What happens when a city reimagines volunteering

Across the country, local infrastructure organisations (LIOs) are using the Vision for Volunteering as a catalyst for change, turning shared principles into locally owned strategies that build consensus and create momentum. By convening partners, listening to communities and grounding action in lived experience, LIOs are shaping volunteering systems that respond to what people and places need now.

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One example comes from NAVCA member Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC), which has demonstrated how a clear, shared vision can help reshape volunteering across an entire city.

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Developed through local conversations and co-production in 2022, Birmingham’s Vision for Volunteering emerged in response to significant post-pandemic shifts. Demand for volunteering was rising, but so too was volunteer fatigue, alongside the growing pressures of the cost-of-living crisis — particularly in some of Birmingham’s most deprived communities. Volunteers continued to play a vital role in supporting local services, yet there was no shared framework to guide development and no central point of coordination or support.

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Through a series of co-production events, partners across the city identified a clear need to revitalise volunteering. Conversations focused on valuing volunteers more consistently, removing barriers to participation, and strengthening social connection and cohesion. From this, a shared vision was developed, grounded in three core principles designed to empower volunteers through inclusive and equitable practice in:

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- Celebrating difference

- Collaboration

- Awareness and appreciation

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BVSC has embedded this vision by working at both strategic and practical levels. Strategic partnerships, sector-wide workshops and accessible resources have helped translate the vision into action. A multi-stakeholder strategic group, alongside targeted engagement with Volunteer Managers, has aligned local priorities with best practice, including the development of a new volunteering brokerage platform to better connect people with opportunities.

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Crucially, this joined-up approach has also strengthened Birmingham’s case for investment. By demonstrating a coherent, place-based volunteering system, BVSC has secured funding from NHS England to support health volunteering and from the National Lottery Climate Action Fund for community-led projects tackling poor air quality.

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This example shows what’s possible when the Vision for Volunteering is used as a practical framework for system leadership. By convening partners, centring equity and building shared ownership, NAVCA members like BVSC, who are also LIQA-accredited, are helping volunteering to thrive - supporting volunteers, strengthening communities and delivering lasting change in place.

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NAVCA members can download our new Volunteering Doesn't Happen By Accident toolkit via the Member Hub now, or find out more about the campaign here.

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