Our 2026 Scottish Parliament Manifesto – Creating a Nation of Volunteers

Funding arrangements for voluntary organisations are often inflexible and rarely provide long-term stability, which has an impact on volunteering.

Forty percent of third sector income comes from the public sector, more than from any other single source. Of this, around half is provided through local authorities who themselves must deal with consistent real-terms reductions in their own budgets, and intense demand for expanding provision of their services. Funding is often in the form of single-year grants, which do not increase in line with inflation. This leaves voluntary organisations extremely vulnerable to high inflation, reduces their ability to plan their financial outlook in the long-term, and often necessitates job losses or high staff turnover due to the uncertainty.

The next Scottish Government should reflect on the outcomes of ongoing Fairer Funding trials and implement Fair Funding across the third sector to provide organisations with the security they deserve. We therefore support SCVO’s manifesto calls for Fair Funding that incorporates the following:

• Multi-year funding: funding that provides a minimum three-year standard across all government departments, agencies and public bodies. This must include measuring and reporting on the number of grants and contracts delivered on a multi-year basis.

• Flexible funding: funding that is unrestricted, covers core costs, and enables organisations to plan, adapt, and meet good governance requirements. Funders must build in flexibility in project design, monitoring, and timescales.

• Sustainable funding: funding that includes inflation-based uplifts and full cost recovery — covering core operating costs and the full costs of employing staff, with payment of at least the Real Living Wage and parity with public sector pay, addressing long-standing disparities between the public and voluntary sectors.

• Accessible funding: funding with streamlined, proportionate, and consistent processes for applications, reporting and payment — with timely decisions, clear guidance, and adequate lead-in times.
• Transparent funding: funding that enables organisations and the public to understand, participate in, and scrutinise funding decisions — with clear delivery goals, timelines, and accountability mechanisms to track progress on Fair Funding across government.

For more information, read SCVO’s work on Fair Funding and Procurement.

In 2024, the Scottish Government conducted a consultation which considered the removal of the fee waiver for PVG checks for volunteers in qualifying organisations, to be replaced with a fee discount. Volunteer Scotland strongly opposed this proposal, with evidence to suggest it ‘could have a devastating impact on volunteers, volunteer involving organisations, and on the provision of services for some of the most vulnerable groups in Scotland.’  The Scottish Government did not proceed with the removal of the waiver and have maintained the PVG fee waiver since then. 

This was an encouraging victory for the sector; however, it is one which must be protected going forward especially at a time when inclusion gaps in volunteering participation are widening. Further consultation should be conducted by the next Scottish Government to fully appreciate the value of volunteering for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Considering the turbulent economic conditions of the present moment, Volunteer Scotland advocate to secure continued support for the PVG fee waiver for volunteers in qualifying organisations in the long term. 

As a ten-year living plan which is designed to be flexible to respond to societal challenges, Volunteer Scotland are now re-focusing our Volunteering Action Plan (VAP) engagement and will lead four priority actions for the third sector that aim to increase volunteer participation:  

• Advocate to Scotland’s leaders and influencers that they must integrate the infrastructures of volunteering in policy and promote the impact of volunteers in communities.  

• Bring a broad range of decision makers around the table to commit to partnerships and actions that will address the decline. 

• Provide volunteer management support designed for a changing landscape. 

• Promote volunteering and its many benefits across Scotland. 

Volunteer Scotland are currently conducting a series of roundtables involving a broad range of industry stakeholders, with a comprehensive report to be published by the end of March 2026. The next Scottish Government must closely review this report, deliver on the actions which it recommends, and adhere to a clear accountability plan. 

The Volunteer Charter was developed in collaboration with the Scottish Trade Unions Council to provide clear guidance to prevent the exploitation of both volunteers and paid workers. The Charter consists of 10 principles to support volunteering but also delivers a framework for organisations to reimburse volunteers for expenses, equipment, and training costs incurred through their volunteering.  

We believe that the Charter supports the foundations for a good volunteer experience and gives individuals, groups and organisations the opportunity to express their support for the spirit of volunteering while upholding the principles of good volunteer practice. Over 350 organisations including the Scottish Government, local authorities, and NHS Boards have signed up as Charter Champions, and adherence to the principles can help to reduce barriers to entry for volunteering. Volunteer Scotland have highlighted the Charter in official responses to Government calls for evidence and will continue to advocate for the wider adoption of the Charter in policy and legislation across UK and Scottish Governments. 

Although overall volunteering participation has risen to 25% of adults in Scotland (according to the 2024 Scottish Household Survey), the data also shows a widening gap in participation for a number of groups of people. Most significantly, the gap in participation between disabled and non-disabled people has grown to 10 percentage points, and the gap in participation between Scotland’s most deprived and least deprived communities has grown to 15 percentage points. It is concerning that inclusion gaps which were already significant have grown even larger. 

Not only should the reduction of barriers to volunteering be a consistent priority, but active investment in volunteering projects which are targeted towards underrepresented groups should be pursued as well. Volunteer Scotland’s ongoing series of Volunteering Action Plan roundtables are partly focused on how expansion of Social Prescribing, Employee Supported Volunteering, Employability Programmes, Community Health & Recovery Programmes and Social Impact Pledges can improve access to volunteering. The next Scottish Government should engage in discussions with Volunteer Scotland and look to implement the actions recommended by these roundtables. 

Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) can be mutually beneficial for employers, employees and for voluntary organisations. Jobseekers favour companies which grant their employees ESV, staff enjoy increased employment prospects from taking part in ESV, and introducing ESV to all employees that do not currently have access to it could deliver net productivity gains of up to £2.8 billion to the UK economy. 

A national approach to ESV is needed to provide strategic direction, promote good practice, and support more meaningful, inclusive and impactful ESV across Scotland. There are potentially thousands of employees that can be mobilised into volunteering across Scotland. 

Working with the Scottish Government and a range of partners, Volunteer Scotland are leading the development of a National Framework for ESV. This aims to increase awareness, understanding and participation in ESV. We ask that the next Scottish Government continue to support this work, particularly with the implementation of the new National Framework for ESV. 

The benefits of volunteering for young people are clear. In our analysis of the Young People in Scotland Survey from 2022, 35% of young volunteers reported that participation increased their confidence and 46% reported that they learned new skills. Recent trend analysis of youth volunteer participation data found that a fall between 2016 and 2019 was largely fuelled by a decline in volunteering during school time, and we hope to interrogate the trends driving volunteer participation for 16-24 year olds once the full 2024 Scottish Household Survey dataset is published 

The promotion of volunteering should be embedded in the school curriculum for both primary and secondary education. The National Discussion on Education report spoke of the need to prioritise the health and wellbeing of children and young people, whilst providing learning experiences that prepare them to be the future workforce of the country.  

We have made several recommendations to ensure that all children and young people understand the benefits of participation in volunteering and have dedicated time to pursue this. The benefits of volunteering for individuals and communities should be explicitly referenced within the Health and Wellbeing curriculum area, the Saltire Awards should be extended to include primary age pupils, and all schools should be provided with dedicated resource and guidance to facilitate volunteering both within and outside school. We are currently advocating for inclusion of volunteering in the curriculum by participating in the Curriculum Improvement Cycle collaboration group for Opportunities for Personal Achievement. 

Volunteering has a crucial role to play in the delivery of health and social care, particularly in early intervention and prevention services. Volunteers have a significant impact on social isolation and loneliness through services which promote social connection such as befriending or lunch clubs. Research has shown that social isolation and loneliness can be both a cause and consequence of poor health and is linked to increased risk of depression, cognitive decline and dementia, amongst other issues.

Not only are volunteers and voluntary organisations essential for health services, but participating in volunteering can be considered a health and wellbeing activity, as volunteering encourages behaviours which benefit physical and mental health. The Community Link Worker (CLW) model is a well-established form of social prescribing which often connects people with volunteering opportunities in order to improve their wellbeing.

The challenges facing health and social care funding at present are echoed in the experiences of voluntary sector and volunteer-led services. As such, it is vital that funding to support the voluntary sector and volunteering is protected in health and social care budgets. The next Scottish Government must ensure that volunteering activity which supports health and social care is sustainably and fairly funded, in line with SCVO’s calls around Fair Funding. More specifically, additional health and social care funding could prioritise the CLW network, helping to safeguard a sustainable social prescribing network in Scotland.

Scotland has a strong legislative landscape around community development, however constraints around funding and resources are often a barrier to communities, especially Scotland’s most deprived communities, in achieving meaningful improvements in their local area. Volunteers are central to this as 7 in 10 Scottish charities employ no paid staff, with these charities being crucial to local communities but also being most likely to struggle with existing frameworks. 

The Community Wealth Building Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in March 2025 and brings significant promises of increasing community ownership for voluntary organisations and formalising the role of community anchor organisations. The next Scottish Government must commit to close engagement with the third sector to ensure that this Bill is focused on delivering change particularly for Scotland’s most deprived areas, which currently have 15 percentage points lower volunteering participation than Scotland’s least deprived areas.  

We echo Development Trusts Association Scotland calls to value and support volunteers as part of creating sustainable and supportive environments for communities, as well as putting in place a strong support system so every community in Scotland can create and sustain a community anchor organisation. 

We also encourage the next Scottish Government to consider the experiences of volunteers in Public Service Reform strategy, as a stakeholder in community development. It is particularly important that the review of the Community Empowerment Act (Scotland) 2015 and community asset transfers consider how processes can be simplified to improve the experience and inclusion of volunteers.   

Under current regulations, the governance of Scotland’s charities has an existential reliance on the contribution of volunteers as trustees. Given the varying levels of volunteer participation in recent years, urgent action is required to ensure that all volunteer roles, including those of charity trustees, are as accessible and sustainable as possible. There is also a growing sentiment that volunteers, particularly in smaller community organisations, are being asked to take on the responsibilities of paid staff. This is both contrary to the principles of the Volunteer Charter and further reduces the prospects of strengthening communities.  

Volunteer Scotland has published a response to a Scottish Government consultation on this issue, and recommended that a charity regulation review should be conducted with a focus on trustee responsibilities, financial reporting and trustee diversity. The current Scottish Government has committed to conducting such a review; however, the next Scottish Government must ensure that this review is carried out with the scope and detail to provide complete systemic overhaul.  

More information can be found on the SCVO website.