YES - Christopher Spence, chief executive, National Centre for Volunteering
I don't think the argument about whether it is volunteering is the place to start. Most volunteering includes incentives of some sort - training, development or support - and this scheme is an extension of that.
Cash-strapped students in a gap year are probably going to need to earn money. Why not create opportunities for them to carry out meaningful work in the community rather than take low-paid manual work?
Volunteers at the moment do tend to come from more comfortable backgrounds, so mainstream volunteering will continue. The real challenge is to open up voluntary and community initiatives to people who have been socially excluded.
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