What we do: Growing participation

Volunteering is evolving

People want to be treated as equal partners: to help shape change, not just carry out tasks allocated to them. They want to use their experience, skills and creativity to make a difference to issues they care about. They just need the opportunity to do so.

Volunteer-led groups and movements in particular are reshaping what participation looks like. These groups are collaborative, flexible and self-directed - people come together around a shared cause, make decisions collectively and act without waiting for permission.

This shift reflects a wider truth: the interconnecting challenges we face - climate breakdown, inequality, polarisation -  can’t be solved by institutions alone. It will take all of us. This is reflected in a growing range of movements like #DoWith (from the Kings Fund), #Citizens (from Jon Alexander) and Asset Based Community Development.  When people participate as partners, bringing their lived experience and insight, solutions are better. 

How Reach helps

Reach connects thousands of people every year with opportunities to use their skills in meaningful ways.

Our service

At any one time, our platform features 1,500 live volunteer roles across every corner of civil society - from small grassroots groups and volunteer-run movements to national charities.

We support organisations to create roles that are:

• Impactful: Volunteers use their skills to strengthen organisations through strategy, digital transformation, fundraising, governance and communications.
• Flexible: Most roles can be done remotely, and fit around volunteers’ schedules.
• Collaborative: Volunteers often help shape the work itself, co-creating projects with organisations instead of following a fixed brief.
   

Our service makes these connections simple and human. Volunteers and organisations can message each other directly to explore ideas and agree how to work together. Charities can also search for volunteers by skill, interest or location, and reach out to them — creating a genuine two-way process that supports dialogue and trust.

Our campaigns

We inspire people to act on their values through campaigns that connect personal motivation with collective purpose:

Change the Story reframes volunteering as an expression of shared purpose and agency, challenging outdated ideas of decline.

Volunteer for Climate Action connects people with opportunities to take meaningful action on the climate and nature crises.

Impact

We have generated a sustained surge in volunteering, against a decline in the wider sector. In 2025:

• 16,301 people signed up to volunteer — an almost four fold increase since 2019
• Over 60% of new volunteers were under 40, bucking the wider trend of ageing volunteer demographics
• The number of volunteer-run organisations using Reach has grown more than tenfold since 2019
• Charities and groups recruited 5,996 volunteers and trustees, a record year and a 10% increase on 2024.

Explore more details about the volunteers and organisations we work with in our interactive charts.