Blog
We regularly post blogs from our own staff, volunteers and key figures in the voluntary sector. Have a browse of our recent blog entries below.

#iwill Ambassadors reflect on launching the Vision for Volunteering

 By Aoife Murphy, Communications Manager, with Emma-Jane Hampsheir-Gill, Gracie Chick & George Fielding As part of Volunteers Week and in time for Power Of Youth Day, we want to champion the voices of the young people who launched the Vision For Volunteering and were instrumental to the inclusion of a wide range of voices and perspectives … Continued

Getting Together Matters

Once you get past the initial strangeness of online video calls, the genuine interaction with others can be a game changer.
A group of people meeting the queen - scan of older photo

A royal trip down memory lane

For Volunteers' Week and to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, we asked our Grandmentors Warwickshire Engagement Manager, Farzana Topia, to share one of her most treasured memories as a volunteer.

Volunteer Expo Live 2022

The UK’s national Volunteering Show has landed! Volunteering Matters is delighted to be involved in Volunteer Expo Live, a national event that seeks to connect volunteers, organisations and the charity sector together under one roof in order to help introduce more people to the world of volunteering. Volunteer Expo Live, which is being hosted by … Continued

RSVP, Emma Thomas-Hancock, Director of Delivery

At Volunteering Matters our strategy is all about being ‘place based’ and how that impacts communities. The volunteer leaders and organisers of RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Programme) have been leading the way and championing this approach for over 30 years! They do this by leading and organising local place-based social action in communities across the … Continued

Work With Us: Natasha’s story

We asked Natasha Craike, Project Co-ordinator of Grandmentors Surrey, to tell us about what it feels like to work at Volunteering Matters. Natasha told us about her experience of being a working mum at Volunteering Matters. As a mum to an 18 month old baby I didn’t think that I could go back to work … Continued

Work With Us: James Donnelly

James Donnelly is Project Manager of Family Supporters in Edinburgh. We asked James what it feels like to work at Volunteering Matters. Here’s what he said: My journey with Volunteering Matters started in 2015 as a volunteer with North Lanarkshire Befriending Project.  It was my first volunteering role – I was matched with someone to … Continued

Health Champion, Paramveer Sanghera & friend, Will Mann, create a free wellbeing app

Health Champion Paramveer (Paz) and friend Will Mann, founder of Spudg Studios, have developed a free well-being tracking app called Sentient. Paz is a volunteer Health Champion with our project Health Champions Warwickshire, empowering volunteers in the local community to connect  with individuals and community groups to make healthy lifestyle choices. What is Sentient?  Sentient … Continued

International Women’s Day 2022: Making Work Work for Women Returners

Today is International Women’s Day 2022 – #IWD2022 –  an opportunity to celebrate women everywhere by amplifying this year’s powerful theme;  #BreakTheBias.  As #IWD2022 highlights, whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field. That’s why today … Continued

Jonathan’s story: juggling volunteering with university #iwillweek

Hi, I’m Jonathan Le Fevre, I am 24, I’m from Ipswich but am currently living and studying at University of South Wales in Newport. I have been volunteering at Volunteering Matters in Wales for around 6 months and have completed the Mind Matters training along with attending a sign language event at the office. Before … Continued