What volunteering is and isn’t 

Whether you’re an experienced volunteer or never even heard of volunteering, it’s important to be clear on what volunteering is and what your rights and expectations are.

Here’s a quick guide of what volunteering is and isn’t. 

Volunteering is unpaid time 

When you volunteer, you will not be paid for your time as the work you do is voluntary. You are instead spending unpaid time doing something to benefit other people. Oftentimes, the organisation you volunteer for will pay for your expenses in order to make the volunteering accessible. This commonly includes reasonable travel costs, lunches and any criminal record checks.  

Volunteering is not unpaid work or employment 

Any work you do that someone (such as an employee at the organisation) would normally be paid for is classified as unpaid work, not volunteering. Volunteering is done through one’s own free will, and there is no legal commitment required to volunteer as there is no employment contract. If you’re not sure about whether a role verges on the edge of ‘unpaid work’, consider the aim of the volunteer role, who it serves, and whether it is profit-driven (as this is a big red flag). Another good thing to do is make sure the organisation is a registered UK charity.  

You can read more about volunteering and the law here. 

Volunteering is both formal and informal 

Formal volunteering typically involves activities that are run within an organisational context, i.e. such as volunteering in a specific role for a charity and having a volunteer agreement. Informal volunteering is the opposite, often performed outside of an organisational context. This kind is incredibly common, so much that many people may not know that they’re volunteering. Examples of this include doing shopping for elderly neighbours in your area, helping at religious centres, or maintaining a community garden.  

Volunteering is not free for organisations to run  

As mentioned, organisations are encouraged to offer to reimburse expenses to volunteers. Research also shows that a significant amount of time is invested into processing expense claims. It also costs organisations significant amounts of money and time to set up and run volunteer programmes. Research shows that this costs between £30,000-£70,000 a year. This includes hiring a volunteer coordinator, venue costs, travel expenses, refreshments, printed supplies and DBS checks. It’s important to remember this when committing to volunteering and thinking about why you want to volunteer.  

Volunteering is for everyone 

It's really important for volunteering to be accessible and inclusive for everyone. Organisations should ensure that their volunteer roles meet the needs of their volunteers, as well as keeping a range and variety of perspectives in mind. This might involve providing training to staff that is disability-inclusive, trauma-informed and anti-racist in nature. Furthermore, organisations should focus on support and adjustments they can offer volunteers in response to their needs. Volunteer roles should be flexible, offering variable commitment levels, and should where possible be able to be done remotely or in-person, depending on the volunteers' desires. These are all things that organisations consider when recruiting volunteers.  

Volunteering is not just foodbanks and charity shops 

When you think of volunteering, your mind might first head to these places. But there’s a whole world of exciting and diverse volunteer roles for you to get involved in. There is something for people from any background, any academic discipline, life perspective, personal belief, and financial status.

You can find out more about these roles by heading to our website, where we currently have over 150 active roles looking for volunteers from City. Click here to find out more.