Volunteering: Unlocking the real wealth of people and communities

By Duncan Tree, Head of Policy at CSV

We welcomed the opportunity to work with TLAP, SCIE, Shared Lives Plus, In Control and ADASS on a shared report to illustrate the importance of volunteering. People with care and support should have the right to exercise choice and control over their lives. They should also have the opportunity to share their time, skills and assets to the benefit of themselves and to the community.

The "Volunteering: Unlocking the real wealth of people and communities" report is rich in ideas for both promoting and improving the ways in which people with care and support needs, voluntary and community sector organisations, local councils and the NHS can work more effectively together to build capacity in our local communities. The reports emphasises the importance of people with care and support needs being seen as citizens with abilities in the first instance, with the capacity to give as well as receive.

Alex Fox rightly points out in his introduction to the paper; the goal of services should not just be about developing personally tailored packages of support. It must also be to help people find new and meaningful ways to shape and contribute to communities in which they feel valued and part of.

At CSV, we will use the report as a tool to help ensure that we continue to improve how we measure and capture the impact of our work. This will help us find the most effective ways of working with all our partners, including our volunteers, beneficiaries and funders, to improve outcomes for people with care and support needs with whom we work.

Duncan Tree is the Head of Policy at the UK's volunteering and learning charity, CSV (opens new window). CSV believes that everyone has the right to be an active citizen and contribute to their communities. People are at the heart of how we work, actively participating in creating solutions and taking control of improving their own lives and of those of their communities.

• Volunteering: Unlocking the real wealth of people and communities
  This report explains that people's voluntary and unpaid contributions are crucial to enabling them and others have maximum choice and control over their lives. It calls for continued development of...