5th December 2025
No Volunteers, No Community: Our week in Parliament
Over three days we spoke to 59 Members of Scottish Parliament about the important role that volunteers play in Scottish communities. It was a privilege to share images and stories of volunteering in action with our three campaign partners: The RNLI, Food Train and Girlguiding Scotland.
The exhibition asked our elected representatives to imagine what Scotland would look like without volunteers: who would provide thousands of girls with a safe space to be themselves and develop new skills? How many social connections and friendships would our communities lose? What would Scotland’s communities look like without the vital lifesaving efforts of volunteers?
Our campaign makes clear that without support from the next Scottish Government, volunteering participation will stall and inclusion gaps will widen. Over the week we shared the ten manifesto asks developed with the Policy Champions Network to encourage MSPs to take action that that will protect and increase volunteering, include Scots of all backgrounds and help our communities thrive. We were also delighted to hear members from all parties sharing their own stories of their volunteer constituents, from children’s sport teams to local pantries and food banks.
MSPs representing communities across Scotland pledged to support volunteering in their local constituencies and regions. We have champions of volunteering from Shetland to South Ayrshire – we hope the next Scottish Government will give sincere consideration to our manifesto asks and takes bold action to sustain the recovery in volunteering participation.
Now that we’ve launched our campaign, we will be lobbying political parties and candidates with our manifesto asks ahead of the Scottish Parliamentary elections in May. We hope to build relationships and raise awareness of the vital contribution of volunteers, so that the next Scottish Government is a true champion of volunteers.
Ewan Macleod
Senior Policy Officer
Bethany Sikes
Research & Policy Manager