22nd September 2025
What if everyone stopped volunteering? - (UK Report)
The ‘What if Everyone Stops Volunteering?’ Report, from not-for-profit social enterprise Works4U, explores in detail what the social and economic impact would be of no volunteers in the UK.
As well as Works4U’s own analysis, the report includes 33 independent contributions from expert stakeholders at local, regional, national and specialist levels, bringing together a broad picture of the challenges and consequences that could unfold.
Our Research & Policy Manager, Bethany Sikes, contributed to this report with a Scottish perspective, focusing on the question: What if all volunteers stopped volunteering in Scotland?
“In Scotland we are already grappling with the impact of people no longer volunteering. Between 2019 and 2023, over 335,000 people have stopped volunteering formally and our formal volunteer participation rate is at the lowest since records began (18%). Working age adults are one of the main groups in Scotland that are stopping their volunteer activities.
At the same time, almost two thirds of Scottish third sector organisations are experiencing an increase in demand for core services – not only are there hundreds of thousands fewer volunteers to draw upon, but all these people are also no longer deriving the many varied benefits of volunteering. Volunteer recruitment and retention are consistently in the most reported issues that volunteer-involving organisations report in SCVO’s Third Sector Tracker.
If volunteer participation decreases further in Scotland, or stopped altogether, Scotland’s communities would struggle to thrive. Volunteers support a range of vital activities across Scotland every single day. They provide companionship and emotional support to people who are isolated or lonely. They help us to understand and act against the many impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. They ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in society receive crucial advice and support. They provide culture, heritage and arts activities which promote creativity and connection. They lead clubs and groups which enrich the lives of our children and young people. They also support the delivery of vital public services, including responding to emergencies at sea or in our great mountain ranges.
The loss of this historically longstanding foundational behaviour would undermine progress towards a Scotland where everyone and every community can thrive. There is no community without volunteers.”
To understand the broader UK-wide picture, you can read more from other independent contributors in the full report.
The conclusion of the report asks for more investment to implement the recommendations of the London Vision for Volunteering report (March 2025). Together, these act as a blueprint for developing volunteering in the UK, though the report recognises that this is a time of great economic challenges.
However, as report author and Works4U CEO Dominic Pinkney states, ‘given the by far greater financial consequences outlined within the report of not having or reduced levels of volunteers, due to the volunteering multiplier effect, it’s not a question of whether the country can afford to support volunteering more, but can the country afford not to?’
Since submitting this piece, the 2024 volunteer participation figure has been released – read our blog to find out more.