Volunteering across Scotland is collapsing at a pace few predicted. A new report puts the scale of the problem into stark perspective, with hundreds of thousands stepping back — or never stepping forward — to help.
A warning from Volunteer Scotland says the country is in the midst of a volunteering crisis, one that’s stretching the third sector to its limits. People are burned out, skint, and simply out of time.
Formal volunteering numbers plummet across the country
In just one year — between 2022 and 2023 — formal volunteering dropped by four percentage points. Doesn’t sound like much? That’s around 138,000 people who stepped away from unpaid roles in groups, charities, and local causes.
Widen the view, and it looks even bleaker. Since 2019, the total drop in formal volunteers sits at eight percentage points, or roughly 335,000 people. That’s an entire city’s worth of volunteers gone.
And it’s not just about headcounts.
Hours are vanishing too. From 2018 to 2022, 28 million fewer hours were volunteered with groups or organisations.
Let that sink in.
That’s the equivalent of:
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79,000 fewer weeks of volunteer time (based on 35 hours per week),
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Or 18,000 full-time equivalent jobs, wiped from the system.
These aren’t just abstract numbers. They represent community centres closing early, food banks running short on staff, and vulnerable people losing out on services they depend on.
Recruitment is drying up — and retention’s barely holding on
The report paints a grim picture of what’s happening inside volunteer-involving organisations (VIOs). In autumn 2024, a whopping 79% of groups were struggling to recruit. And 69% said they couldn’t hang on to the volunteers they had.
Why?
Two main reasons dominated:
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Fewer people are coming forward to volunteer (69%)
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People have less time than they used to (47%)
But that’s just the start.
Fatigue is setting in. Volunteer burnout and what some are calling a “perma-crisis” have made people disengage entirely. One respondent put it bluntly: “There’s only so much crisis one person can take before switching off.”
People are tired. Worn down. Checked out.
Even those who want to help often don’t have the mental bandwidth anymore. The ongoing cost-of-living crisis is taking a toll on wellbeing, particularly among working-age adults. If you’re stressed about heating your home, giving your time for free starts to feel like a luxury.
Who’s still volunteering — and who isn’t
Some patterns are starting to emerge in who’s stepping back the fastest.
Between 2022 and 2023, male participation in formal volunteering fell by four percentage points. Among women, the drop was just two points. That gap’s not new, but it’s widening.
And among ethnic minority communities, participation fell by five percentage points — a significant shift that the report links to the disproportionate impact of financial strain on minority households.
One sentence here: Retired adults now volunteer the most by economic status.
That’s new. Previously, working-age adults were the backbone of volunteering efforts. But now, people in employment are more likely to cut back, hit hard by time pressure and household costs.
This shift isn’t just statistical — it’s structural. If working-age adults don’t return to volunteering in meaningful numbers, entire support networks could fall apart.
Sector stretched to breaking point as demand rises
It’s not just the number of volunteers that’s dropped — demand for their work is going up.
The report makes this painfully clear. Economic pressure is pushing more people to rely on third sector services — while at the same time reducing the number of people available to deliver those services.
It’s a double hit.
More people need help. Fewer people are around to give it.
And yet, charities and volunteer groups are being told to “do more with less” — less money, fewer hands, and bigger problems.
Here’s what that looks like in real terms:
| Year | Total Formal Volunteers (est.) | Drop from Previous Year | Total Volunteer Hours Lost (vs 2018) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | ~1.52 million | – | – |
| 2022 | ~1.33 million | -190,000 | 28 million hours |
| 2023 | ~1.19 million | -138,000 | Climbing still |
The cliff-edge is real. And the sector’s bracing for impact.
Is there a way out — or is this the new normal?
The report doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. It raises the possibility that if the cost-of-living crisis eases, volunteer numbers could rebound.
But no one’s betting on that happening overnight.
One sentence here again: The damage might already be done.
There’s fear that working-age adults could permanently disengage from volunteer work, seeing it as unaffordable or too much of a stretch.
If that happens, Scotland will need to rethink how it supports community groups. And fast.
There’s also a call for better support — not just to attract new volunteers, but to keep the ones who are already helping. More mental health support. Better recognition. Some even suggest micro-volunteering models, letting people give just a little time in ways that feel manageable.
But even those ideas take resources to roll out. And with so many groups already running on fumes, it’s unclear where that money or energy would come from.
One volunteer coordinator in Glasgow summed it up like this: “We used to have queues of people wanting to help. Now, I feel like I’m begging.”
