that thought front and centre all year round, and do what we can to make it happen.

Anna Denham – Programme Manager (Volunteering Barnet).

On The Power of Youth Day and Day 2 of National Volunteers Week, Kumuna, Volunteering Kingston’s Incredible Volunteer Officer, reflects on the unique power of younger volunteers.

National Volunteers Week is always an opportunity to reflect on trends. Over the last couple of years Voluntary Sector professionals, especially those working in Volunteer Services, have reflected how in the post pandemic world there had been a seismic shift in registrations away from “time-rich” volunteers and towards younger volunteers. That phenomenon was partly explained by health worries from the older volunteers but equally importantly a new wave of enthusiasm for supporting the community from the younger end of the volunteering spectrum. This introduces a plethora of mediums we are able to use to communicate effectively with young people. Whether it is school assemblies, Fresher’s Fairs, the usual social media avenues or the latest apps, young people have never been as accessible as they are today.

Face to face still has its place; we know from experience that visits to local schools how the registration numbers rocketed in the days following that outreach. Not only do our team enjoy presenting to a Sixth Form assembly they also appreciate the feedback they get. Volunteering, as an experience, has to evolve constantly to the changing world we live in. On the digital side, the excellent work of our team ensures we maximise our reach and that effort is demonstrated by the profiles we receive. If there is a new digital app on the block we should take advantage of it, the days of Twitter/X and Facebook domination are long over.

Young people want more control over their time; the trend is towards bite-sized volunteering that makes a difference on the ground. Dozens of administration roles on our Team Kinetic base do not interest younger volunteers so volunteer centres need a full range of opportunities to entice applications to succeed with this cohort. Similarly, Saturday shifts at a charity shop, whilst useful for those looking to experience work environments for the first time, are not always attractive to these energetic young volunteers.

I am not going to say everything in the garden is rosy when it comes to finding young people opportunities. Duke of Edinburgh opportunities for 13/14 year olds are very difficult to secure, mainly because the insurance industry makes life difficult for VIOs to be open to under 16s (and a few VIOs who mistakenly think safeguarding measures are too much bureaucracy) and work is needed to turn that around. Work continues to allow those making that mistake to understand and utilise the value of younger volunteers.

Proper reflection of younger volunteers indicates that as of National Volunteers Week 2025 it is a good period in the Volunteering sector for bringing in new blood. With their enthusiasm, a wave of committed young people who will always create a positive impact. The future is looking bright. Young volunteers bring their energy, ideas, and commitment are also vital to our communities. At Volunteering Kingston, we’ve seen how youth involvement builds skills, confidence, and real change. Young people aren’t just the future – they’re making a difference now.

Thank you to all our young volunteers.

Kumuna Kamasoh, Volunteer Officer, Volunteering Kingston.

This year, as in every year, National Volunteers’ Week (2nd – 8th June) coincides, because it falls in the month of June, with the dedication to celebrating communities that is Communities Month. Those celebrations are as important as ours are in the volunteering services arena. We also have a very important contribution to Kingston Volunteering coming out in the middle of this week so keep your eyes open for it.

National Volunteers’ Week is all about gratitude and so it should be. If ever there was a proper time to say thanks, to volunteers and the groups that come together in our communities, it is here and now. The contribution of volunteers has ensured our society remains functioning over the past fifteen years of our society’s peaks and troughs.

The thought of celebrating may not be appealing right now, while the demand for foodbanks keeps reaching a new peak, being positive whilst millions of displaced Ukrainians and Gazan’s continue look for safety and with money in the Voluntary Sector remaining as tight as ever. Personally, whilst I understand this thinking, I believe greater hurdles calls for a greater need for trumpet blowing. June 2025 and the joint approach of National Volunteers Week and Communities Month is such an occasion.

Volunteering Kingston, and volunteer services across London and the country, will be celebrating National Volunteers’ Week, in conjunction with others, to show our appreciation to volunteers who have dedicated their time and effort to support their communities. We are working with others to ensure a time to show gratitude to those who selflessly contribute continues later into the month.

Welcome to National Volunteers Week and Communities Month 2025, Kingston style. Events will be held across June to not only mark our appreciation but to be central in strengthening bonds that bind individual volunteers, volunteer-involving organisations and the statutory sector locally. Keep your eyes peeled, it will be celebratory and most importantly full of gratitude.

Michael Green – Projects Manager, Volunteering Kingston.