The impact of the cost of living crisis on voluntary and community organisations

What this means 

When people have less money to spend, and feel more insecure in their work or home life, this is likely to have a knock-on effect in communities. For example, when someone’s income reduces, they may be less likely to buy extra items for local food banks, and may be less likely to volunteer, as they may need to work more hours. 

The research 

There has been an increasing tendency in the UK for local authorities to use volunteers in their work – perhaps unsurprisingly, as fiscal constraints are associated with greater use of volunteers (Kang et al., 2020). In addition, part of the ideology behind austerity was that spending cuts would result in greater volunteering - the ‘Big Society’ approach (Gibbons & Hilber, 2022). 

However, even before the cost of living crisis, this has held challenges: for instance, volunteers being inappropriately tasked with roles formally undertaken by qualified staff such as social workers and specialist support practitioners, with pressure to do work that they are not adequately equipped to carry out (Cameron et al., 2022). In the latest available report on volunteering in the UK, the 2023 'Time Well Spent', findings included lower volunteer numbers, reduced volunteer satisfaction, and people being less likely to continue volunteering (NCVO, 2023).

Volunteering in a community can take many forms, but can broadly be split into ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ volunteering. Formal volunteering is unpaid work for an organisation, usually a charity, group, club or community organisation; informal volunteering is that carried out on an individual basis to help people outside the person’s household, such as neighbours or the local community (Lee & Brudney, 2012). However, there’s often no clear split – and people who volunteer formally are also more likely to be ‘informal’ volunteers, and vice versa (Lee & Brudney, 2012). 

A 2022 report (Volunteer Scotland, 2022) looked specifically at how the cost of living crisis was impacting on both formal and informal volunteering, and found the following: 

• The cost of living crisis has brought increased demand for services that rely on volunteers, including food banks, services that offer advice on the cost of living, and wider societal issues that are impacted by the cost of living crisis. 
• For some, the impact of reduced disposable income can impact their willingness to volunteer. 
• Also for some, volunteering may be unaffected or even increase, as people are more motivated to ‘make a difference’ or gain respite from the challenges they personally face. 
• Volunteers’ mental and physical health may deteriorate, which can impact their ability to volunteer now and in the future. 
• There may be fewer resources to manage volunteers, including the removal or scaling back of volunteer manager or coordinator posts. 
• Volunteers were increasingly replacing paid staff, in an effort by organisations to maintain service delivery in the face of higher costs. 

Other research has found that food banks specifically have seen a large rise in demand upon their services. Official figures from October 2022 found that nearly 90% of food banks saw a rise in demand, and 72% had experienced a fall in donations - with 19% of food banks having to reduce parcel size (House of Commons Library, 2022).

The Volunteer Scotland (2022) study also noted the cumulative impact of stresses on volunteers, which included legacies of distress from coronavirus (COVID-19), and a constant stream of ‘bad news’ stories on the cost of living. This could result in not just practical barriers to volunteering through increased costs, but also emotional ones, such as apathy to volunteering, poorer attendance and potentially withdrawal from volunteering altogether’.

(Volunteer Scotland, 2022, p.4).

What you can do

If you are in direct practice: Volunteer-led organisations, informal support from neighbours, and people who draw on social care themselves acting as volunteers, are all examples of how direct social care work and volunteering intersect. What impact have you noticed from the cost of living crisis in these areas? 

You might focus on the role of ‘informal’ volunteering in your role. For example, as well as establishing whether neighbours or friends can offer support to the person with care and support needs, it’s important to establish whether those informal volunteers may need support themselves. What’s on offer to them locally? How can you make sure informal volunteers know the work they do is valued? How can you acknowledge the stresses that the cost in living crisis has brought, and signpost to support? 

If you are a commissioner: Volunteer Scotland (2022) suggest some actions for those who commission voluntary agencies, or who are responsible for overseeing volunteering, in order to support formal volunteers in the current cost of living crisis. These have been adapted below: 

• Directly engage with, and develop creative solutions in partnership with, the voluntary sector. Voluntary sector organisations, and those they support, will know the type and scope of support that could help people, volunteers and voluntary organisations weather the cost of living crisis. 
• Offer support for the health and resilience of volunteers. Is there any training, or are there wellbeing initiatives offered to local authority staff, that can be shared with local volunteering organisations? 
• Invest in volunteer management. Acknowledge the value of volunteers through the management and coordination of volunteers. 

Further information 

Read

The Local Government Association has created a practical guide for local authorities to support improved partnership working with their local voluntary and community sector, including positive examples from around the country. 

Read

Think Local Act Personal has created Ten Actions for an Asset-Based Area, which includes thinking about harnessing the strengths and capabilities of the local community. 

Connect

The National Council for Voluntary Agencies (NCVO) has information on how the cost of living is affecting small charities, and has a helpdesk where charities can go for support.