Making voluntary work available to the underprivileged

Ruth Webb asks if all young people have the same opportunities to benefit from volunteering.

To go to Africa and do voluntary work a young person needs on average £2,000+, and most students cannot afford this without enormous parental support. And it’s not just the money which is stopping the underprivileged from volunteering – a year out is essential for some students to earn money to allow them to pay for fees and accommodation. So how can the underprivileged really afford to volunteer abroad?

Some may say you don’t have to travel to third world countries to make a difference in society; you can easily volunteer at home, working in a charity shop or helping out at a youth centre. But how realistic is this? A full-time student spends five days a week in education, as well as working in the evening and at weekends. This leaves a couple of hours at the weekend to volunteer – many students already have part-time work to help fund their education, so what time is left? Two hours on a Sunday? Poor students cannot afford the time and loss of wages, even though many would love to do so.

Gordon Brown addressed the issue in his pre-budget report. Dormant bank accounts would allow the underprivileged to volunteer in third world countries. But how would this work? How would the money go to those who would really benefit? And is it really money that is stops the underprivileged from volunteering? The privileged have parental support and their families often have contacts, leaving them with the best volunteering opportunities.

Many disadvantaged people would love the opportunity to volunteer but it is almost unrealistic. More could be done in schools, colleges and youth centres in underprivileged areas to promote shorter volunteer programmes on specific projects which would interest them. This would allow more to volunteer for shorter periods, enabling them to continue to work and earn money.

The other option is to volunteer for an hour or two one evening a week or on a Sunday. This is not possible at the moment, as almost all volunteer work is during the day - Monday to Saturday. But I think more funding should be in place to promote different types of volunteering, making volunteering fun and not just for the privileged. More local projects could be funded making a visible difference to local communities, making local voluntary work worthwhile.