Volunteers' Week - Why participate

 At Befriending Networks, we support and connect befriending services across the UK and internationally. Our mission is to ensure that quality befriending support is available to everyone who needs it, fostering meaningful connections that reduce loneliness and social isolation. Befriending can take many forms, from face-to-face meetings to telephone and online interactions, all aimed at building nurturing and trusting relationships. Almost all befriending is delivered by volunteers.

In 2024 we estimated there to be around 22,000 volunteer befrienders contributing nearly 1 million volunteer hours annually.

In each befriending match, a volunteer is making a life changing contribution to our society. I suspect that in your organisation you will have countless volunteers making a difference with each hour of time they contribute.

There is such diversity in volunteering – who volunteers, their volunteer role, where it takes place, how long it’s for, and of course people’s motivation for volunteering, whether that’s to develop skills, share skills, contribute or give back. We may find ourselves working with other organisations ‘like us’ who have similar volunteer roles, like we do annually each November in Befriending Week, but what we find special about Volunteers’ Week is that is really is the one time of year where we can unify and celebrate all volunteers across the UK.

As a strategic partner of Volunteers’ Week, we work alongside volunteer-involving organisations, including those engaged with sport, historic environments, hospice care, charity retail, youth work, community development, and health care.

We really believe in the transformative power of Volunteers Week, where we can put our energy into recognising and celebrating volunteers and volunteering.

As a networking organisation we encourage befriending organisation to participate in Volunteers’ Week in some of the following ways:

• Volunteer recognition and thank you cards or certificates – the perfect time show your appreciation for the contribution that individual volunteers make to your organisation.
• Launching volunteer recruitment campaigns – this might be to address specific volunteer shortages, or a new volunteering role that is available, think creatively about where this might work best, including in person and/or online.
• Seeking recognition for volunteering from local councillors, members of parliament – this is a great way to raise the profile of your volunteer involving organisation. It might lead to new connections, donors, and volunteers. Don’t be shy about asking for recognition!
• Spotlighting long service or outstanding volunteer contributions, real stories are really effective at inspiring others into action. At Befriending Networks we have resources available about developing case-studies.
• Connecting with media partners to tell the story of your volunteers – speak to others to find the hook that would make for an interesting feature or story – for example long service, a service users who has become a volunteer, a significant milestone in your volunteer context, the voice of the beneficiary etc.
• Bringing your volunteers together for a social event – because everyone loves a party! Sharing tea and cake is a constant highlight of Volunteers Week.
• Launch new volunteering resources or opportunities, such as top tips or training packs. It keeps your volunteering experience fresh.
  For this Volunteers’ Week 2025 we will be building the buzz for the campaign on social media, and Befriending Networks will be feeding into Volunteers’ Week in a number of ways:
• We’ll be running two online events for volunteer befrienders on 3rd and 4th June. These evening sessions are completely free and open to anyone who volunteers with a befriending project. They’re a great chance for volunteers to connect with like-minded people and learn some top tips for being a befriender, so if you have any befriending volunteers, please do encourage them to sign up
• We’ll be launching some new resources to support volunteers and the teams that work with them. This includes:
  • A guide to writing an example scenario to enhance your volunteer training
  • An e-learning mini course for volunteers to support them in having their first conversation as a befriender
•  We’ll be writing some blog posts that highlight key areas of interest for volunteer-involving organisations, such as recruitment tips, safeguarding and vetting and sharing volunteer stories.
• Throughout the week, we’ll also be sharing some existing resources from Befriending Networks and Volunteers’ Week, such as how-to guides, activity packs and volunteering case studies.

I’m sure most of you are working in busy teams, so when you’re planning for Volunteers’ Week, don’t worry if you don’t have the capacity to produce loads of new resources. Have a think about what you already have available that highlights the amazing volunteer stories happening in your project or provides some interesting information to help strengthen the volunteer sector.

We really believe that the more organisations that participate in Volunteers Week the stronger and more successful the campaign is for everyone. We know that there are volunteering shortages, that volunteers seek more flexibility, that barriers to volunteer opportunities remain – but Volunteers’ Week is a way that we can chip away at these challenges and make a difference to our communities and for the people who have not yet discovered the benefits of volunteering.

This year, we aim to inspire even more organisations to get involved and experience the joy and fulfilment that comes from celebrating, recognising, and recruiting volunteers.

As we approach Volunteers’ Week, I urge you to take a moment to consider how your organisation can contribute. Whether it’s hosting an event, creating online content, working with the media, or simply spreading the word, your involvement can make a significant difference.

Let’s work together to make this Volunteers’ Week 2025 the best one yet!