Camden is a borough that has always recognised the importance of volunteering, but has not had the data to know just how valuable it is.
‘The Monetary Value of Charity Trustees’ Report calculates the total monetary value of volunteer charity trustees in England and Wales at £33.17billion. This is greater than the total combined contribution to UK GDP of the manufacturing and sales of basic metals, aircraft parts, whisky, soft drinks, beer, wheat flour, wearing apparel and paints and varnishes.
The report states that although charity trustees are significantly undervalued currently, they are an essential volunteer role within the voluntary and community sector and none of the over 165,000 charities in the UK can function without a working board of trustees.
The report extrapolates the monetary value of charity trustees’ calculation to give an indicative value of all volunteering and even allowing for margins of error demonstrates that the value that volunteering needs to be re-evaluated by decision-makers. The report estimates that all volunteering contributes a value of £324 billion, equivalent to 14.7% of UK.
The report has some statistics that are relevant for Camden and London:
Monetary value of Trustees in Camden: £145 million
Total value of all Volunteering in Camden: £1.3 billion
Camden Council Budget 2023-4: £853 million
Monetary value of Trustees in London: £4.1 billion
Total value of all Volunteering in London: £35.9 billion
London Mayor’s Budget 2023-24: £20.7 billion
The report, which can be viewed/downloaded here: CV Monetary Value of Trustees 2023 Report, was produced by Volunteer Centre Camden and is being officially promoted by its Team UP employee volunteering service. This a successful self-sustaining initiative that has enabled more than a thousand employee volunteers to deliver impactful volunteering projects.
