Voluntary work is a great way of attaining these skills, but young people will only be attracted if the voluntary sector gets its act together.
Instead of complaining, it needs to go out and actively seek volunteers, rather than just sit back and wait for people to come to it.
The number of people volunteering is falling. Volunteers tend to be White, middle class and over 50, or young people undertaking activities through school or college, or in a gap year.
Lose interest
Few young people who give time when at school carry on doing so after they leave. Those who go onto university have many opportunities to take part in well-organised programmes, but few choose to do so.
The fall in volunteering reflects an individualistic and less community-based society, increased social mobility and longer working hours. Most young people in post-16 education or at university work part time, leaving less scope for voluntary activities.
And school students in the sixth form have a far fuller curriculum and more demands put on them.
This means that 16- to 22-year-olds need a strong motivation to volunteer and a system that makes it easy. To overcome this, the voluntary sector needs to adopt a marketing-led approach, stressing the benefits of volunteering for improving a young person's future career and earnings. Without a new message, volunteering will fail to attract the younger recruits it needs now and in the future.
The vast majority of volunteers between 16 and 18 are sixth-formers who volunteer through programmes organised at school. Smaller numbers undertake volunteering through outside interests such as Scouting, or first aid through organisations like St John Ambulance.
However, college students tend to have less commitment to the institution since staff usually play a lower pastoral role. So while huge numbers of 16- to 19-year-olds are at college, this is unlikely to be a fruitful market for agencies and organisations wanting to recruit more younger volunteers. Therefore it is essential to concentrate on targeting sixth-form school students.
Different approach
The Community, Activity and Service (CAS) programme operating in many schools, which is an essential element of the International Baccalaureate, is perhaps the best model available. This accredits student activity and gives a structure to volunteering.
The Millennium Volunteers programme, often incorporated in CAS, is also a good vehicle. But both rely on teachers giving up huge amounts of time, usually unpaid, to organise programmes, make links and provide student support.
To expand the system, especially into inner-city areas, more outside support is needed. This could be ring-fenced additional resources, to enable schools to give more time to organising activities and supporting student volunteers. It is also important to establish a system that is relatively low maintenance and doesn't require huge time commitment by staff.
Voluntary agencies need to be far more proactive when it comes to going into schools and setting up projects, rather than just waiting for young people to come to them. The individual benefits of volunteering need to be stressed and a volunteering ethos needs to become the norm for students.
Accentuate the positives
University students do represent a huge potential market of volunteers.
Those that volunteer gain valuable skills and enhance their career prospects.
Again, the message needs to be that volunteering is of individual benefit and that it is easy to get involved. And it is best to work with existing agencies that have good communication links already established with potential volunteers, such as careers departments.
A new approach to volunteering is needed, marketing benefits in a tangible way, rather than relying on altruism. There also needs to be a far more proactive approach from voluntary bodies in schools and universities to encourage volunteering.
Ultimately, more people will be willing and able to volunteer if schools and universities are assisted in setting up low-maintenance, well-run voluntary schemes.
SIX MAIN TYPES OF VOLUNTARY WORK - Occasional commitment to help on a particular project, such as meals on wheels - Regular activity with a particular project or scheme, such as a literacy club - A gap year-type commitment, such as assisting a project trust or Community Service Volunteers - Specific commitment through membership of a course or an organisation, such as a university or The Prince's Trust - Commitment to a specific cause or ideology and consequent activities to promote it, such as animal or environmental protests
