Happy Holidays from Volunteer Scotland

This has been a pivotal year for us – the first of our 5 year strategy – and the year we learned that adult volunteering participation with a group or organisation returned to pre-pandemic levels. After several years of decline this is a very welcome result, and one that provides genuine optimism for our sector and a platform to build from, in 2026.

The challenge now is to ‘bridge a volunteering participation gap’ – where we know that levels of volunteering for those with a disability, in poverty or living in an area of deprivation, are recovering less well. Through a series of roundtables this quarter and next we’ve been engaging widely on the actions we can take together in 2026/27, to bridge this gap. This will form an important input to our plans going forward.

With this in mind, we’ll be quick off the blocks in the first few months of 2026;

• convincing elected and not yet elected (representatives) on our manifesto asks and through our No Volunteers, No Community campaign
• delivering a state of volunteering in Scotland report and stakeholder event
• running more Volunteering Action Plan focused learning events
• creating a national approach to Employer Supported Volunteering and providing practical toolkits and guidance for all
• finalising our Knowledge Gateway, that signposts organisations of all shapes and sizes to the best advice and support available
• and much more!