Older People

More than 10,000 people over the age of 50 volunteer with us across the UK, in many different ways.

We develop, support and run brilliant volunteering projects for and with people over the age of 50.  Like Grandmentors which matches 50+ year olds as mentors for  young care leavers, or Sporting Chance, which gets male volunteers out and active, and Help at Hand, which matches volunteer befrienders to some of the most isolated individuals in the community.

We also support many people to start and lead their own projects through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP). RSVP responds to local community needs, enabling people aged 50 and over to take a lead role in both setting up and participating in volunteering activities that improve the health and wellbeing of others in their community – running sports clubs, employability skills workshops, patient driving schemes, knitting groups and much more.

We currently have more than 55 volunteer-led RSVP groups running across the country, and are always keen to help people start their own in response to local community needs. These include the provision of Community Care services (transport & wellbeing) in partnership with GP Surgeries, Volunteer Drivers groups, Lay Assessors in Care Homes and Home Care, Musical Activities projects for older people and an extensive Schools Volunteers Programme.

Other members have responsibility for internal activities such Office Administration, Information Systems (IT), a Membership and Projects Database, Bookkeeping, Publicity Materials and the Editorship of a regular Newsletter.

Nearly 500 of our RSVP volunteers are Volunteer Organisers (VOs), acting as team leaders to the RSVP volunteers in their areas, responsible for managing a team of up to 40 volunteers.

All RSVP members choose their activities and the amount of time they want to contribute. All expenses are reimbursed and good personal and third party insurance cover.

Please get in touch if you’re interested in starting your own RSVP programme.

Take a look at all our projects, programmes, and RSVP coordinated activities below.

(Photo courtesy of Ageing Better Middlesbrough)

filmon grandmentors intergenerational mentoring

Grandmentors

Grandmentors: building better futures for young people leaving care in 11 areas of the UK. Volunteer Grandmentors share their skills and experience with young people leaving care to help them get on in life.

Handyperson Project

Our handyperson service runs in Stirling and Clackmannanshire and involves older volunteers who complete small and minor maintenance jobs that some older people cannot do by themselves.

Heather’s Hair

Heather’s Hair is an RSVP project that creates hairpieces and weaves for people experiencing hair loss due to chemotherapy or other reasons.

LifeLines

Lifelines project in Brighton brings together people aged 50+ both as volunteers running activities and as participants in the wide range of volunteer-run activities.

Norfolk Knitters & Stitchers

Norfolk Knitters and Stitchers provide support to charities at home and abroad with hand knitted items as well as creating a community & friendship for isolated individuals.
Patient Driving Schemes volunteer RSVP

RSVP Driving Schemes

Driving schemes are a lifeline to some older and more vulnerable people living in the UK who may not be able to get around easily.

RSVP Forth Valley

RSVP in Forth Valley encourages and assists older people to use their skills and experience to volunteer and keep active in retirement.

RSVP Knitting

Our knitting groups, are growing increasingly popular with over 5,000 social action knitters across the UK producing in excess of 50 big bin-bags worth of knitted goods per month
reading in schools volunteering

RSVP Reading in Schools

Our Retired and Senior Volunteer Programmes (RSVP) offer volunteering in local schools across the UK, for people aged 50+, where they can support pupils with with reading, maths or specialized subjects.

RSVP West

RSVP West is a key region for our RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme) and covers Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset.

Sporting Chance

Sporting Chance invites older men to join in activities and exercise groups from walking football to arm chair exercise, Aquasize to reminiscence sessions.

The Loop

The Loop gives beneficiaries the opportunity to become volunteers. It enables participants to access the social group as and when they need support, progress onto the Goals Group when ready and take their learning further within the Projects Group.

Volunteer Centre Newcastle

Volunteer Centre Newcastle acts as a connector between people and communities with a database of opportunities across the city.
People gather smiling by a bench from project Welcome Friends

Welcome Friends

Welcome Friends provides friendship through home visits and telephone calls by volunteers, reducing social isolation and improving well-being. We also encourage attendance at local group activities.

Grandmentors Volunteer (Lewisham)

Grandmentors is an innovative project that sees older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support young people leaving the care system. This opportunity is for Grandmentors Lewisham.

Telephone Befriending Volunteer Co-ordinator – Older People

The Telephone Befriending coordinator role will essentially be offering regular chats to vulnerable older people which reduce isolation and connect older people to others. The Telephone Befriending coordinator role might include helping to create new ideas to support people via phone or encouraging people to join other group activities.

Telephone Pals Volunteer – Getting Together Matters

Purpose of the role Volunteers are needed to provide some telephone company for people who are self-isolating and unable to leave their home as direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these people are already recognised as the most vulnerable in society; this could be due to a range of factors, including age or … Continued

Sporting Chance – Rhondda Cynon Taf

Sporting Chance RCT supports men and women to keep active both physically and mentally and creates a strong community to reduce loneliness in volunteers.

GRANDMENTORS – VOLUNTEER (WARWICKSHIRE)

Grandmentors is an innovative project that sees older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support young people leaving the care system. This opportunity is for Grandmentors Warwickshire.

Welcome Friends – Befriender (Merthyr Tydfil)

Volunteers support and befriend people who may be isolated or lonely in the local area by making home visits and helping to organise and run social activities in community settings such as sheltered accommodation, day centres or libraries.

GRANDMENTORS – VOLUNTEER (Wiltshire)

Grandmentors is an innovative project that sees older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support young people leaving the care system. This opportunity is for Grandmentors Wiltshire.

Handyperson Project – Volunteer (Stirling)

Our handyperson service runs in Stirling and Clackmannanshire, involving volunteers who complete small and minor maintenance jobs for older people. Some older people struggle to do small jobs at home by themselves. It can be expensive or challenging hiring a professional to do such a small job. Our service means older people stay independent and … Continued

RSVP – Volunteer Knitter (Glasgow)

RSVP knitting groups provide an opportunity for older people to be social and is also a opportunity for older people to still feel useful in retirement and give back to their community.

RSVP – Volunteer Knitter (Pontyclun)

RSVP knitting groups provide an opportunity for older people to be social and is also a opportunity for older people to still feel useful in retirement and give back to their community.

RSVP – Volunteer Knitter (Barry)

RSVP knitting groups provide an opportunity for older people to be social and is also a opportunity for older people to still feel useful in retirement and give back to their community.

RSVP – Volunteer Knitter (Pontypool)

RSVP knitting groups provide an opportunity for older people to be social and is also a opportunity for older people to still feel useful in retirement and give back to their community.

Grandmentors – Volunteer (Ipswich)

Grandmentors is an innovative project that sees older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support young people leaving the care system. This opportunity is for Grandmentors Ipswich.

RSVP – School Volunteer (Clackmannanshire)

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) in Clackmannanshire provides opportunities to older people or those in or approaching retirement to volunteer in a primary or secondary school.

RSVP – Recruitment Organiser

RSVP volunteers are all aged over 50 and draw upon on their experiences to lead and develop projects targeting needs in their local community. We have 10,000 volunteers, of which over 450 are Organisers.

RSVP – Schools Coordinator

RSVP currently have volunteers in more 350 schools around the UK. Our aim is to help more older volunteers take part in this popular programme.

Grandmentors – Volunteer (Islington)

Grandmentors is an innovative project that sees older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support young people leaving the care system. This opportunity is for Grandmentors Islington.

Grandmentors – Volunteer (Hounslow)

Grandmentors is an innovative project that sees older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support young people leaving the care system. This opportunity is for Grandmentors Hounslow.

RSVP – Volunteer Gardening Organiser (Poole)

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY Twigs Garden Club is all about providing a ‘laid back gardening for all’ approach to gardening. This project is open for all ages, whether you have a large or small garden or just a window box, do come along and discuss your interest, socialise and make new friends. The club is now … Continued

RSVP – Stirling Care Village

Volunteers are here to enhance the patient experience. This is an exciting opportunity to meet people, learn new skills and most importantly, make a difference to people's lives.

RSVP – Volunteer Driver (Rawcliffe/Snaith)

Our volunteer drivers help anyone who needs assistance with getting to hospital & health care appointments. Together we can assist with helping older or vulnerable people maintain their health, independence and reduce social isolation.

RSVP – Walk Organiser (Stirling)

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme encourages those aged 50+ to volunteer and stay active. We are looking for an older person to volunteer as a Walk Organiser for our popular weekly walks in Stirling and the surrounding area.

RSVP – Volunteer Knitter (Clackmannanshire)

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme encourages those aged 50+ to volunteer and stay active. We are looking for older people in Clackmannanshire who would like to knit items for charity and good causes.

RSVP – Volunteer Knitter (Stirling)

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme encourages those aged 50+ to volunteer and stay active. We are looking for older people in Stirling who would like to knit items for charity and good causes.

RSVP – Volunteer Knitter (Dunblane)

RSVP knitting groups provide an opportunity for older people to be social and is also a opportunity for older people to still feel useful in retirement and give back to their community.

RSVP – Schools Volunteer (Falkirk)

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) in Falkirk provides opportunities to older people or those in or approaching retirement to volunteer in a primary or secondary schools.

RSVP – Schools Volunteer (Stirling)

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) in Stirling provides opportunities to older people or those in or approaching retirement to volunteer in a primary or secondary schools.

Welcome Friends – Befriender (Rhondda Cynon Taf)

Volunteers support and befriend people who may be isolated or lonely in the local area by making home visits and helping to organise and run social activities in community settings such as sheltered accommodation, day centres or libraries.

RSVP – Volunteer Driver (Ryedale)

Many people rely on our volunteer drivers to help them do everyday things that most of us take for granted. A simple trip to the shops can be complicated, if not impossible, for some people without the support of a volunteer driver.

Grandmentors and Hounslow Allies

All local authorities have a statutory duty to provide independent visitors to all children in care (aged 8 – 16+) who would benefit. In Hounslow, London, we’ve been providing an Independent Visitor Service – Hounslow Allies – for over 12 years. We also run Grandmentors in Hounslow. Grandmentors is an intergenerational mentoring programme that matches … Continued

Full-Time Volunteering: Carers’ Support Bexley

The role of a Full-Time Volunteer (FTV) can be very varied, and supporting full-time carers is just one of the ways that FTVs provide incredible support to those they volunteer with. Volunteering Matters has been working with Carers’ Support Bexley for over 20 years (back when we were known as Community Service Volunteers!) and we … Continued

What it’s like to be a Grandmentor

Karen heard about Grandmentors through the local business community, and is already seeing a great difference in her mentee, only a few weeks into supporting her as a volunteer.

One Small Step Winter Update 2017

Over the past few months the One Small Step Project has had no shortage of updates, and we thought there would be no better time to share them with you than to round up 2017!
Rose

Learning for Life Together: Rose’s Story

When 90 year old Hartcliffe resident Rose was approached to take part in a Bristol Ageing Better intergenerational learning project, she wasn’t keen on speaking directly with the children, so Volunteering Matters found a way for her to get involved on her terms.

Sporting Chance: Jeff’s Story

Jeff has suffered from mobility issues for years, and found his health issues made him feel quite low. But through volunteering with Sporting Chance he has felt more confident and outgoing.
Darina

Lifelines: Darina’s Story

Even though Darina works 3 days a week as a property lawyer, she makes time to volunteer when she can with LifeLines in Brighton.

Handyperson Project: Sandy’s Story

Sandy, 70, from Stirling has been volunteering with our Handyperson Project for the past 10 years and he told us what a day in his volunteer role looks like.

HealthLink: Nora’s Story

As part of our Older People Focus week, Nora told us about her experience of being part of HealthLink, which supports older people to get to their healthcare appointments.

Befriending Matters: Winifred’s Story

As part of our older people's focus week, we chatted to one of our long-serving volunteers about her experience as a telephone befriender, and found out what motivates her in her role.
Help at Hand

Help At Hand Befriending: Audrey and Mouyra’s story

Audrey, 53, from Alloa, is a volunteer befriender with Help at Hand Befriending. She was matched with Mouyra, 87 also from Alloa, earlier this year and the pair quickly bonded over their shared love of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

One Small Step: Jacqui’s Story

"I really enjoy my visits just as much as Shirley does. I know that I am helping Shirley and feel privileged to be able to do so."

Grandmentors: Ed’s Story

"Mentoring gives us an opportunity to continue to deploy our skills and knowledge, but in a very different environment."

Employee Volunteering: Kosar’s Story

City wise recruits unemployed volunteers aged 50+ who want to make a difference in their communities through offering their skills and experience to help others.

Help at Hand : Katie’s Story

"Loneliness is something that can affect anyone at any time, and it is projects like this that are so important in helping to stop it."

RSVP West: Joan’s Story

"I've met all sorts of people. It's great to share all our stories and experience the pleasure in volunteering"
Roger- Lifelines

Lifelines project : Roger’s Story

"I had never lived alone before my wife passed away. Living alone was a big shock initially, but volunteering has helped my well-being a lot."

Grandmentors Programme Review

An external review of the Grandmentors programme, conducted between June and September 2017. The review looks at what Grandmentors offers in the current policy and commissioning environment, and how the model could be evolved for the future.

Engaging Older People of Asian Origin

Our Retired and Senior Volunteering Programme (RSVP) in Coventry has been delivering a project tackling isolation and improving wellbeing amongst older people in Coventry through volunteer-led activity.

Volunteering in retirement

Retirement is an opportunity for you to use and develop your skills and talents further than you thought possible. Read how volunteering in retirement is becoming more prevalent.

Grandmentors Golf day raises £5,000 for care leavers

Seventy supporters raised £5,000 for Grandmentors, an inter-generational award-winning project of Volunteering Matters. The money will help to provide weekly support for young care leavers over a 6-12 month period, ensuring greater well-being, autonomy and career prospects.

Volunteering Matters welcomes new Civil Society Minister

Volunteering Matters featured in an article about the appointment of the new Minister for Civil Society, Baroness Barran, in which we stated we looked forward to working with her to ensure that more people can change lives and transform communities trough volunteering.

Volunteering Matters chosen as Charity of the Week by players of People’s Postcode Lottery

  Volunteering Matters is this week’s players of People’s Postcode Lottery Charity of the Week. We feature on their website here. Every year thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, tens of thousands of vulnerable and disadvantaged people in communities across England, Scotland and Wales benefit from the support of Volunteering Matters. Our partnership … Continued
LifeLines Volunteers at their Volunteers' Week Celebration

Impact of Volunteering Matters ‘LifeLines’ celebrated in Brighton

LifeLines’, a volunteer-led programme which provides social activities for retired people in Brighton and Hove, celebrated its amazing volunteers at an awards reception to mark Volunteers’ Week. 30 Volunteers were treated to a tea at the Old Ship Hotel. Karen Bowlas, the project manager for ‘Lifelines’, said. “By celebrating our volunteers we are able to … Continued

Sunshine Cafe celebrates anniversary

Sunshine Café, which acts as a social hub for the village of Leeswood celebrated its first anniversary. The morning’s filling included the usual fare of hot chocolate, teacakes and laughter.

Grandmentors programme wins National Mentoring Award

Volunteering Matter’s Grandmentors programme won a prestigious national award recognising its transformational work in mentoring young care leavers. The Grandmentors programme received the honour in the Third Sector category at the recent National Mentoring Awards, in recognition of the 1:1 support that Grandmentors provide young people leaving care. One of the key areas that impressed … Continued

Our Volunteer Awards 2018

At this year's AGM we wanted to recognise the incredible individual efforts made by our volunteers, and the impact they make every day up and down the UK. We developed a new set of Volunteer Awards, to cover the full range of our work

Volunteers attend Queen’s Garden Party 2018

For the second year, volunteers from our North Lanarkshire Befriending Project, Help at Hand, and the Employee Volunteering team from the Co-Op were honoured at the Royal Garden Party at Holyrood Palace!

Volunteering for all – all year round!

As thousands of volunteers are being celebrated up and down the country as part of Volunteers’ Week, we of course couldn’t let the moment pass without three cheers for our incredible volunteers!

We’re challenging young people to start their revolution!

This month sees the launch of our brand new campaign to change young people’s perceptions of volunteering. Titled ' Revolution You ', our campaign aims to challenge preconceived notions of volunteering and encourage more young people to consider a gap year in the UK. 
Karen and Sarah

Taking Grandmentors to new places!

Both Stockton Council and Wiltshire Council will be teaming up with Volunteering Matters to launch Grandmentors in their area, providing new inter-generational mentoring to young people leaving care. 

RSVP takes centre stage in South Korea

KBNe UK, a partner of Korean Broadcasting Network in Europe, are producing a TV documentary about life and opportunities for senior citizens and the importance of the third sector, and sought to highlight our work in the UK. Our RSVP conference provided the perfect backdrop for the production team to meet some of our amazing volunteers.

Brighton Over 50s Showcase Artistic Flair!

Margaret is a retired secondary school Head of Art, and has has been teaching an art class as part of LifeLines for local people over 50 for almost 5 years. She shared some of the work and explained the theme of the most recent project!

Ipswich Through the Looking Glass

Volunteering Matters took over Christchurch mansion in October 2017 to showcase our volunteering projects running across Suffolk.
Help to Health

Happy Grandparents Day!

To celebrate Grandparents Day we caught up with some of our amazing volunteers and staff, grandparents and grandchildren alike, to find out how they’ll be marking the occasion.
AGM Awards

Volunteers take centre stage at our AGM

We have launched many amazing new projects in the past year, all made possible by talented and dedicated volunteers across the UK. We were delighted to shine a spotlight on some of them at the Volunteering Matters 2017 Annual General Meeting which took place on the 28th of September.

Sheffield over 50s given a Sporting Chance

Sheffield over 50s were joined by special guests including Anne Murphy, the Lord Mayor of Sheffield at Longley Four Greens Community Centre this week to celebrate the launch of Sporting Chance.

Sporting Chance group star in video to combat loneliness

Middlesbrough’s Sporting Chance group star in a film that forms part of a national campaign to expose the growing crisis of loneliness and encourage people to take action to overcome the problem as part of the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness.
#givingtuesday

Volunteering Matters mobilises people power on #GivingTuesday

In 2015, #GivingTuesday broke the world record for the highest amount of money donated online in a 24 hour period. We think this is brilliant – but #GivingTuesday shouldn’t just be about giving money so we are asking our supporters to donate the gift of time by volunteering in their communities.
Sporting Chance stockton-on-tees new project

Sporting Chance arrives in Stockton-on-Tees

Sporting Chance, our innovative project that addresses social isolation and poor physical and mental health amongst men aged 50+ in Middlesbrough, has been replicated in Stockton-on-Tees.

Lifelines goes from strength to strength!

Lifelines, a flagship project from the national charity Volunteering Matters, will be expanding across the city thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities programme.

Sporting Chance hit the big screen

Sporting Chance, a project for men over 50 in the Middlesbrough area became film stars for the day when Leanne from Button Media Management came down to create a great new promotional video for them

Norfolk Knitters celebrate 2,000th member

On Friday 1st May a special celebration was held at the North Norfolk Wool Loft Open Day, at Sheringham Community Centre, to mark the 2000th member joining Norfolk Knitters and Stitchers.

Continued austerity a threat to communities

Worries of continued austerity, calling for the next government to acknowledge the value of the volunteering sector given its critical role in helping to promote and sustain the well-being of individuals and communities.

Getting Together Matters

Once you get past the initial strangeness of online video calls, the genuine interaction with others can be a game changer.

Work With Us: Natasha’s story

We asked Natasha Craike, Project Co-ordinator of Grandmentors Surrey, to tell us about what it feels like to work at Volunteering Matters. Natasha told us about her experience of being a working mum at Volunteering Matters. As a mum to an 18 month old baby I didn’t think that I could go back to work … Continued

Health Champion, Paramveer Sanghera & friend, Will Mann, create a free wellbeing app

Health Champion Paramveer (Paz) and friend Will Mann, founder of Spudg Studios, have developed a free well-being tracking app called Sentient. Paz is a volunteer Health Champion with our project Health Champions Warwickshire, empowering volunteers in the local community to connect  with individuals and community groups to make healthy lifestyle choices. What is Sentient?  Sentient … Continued
volunteer recruitment active volunteering hackney

Top Tips for Recruiting Volunteers

We share our top tips for volunteer recruitment in a new area, making sure you can stay safe while providing essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The power of a relationship

Could our innovative intergenerational mentoring programme for care leavers become a new national norm? Our Head of National Programmes Gethyn Williams and Will Bibby, Programme Manager at Nesta gave their take.

What would a week without volunteers be like?

Volunteers are invaluable. For older and isolated members of the community, young people leaving care, for disabled volunteers, for the NHS, and many more. Out Chief Executive Oonagh considers what a world without volunteers might look like.