Why Family Volunteering?

 

At Family Volunteering Club we believe that it's great, and important for kids to grow up feeling like their local community is their home, a place they want to spend time and make better. We also recognise that life is busy and volunteering is often something that people with children can't easily do. 

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We want to give kids the tools to solve big problems. Kids know when things aren’t fair or right, but many wonder what they can do to help. Meanwhile, grown-ups want to give back, but struggle to find time alongside family life. With Family Volunteering Club, making a difference is easy, friendly and fun.

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We’re living in a time full of change and challenge for people and the planet. Food poverty, climate change, isolation in older adults, homelessness – many of us are really worried about these issues. Kids are also aware of some of the problems we face. By getting involved in volunteering, they can learn how to bring about change for the better.

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For parents and carers, it can be tough to find time to volunteer. We make it easy to get involved – and bring your kids along for the ride. Volunteering has enormous benefits. It’s a great way to meet people, build your confidence, learn new skills and address loneliness.

 

As discussed in the 2020 NCVO research study Volunteering: A Family Affair?  volunteering rates drop off when people have a baby, and if a parent volunteers, their child is more likely to do so. 

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When parents and children were involved in the same activity – through volunteering for an activity that children were attending, bringing along children or volunteering together – this was seen as an effective way of combining both caring responsibilities and volunteering, and of enabling participation. Indeed, in this context, some volunteers said they didn’t feel like they were volunteering at all, they were simply spending time with their children and having fun. Family volunteering became part of the family routine, part of family life, rather than something that needed to be made to fit in, as volunteering separately might. - Volunteering: A family affair?  NCVO research study 2020