We're celebrating Volunteers Week!

#VolunteersWeek is back Mon 1 June – Sun 7 June 2026. It’s a special time to celebrate all things volunteering! Here at GoVolHerts we honour the incredible contributions of volunteers who make our communities stronger every day. We particularly thank volunteers in Hertfordshire for all you do, however big or small, formal or informal. 

We love this time of year, as we rightfully put full focus on the volunteers who enable local charities, social enterprises, faith and community groups (as well as the NHS and our schools, colleges and local council services), to do the amazing work they do in keeping people safe and supported, improving health and wellbeing, inspiring learning and creativity, and so much more. 

There’s a lot of focus on volunteering at the moment. The United Nations designated 2026 as International Volunteer Year to highlight the vital importance of what volunteers contribute to us all. The Mayor of St Albans had a special focus on volunteering and North Herts has also determined this year to encourage everyone to ‘be the good’. As well as recognising all that volunteers do, another reason for this focus is that volunteers are desperately needed. Statistics such as those in the Community Life survey show that not as many people volunteer regularly in formal roles as they used to, with 17% of people aged 16+ in England taking part in formal volunteering at least once per month (in the last 12 months) and 28% taking part in formal volunteering at least one time in that period. Comparing these statistics to 2013/14 when the data collection began, the respective figures were 27% and 45%, it is easy to see the problem. 

Meanwhile, the need for volunteers remains and has even grown, especially with the many social, economic and environmental needs we currently face. We hear from many local organisations how worried they are as to whether they’ll be able to keep doing their vital work unless they can recruit the volunteers they need. And that need goes across the board from occasional helpers, through to the trustees who are at the core of what a charity does.

Here at GoVolHerts we’re lucky to see a much rosier side of the picture too: the thousands of people who want to volunteer and love to volunteer! 

In fact the national data shows that most people who volunteer really enjoy and value their volunteering. In Time Well Spent 2023 | NCVO report, 92% of volunteers surveyed said they were fairly or very satisfied with their volunteering experience. They reported many benefits of their volunteering. Their most commonly cited benefits from volunteering were:

• • I enjoy it 89% 
  • It makes me feel I’m making a difference 89% 
  • It gives me a sense of personal achievement 88% 
  • I meet new people 87% 
  • It broadens my experience of life 81% 
  • It improves my mental health and wellbeing 75% 
  • It brings me into contact with people from different backgrounds or cultures 74% 
  • It gives me more confidence 73% 
  • It gives me new skills and experience 72% 
  • It helps me feel less isolated 68% 

GoVolHerts is visited by thousands of people each year who are looking to find out more about volunteering or to start a new volunteering role. We now have well over 11,000 volunteers registered. Last year we had over 600,000 page views in total on our website, with more than 4,000 new volunteers creating an account. Over 5,600 volunteering applications were made directly through GoVolHerts and we enabled many more non-profit organisations to connect with people who want to help. 

There are so many different things that volunteers can get involved with and we’re always excited to see this range of opportunities expanding. We now have 650 organisations using our platform to look for volunteers and last year nearly 800 new opportunities to volunteer were created on GoVolHerts. It’s our goal to have something for everyone!

And we invite everyone to get involved. There’s no one way to volunteer and GoVolHerts helps people to find the opportunity that works for them. If you’re still thinking about volunteering and not sure how best to get involved, we can help in so many ways! Browse for opportunities that suit you or come to our Hertfordshire Volunteer Fair on 5 June 2026 to meet over 30 amazing local charities looking for new volunteers.

If that date or location isn’t convenient for you, check out other events happening around Herts this month on our Events page. And you can always learn more about volunteering and opportunities to volunteer through our youtube videos and volunteer stories.

If you’re keen to get going but want to know more about how to find the right opportunity on GoVolHerts or what might happen after you express an interest in a volunteering opportunity, join us online on 3 June 2026 at 6pm for a short Introduction to Volunteering session.