From Opportunity to Employment: Designing Volunteering That Makes a Difference

Volunteering can play a vital role at all stages of people’s lives.  Whether you’re taking your first step into work, returning after time away, navigating additional support needs, changing careers or looking to stay connected in retirement - there is good reason to volunteer for everyone.

For people facing barriers to employment, volunteering can offer more than experience — it can provide structure, confidence, skills development and trusted networks.

But volunteering is often misunderstood, and the scale of its impact — particularly for people who face barriers to opportunity — can be underestimated.  In this one-hour online session, we’ll explore how volunteering can be intentionally designed as an employability pathway.

We’ll hear from Volunteering Matters about their supported volunteering programme, to help people (aged 16-64) overcome barriers, build skills, and gain confidence through tailored placements

We’ll also learn about the journey of Green Hive, which began with a River Nairn community project in 2015 and has since engaged over 1,000 local volunteers (around 10% of the town). They will also share their ambitions to become an SQA training centre and develop structured volunteering pathways for people facing barriers to employment.

By the end of the session, you’ll leave with practical ideas, real examples, and greater clarity about how volunteering can be used to create meaningful, supported routes into work.

This will be a participative session — come ready to share your experiences and explore how we can strengthen employability pathways together.