Evidence library

Key themes around volunteer experiences

• Broadly, the people we spoke with said that they had enjoyed positive volunteering experiences. They enjoyed being part of a community, sharing and learning skills and doing something valuable with their time.
• Very few people we spoke with had experienced inequality whilst they were volunteering, however most of our research participants primarily volunteered with minority ethnic organisations (or as part of a targeted programme in a mainstream organisation), which may impact the likelihood of experiencing discrimination. Around half had some experience of volunteering with mainstream organisations, or in the wider community with school or university. Based on their experiences, there was a general perception by these research participants that inequality was widespread, in the voluntary sector and in wider society.
• In order to improve experiences of volunteering, people told us that organisations should be more welcoming and accepting of different needs. They wanted to feel part of the team, and not to be excluded for looking or sounding different.