# Scottish Household Survey Statistics 2023 - Volunteering

This publication contains key findings from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) 2023 relating to volunteering. The 2023 SHS asked respondents about any formal volunteering (giving unpaid help to organisations or groups) that they had undertaken during the previous 12 months. Questions on informal volunteering are asked every two years in the SHS and were asked in 2022.  
  
In 2023, 18% of respondents said they had undertaken formal volunteering.  
The percentage of respondents who said that they had undertaken formal volunteering had dropped since 2022, when 22% of respondents said they had done so.

The longer-term picture also shows a decrease: since 2011, the rate of formal volunteering had dropped by 12 percentage points (from 30% in 2011 to 18% in 2023). Most of this decrease has occurred since 2019 when the rate of formal volunteering was 26%.

While these data do not provide insights into the reasons for the drop in formal volunteering between 2019 and 2023, it is likely that this is partly explained by residual or longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on formal volunteering participation.

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## About SCVO

SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) is the national membership organisation for Scotland's voluntary sector.

Our role is to champion the role of voluntary organisations in Scotland and to support them to do work that has a positive impact.

SCVO supports members and the wider voluntary sector with all aspects of setting up and running a voluntary organisation. SCVO represents the needs and concerns of the voluntary sector to the Scottish government in Holyrood and UK government and Westminster. Through our learning and events programme SCVO offers training and development opportunities to the sector.

Members access an extensive membership benefits package including specialist, in-depth, 1-to-1 guidance from our Information Services team and from professional service partners.

Access to exclusive membership networks (including comms, employers, governance and policy) supports members to grow their connections, stay up to date, exchange ideas and views with peers, and learn through tailored learning opportunities.

SCVO members enjoy free access to Funding Scotland Premium to stay on top of funding opportunities to support their organisation’s financial resilience.

Discounts and savings on SCVO products and services (including our HR service, managed IT support, payroll service and events and training) and partner offers provide members with support to allow them to focus on delivering their organisation’s goals. Further SCVO products and services include [extensive digital support](https://scvo.scot/support/digital), a climate action resource [Growing Climate Confidence](https://climateconfident.scot), a voluntary sector publication [Third Force News](https://tfn.scot) and a voluntary sector jobs and recruitment service [Goodmoves](https://goodmoves.org).

For more information on SCVO membership, visit [SCVO membership](https://scvo.scot/membership)