South East charities urged to sign up for volunteering platform

Charities in the South East are being encouraged to sign up to a new volunteering platform to help recruit more people.

The Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) has created a digital platform which will launch in the autumn and allow potential volunteers to browse opportunities and connect with charities.

Charities across the region can sign up for free and will be invited to upload roles to test the platform, which has benefitted from People’s Postcode Lottery funding.

The RVS said: “Local and regional charities are vital to the fabric of the South East, and many rely on the time and support of volunteers, yet charities across the board are seeing fewer people step forward in recent years.”

An aim of the platform is that once a person has registered and completed an identity check, they will be able to move between volunteering opportunities through the platform without the need to re-register and repeat basic checks.

Eventually, charities will also be able to utilise free criminal record checking, which will be introduced to the platform.

Catherine Johnstone CBE, chief executive of the RVS, said: “The platform addresses what we know to be barriers for would-be volunteers and makes fitting volunteering into modern life easier than ever.”