More than 250,000 people have registered at charity volunteer centres since the start of the coronavirus crisis, according to the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA).
NAVCA contacted its members to find out how many had registered as charity volunteers since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as more than 750,000 people signed up to the NHS volunteering scheme.
Large numbers of mutual aid organisations, local groups that keep volunteers and beneficiaries in touch via social media, have also sprung up.
NAVCA found that around a third of the charity volunteers have already been matched to local groups and organisations.
Jane Ide, chief executive of NAVCA, said: “It has been clear since day one of this crisis that up and down the country people have chosen to reach out and support their local communities in whatever ways they can.
“To know that around a quarter of a million people have made themselves available to the thousands of local charities and voluntary groups working right on the front line of supporting those in need is a powerful sign that even in the face of a crisis that affects every one of us, the human desire to help others is unquenchable.
“And it is a tribute to the work of the local sector support and development organisations across England, so often the unsung heroes of the local voluntary sector, that those volunteers are being trained, supported and deployed so effectively in possibly the most challenging circumstances any of us could possibly imagine.”
NAVCA has around 180 members who support more than 145,000 local charities and voluntary groups.
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