Within the health service and statutory care services, volunteering managers need to be given adequate resources and status to attract, support and manage community involvement offered, by both individuals and through community and voluntary organisations. Our survey of Volunteering in the NHS, funded by the NHSE, showed that fewer people are now volunteering in NHS Trusts than two years ago. It also revealed that there are fewer full-time equivalent Voluntary Service Manager posts. We believe there may well be a connection. In relation to partnership working, our main concern is that smaller, often volunteer-run, local organisations should be able to participate on equal terms with bigger organisations, and that contributions of voluntary time and work should be recognised as real and significant community investment.
Volunteers are citizens doing their bit, and often considerably more.
The reciprocal part needed from government, health authorities and local authorities is to provide a volunteering-friendly framework in which, with adequate support, resourcing and recognition for their work, the volunteering contributions and potential can flourish. Too few 'community' or 'voluntary' representatives being overburdened with meetings, papers and responsibilities Differences in organisational culture not understood. Statutory organisations need to appreciate the limitations faced by people working in their own time, often through under-resourced voluntary organisations. Many small organisations remain entirely volunteer-based, run from people's own homes and from their own pockets. Similar information to help statutory bodies and private sector firms understand how voluntary and community organisations work, and how to accommodate their more informal organisational cultures.