The Jewish Volunteering Network is conducting a major survey following a lack of growth in volunteering numbers.
The survey has already been sent to thousands of people connected to the JVN, but the charity’s heads are now hoping to reach many more people outside the organisation to ensure the Jewish community has “a pipeline of volunteers” in the future, said Rachelle Lazarus, the JVN’s charity engagement and volunteer manager.
She said the aim of the survey was four-fold. “We want to see how people feel in general about volunteering. We want to find out whether or not young people want to volunteer in traditional Jewish charities and in traditional roles. We also want to look at the connection between volunteering and wellbeing, and whether being Jewish in 2026 informs or influences people’s feelings about volunteering.”
The JVN was set up in 2007 to create bespoke matches between people looking to utilise their skills voluntarily, and charities – both Jewish and non-Jewish – needing volunteers.
However, Lazarus said that volunteering trends were very different today to what they were when she started working in volunteer management over 30 years ago.
She told the JC: “Back then, the profile of volunteers was of older people who wanted to volunteer one or two days a week.”
Nowadays, instead of regularly volunteering for one charity, people often seek out one-off “micro-volunteering” opportunities, such as writing cards or helping at events, for a range of charities. “It’s great that people do these one-off sessions or taster sessions, but what we hope the survey will identify is how this can be turned into more committed volunteering,” said Lazarus.
While Covid and the immediate aftermath of October 7 saw a leap in volunteers – ‘In a crisis, everyone volunteers’ – this momentum has been hard to maintain
The Community Life survey, carried out by the UK government, found that between 2024 and 2025, 17 per cent of people in the UK had taken part in formal volunteering. Jewish people were the largest religious group to formally volunteer in 2025, with 31 per cent of the community having volunteered at least once a month, said the report.
Lazarus said that while Covid and the immediate aftermath of October 7 had led to a surge in volunteering – “In a crisis, everyone volunteers” – this momentum had been hard to maintain, and the number of volunteers in the Jewish community and wider society had now plateaued.
She put this partly down to people retiring later, and also to grandparents taking on more childcare duties. “I was talking to a volunteer manager at a centre recently while a toddler group was taking place, and lots of the toddlers were with their grandparents. The volunteer manager turned to me and said: ‘Those are my volunteers.’”
Lazarus added that volunteering was now “competing with more things, so volunteers are more conscious of their time and want to know that what they do will have an impact on the charity”.
She said that for young people, volunteering – especially in a field they were interested in going into – “can make a difference to someone’s CV”.
“All volunteering is transactional. We shouldn’t be frightened of saying that. Our broker at JVN will ask a volunteer what their goals are and what causes are close to them. The volunteer needs to get something back.”
But Lazarus stressed that charities needed to adapt if they wanted to recruit more volunteers. “If you want volunteers, you need to engage with them and be more flexible, and not all charities understand this.”
An idea which the survey is exploring is the creation of a volunteer passport, which would allow volunteers to move easily between different charities and save on paperwork.
To take part in the survey, go to: jvn.org.uk/survey26 or click here
The deadline is March 31
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