The volunteering support ecosystem

Last week I joined an online session hosted by Social Enterprise Scotland discussing the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on volunteering. Attendees were a mix of SES members and organisations like the Scottish Tech Army which work to support social enterprises.

The context for the event was a report from Volunteer Scotland issued in September looking ahead to the impact of this crisis on both third sector organisations and volunteers. It probably doesn’t need reinforcing that charities and social enterprises are once again taking the strain supporting those in need. But this crisis coming so fast on the back of the pandemic, is adding yet more challenges to their organisations every day.

The report paints an interesting picture – some organisations are unable to take on volunteers because they are having to reduce or in some cases even stop some services altogether as they struggle to keep the lights on. At the same time, of course, there is a need for more help from volunteers as these organisations seek to help those in need. There’s less resource to manage volunteers as organisations seek to reduce overheads and there is a danger that volunteers may end up replacing paid roles – something which goes against the Volunteer Charter.

What also struck me at this session, however, was just how much support is available to social enterprises. It’s a true ecosystem of help, but it doesn’t seem to be recognised as such. Presenters on the day included Pilotlight, which offers a range of different programmes, Inspiring Scotland’s Specialist VolunteeringNetwork, which can offer anything from an accountant to a social media expert, PwC’s Social Entrepreneurs Club, offering the skills of their people to ambitious social entrepreneurs, and, of course, the Scottish Tech Army.

The chat on the webinar was interesting, with many attendees surprised and pleased at the coherent and complementary support available. I might even say relieved. Things might be as tough as they’ve ever been, but it is heartening to know that there is a healthy ecosystem of help available to them.

Kirsty McIntosh,
Head of Partnerships, Scottish Tech Army

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash