Supported volunteering: Themes
Homelessness issues
Volunteering offers a route out of social exclusion. As volunteers, people are able to have an input into how their local community and wider society operates. For people unable to work, volunteering is a chance to do something meaningful with their time, and for those wanting to return to work it represents a route to employment, enabling them to build up skills and experience.
Physical disabilities
Disabled people experience exclusion from mainstream opportunities due to environmental, attitudinal and organisational barriers rather than due to the effects of their impairments.
Mental health issues
Half the respondents to a survey answered the question, “what factors affected your experience of volunteering”, said other people’s lack of awareness of mental health issues or by their opinions on those issues. Others cited the lack of information about how their benefits might be affected, the side effects of medication, the need to provide references and work history on application forms, the limited choice of voluntary activities and the attitudes of staff and other volunteers in voluntary organisations.
Learning disabilities
Many people with a learning disability are socially excluded and viewed as having no valuable contribution to make to the society in which we live. They are often seen as the recipients of voluntary help rather than having a positive contribution to make to their communities.
Sensory impairments
Drug/alcohol dependencies
