Works4U

19/09/2025

This new report from social enterprise Works4U explores the critical role of volunteers to the day-to-day functioning of our society. This report brings together insights from experts in the volunteering world, to consider the very big question ‘What if everyone stopped volunteering?’

18/09/2025

We are proud to announce that the 'What if everyone stopped volunteering report?' is now live and available to download! (see link below)

The report explores in detail the UK social and economic impact of no volunteers. As well as Works4U’s own analysis the report includes 33 independent contributions from expert stakeholders at local, regional, national and specialist levels.

Without cripplingly expensive corrective action from the government the report argues that the UK would quickly descend into a dystopian state due to the impact of no volunteers: increase in social isolation, reduced health and wellbeing of the population, decreased social cohesion, lower community resilience, more unequal and unjust society, increase in social disorder, support and education of young people would drop significantly, end of or heavily weakened democracy and productivity of the nation would fall and its descent would quicken.

Each individual section demonstrates in that specific societal area alone the loss of volunteers would be devastating to society but when all are added together, the description of a resulting dystopian state is not an exaggeration. Rebecca Wilkinson, CEO of LawWorks, writes, ‘volunteering is the quiet infrastructure that binds our communities together. Its absence would expose the fragility of systems that rely on civic duty and goodwill.’ The report has written contributions from expert stakeholders such as: Royal Voluntary Service, Carers UK, Volunteer Scotland, Citizens Advice, Scouts, Cats Protection, Helpforce, University College London Hospitals and many more.

Works4U CEO Dominic Pinkney, states, ‘given the by far greater financial consequences outlined within the report of not having or reduced levels of volunteers, due to the volunteering multiplier effect, it’s not a question of whether the country can afford to support volunteering more, but can the country afford not to?’

View and download here: https://www.works-4u.com/what-if

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04/09/2025

18TH SEPT LAUNCH: 'What if everyone stopped volunteering?' Report

Works4U will release a new groundbreaking report titled ‘What if everyone stopped volunteering?’, which demonstrates how surprisingly embedded and reliant on volunteering the functioning of UK society is through examining what would happen if all volunteers stopped volunteering.

As well as Works4U’s own analysis the report contains independent contributions from over 30 stakeholders and experts together covering a wide range of society where volunteering is vital: Law/justice, Democracy, Health, Sport, Education, Young People, Culture & heritage, Environment, etc.

Report contributors are from across the UK representing a mix of local, regional, national and specialist expertise. A huge thank you to everyone involved!

The report will be available to download on 18th September at Works4U's website: https://www.works-4u.com/what-if

14/07/2025

Volunteer Kids Activity Monitors NEEDED for THIS SATURDAY's COMMUNITY DAY. A great and fun volunteering role.

Volunteer Kids Activity Monitors for H&F Community Day, Ravenscourt Park W6. Are you good with children, friendly and available this Saturday 19 July?
Further Information: https://shorturl.at/umd34

Interested, please email: [email protected] with the following information and you will be contacted by the Events Team:
- Name
- Number
- Emergency Contact details
- Role you’re interested in
- Times you’re available

14/07/2025

Volunteers needed for this Saturday's event

Volunteer Survey Takers needed for H&F Community Day, this Saturday 19 July at Ravenscourt Park, London, W6.

Are you enthusiastic, reliable, able to approach members of the public to complete a survey and have the ability to enter information on a tablet? Further Information: https://shorturl.at/xwA3h

Interested, please email: [email protected] with the following information and you will be contacted by the Events Team:
- Name
- Number
- Emergency Contact details
- Role you’re interested in
- Times you’re available

06/06/2025

It’s not over yet but this year’s Volunteers’ Week already feels like a big success! It’s the UK’s biggest volunteering campaign and earlier this week our CEO Dominic Pinkney was delighted to have taken part in what might be called the official Volunteers’ Week podcast with Margaret Starkie from Volunteer Scotland and the Time for Impact podcasters Chris Wade and Matthew Cobble.

During the podcast they discuss why Volunteers’ Week is important, why volunteering is important and how Volunteers’ Week isn’t just for a week.

A big thank you to the organisers for inviting us to join the conversation and if you are interested then you can find it on the Volunteers Week website as well as where you normally get your pods:

Volunteers’ Week website: https://volunteersweek.org/news-stories/time-for-impact-podcast
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/6bNproDJHRuAmCGk6JBsc8?si=gxz_j2h5TNSSo7wKvZuCrA
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/episode-23-volunteers-week-2025-special-with-margaret/id1743581153?i=1000711448148
YouTube - https://youtu.be/kH_htUS6WS0?si=WVdM8cVwcVZ7IiKd

05/06/2025

It’s Volunteers’ Week and our CEO Dominic Pinkney was in Parliament yesterday to discuss volunteering.

He said, ‘It was an honour and privilege as well as very energising to be part of a super interesting and constructive parliamentary roundtable about volunteering hosted by Julie Minns MP and Chief Scout Dwayne Fields.

Louie French MP, Tim Farron MP and Kirsty McNeill MP were also in attendance along with representatives from both the voluntary and community sector and businesses. We could have talked for hours more and there were lots of really good suggestions and solutions about how we can increase

Thank you to Katie Jackson from the Scouts for inviting me and for putting together the policy discussion paper on exploring the introduction of offering all employees 35hrs of volunteering leave.

It also gave me an opportunity to thank in person Dwayne Fields for his excellent foreword to the London Vision for Volunteering.’
https://londonslifelines.org/vision/

28/05/2025

We are very proud and honoured to announce we are the Main Sponsor of this year's

Launched in 1984, Volunteers’ Week has become the UK’s biggest volunteering campaign and a veritable rock-solid institution within our voluntary and community sector. Its objective to celebrate and recognise volunteers directly aligns with Works4U’s mission to show the importance and value of volunteering in our society.

Unfortunately, volunteering is undervalued and often seen as a "nice to have", the icing on the cake of society, but if you look closely, it is actually a key ingredient of the cake itself. Our research and analysis from 2023 show that volunteering provides an annual equivalent monetary value of £326 billion to the UK. This is why Volunteers’ Week is so important.

In March 2025 we published the London Vision for Volunteering report, a London-wide collaborative programme, which has 36 practical and strategic recommendations that act as a blueprint for developing volunteering. As part of the research for this work, we collected evidence that many Londoners started volunteering due to the Volunteers’ Week campaign.

Volunteers’ Week is such an important and collaborative campaign that brings us all together, individuals, communities, organisations and businesses to celebrate volunteers across the UK and Works4U is honoured to play a small part in making that happen.

21/03/2025

The LONDON VISION FOR VOLUNTEERING Report has just been launched and has 36 practical and strategic recommendations to develop volunteering across the capital. Although London-focused almost all the recommendations are applicable for the rest of the UK.

Works4U's CEO Dominic Pinkney has led this collaborative programme which has input from volunteer stakeholders and Londoners in every single London borough. The steering group was the London Volunteering Strategy Group and the report can be viewed and downloaded from the London's Lifelines website: https://londonslifelines.org/vision/

We thank everyone who has given a bit of their time to contribute to this great report, not least the very wonderful Stephen Fry.

13/03/2025

📣7 days to go until the launch of the London Vision for Volunteering and live launch event!🎉We are at a very exciting stage in London’s volunteering future!

Over the last few months, we asked you to share your views and contribute to the draft London Vision for Volunteering. It has been a huge project and truly collaborative. A very big thank you for everyone’s support and contributions from individuals, organisations and businesses from each and every London borough.🙌

With the London Volunteering Strategy Group, we’re supporting the London Vision for Volunteering, a blueprint for developing volunteering in London and helping London’s volunteering community thrive.

Now it’s (almost) here and we’d love you to join us – hear from Dominic Pinkney, CEO from Works4U as he guides you through the London Vision for Volunteering and next steps.

Be the first to hear the recommendations of the report (…with some special guest contributions!).

📆Thursday 20 March
🕙10am
📍Online, Zoom

All welcome, to join use this link:👇
https://lght.ly/ddp27dl

Look out for us before and on the day of the event on social media and help spread the news about the London Vision for Volunteering launch using .

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you!

07/03/2025

📣London Vision for Volunteering Launch - A blueprint for developing volunteering in London
📍Launch event on 20th March at 10am (via Zoom)

ℹ️Be the first to hear the recommendations of the report which include some 'high profile' contributions. Join this special Zoom event hosted by Dominic Pinkney, CEO from Works4U.

All welcome, to join please use this link below:👇
🌐https://lght.ly/378o9cm

We look forward to seeing you at the event!

20/12/2024

Sometimes, it is a relief to leave the desk for the day and go out there to make things with our hands. And how rewarding it is to build those things for community organisations that need them! Get in touch to book your hands-on volunteering day for 2025!