The National Council Voluntary Organisation (NCVO) published a report called Time Well Spent in 2023 which found that the number of people volunteering in the UK had declined significantly since before the pandemic. 

For an organisation like Hope into Action this is a serious issue as our model of supported housing is dependent on volunteers from local churches who provide friendship and support to our tenants.

The combination of local Christian volunteers working alongside with our professional Empowerment Workers is the ‘secret sauce’ of our work.  Providing every tenant with a volunteer befriender  who genuinely wants to spend time getting to know them is gold-dust.

And we are glad to say that our experiences do not reflect the national drop-off in volunteering reported by NCVO.

In a recent survey of our 110 partner churches, 83% said they’d seen volunteer numbers maintain or increase. This is the difference that faith makes.

As one of our volunteers so nicely put it, “At first I thought volunteering with Hope into Action was all about property, but now I realise it’s all about love."

Gail (pictured) is a great example of someone who embodies this commitment.

She recently retired from volunteering with the St Stephen’s Church Friendship and Support group in Norwich after over 12 years of supporting HiA tenants.

She shared a few words with us about the impact volunteering has had on her and what motivates her to do it. 

"It’s not something you can just dip in and out of. You get involved in people’s lives and you want to see things through. So commitment is required, and where the lives of others are concerned, there are no short cuts. The difference one person can make may be very small – or it may be quite significant. Either way it is humbling to be alongside people whose lives have often been incredibly tough…seeking to support them in this was a great privilege but you had to tread softly.

And it’s important to have the backing of the professionals. There’s a fine line between making allowances for someone’s difficult background and moving them into victimhood. One of the challenges I enjoyed as a volunteer was seeking – with help – to find the right approach for each person and each situation. Because no two were ever the same; but the Empowerment Workers were always on hand to help."

We also asked Gail how her faith made a difference to her volunteering and her resilience and perseverance, and she said:

"One of the attractions of Hope into Action for me is that they know that long-term commitment to someone is far more effective than any quick fix. I believe this comes from their Christian faith; it is how God relates to us and how He expects us to relate to one another, whether or not we see the result we are hoping for.”

Thank you Gail for sharing your thoughts and for all the support and kindness you have given over the last 12 years!

We thank God for Gail and all our Friendship and Support volunteers for their commitment to our tenants. They are examples of how faith and hope in Christ has helped us buck the national decline in volunteering since the pandemic.

Kate Doran-Smith, Head of Network

Please consider donating to Hope into Action. Click here to visit our donation page.