Mapping the skills and talents in communities could help public services meet increased demand and user expectation, says innovation foundation Nesta.

Many hospitals, schools and local councils already work closely with volunteers to deliver services, such as magistrates, community police officers and school governors. But in the context of an ageing population and tightening public sector budgets, schools, hospitals and local councils must do more to make this the norm, rather than the exception.

The recommendation comes as Nesta launches the findings from a three year, £14.5million programme of work to test public sector volunteering models. The Centre for Social Action Innovation Fund - a collaboration with The Office for Civil Society - supported 52 organisations and projects, mobilising 70,000 volunteers to support 175,000 people alongside public services. The findings reveal some of the most impactful models and acts as a guide for public service managers wanting to integrate local community assets into mainstream services.

Early results show that volunteering models embedded in public services can have a transformative effect on individuals and the institutions they support. Examples include:

• 2 lives saved in London by volunteer first aiders alerted to a cardiac event by the London Ambulance Service’s GoodSAM app. While an ambulance is deployed registered first aiders with defibrillators are alerted who can begin CPR in advance of their arrival.
• 99 percent of Evie users - a peer mentoring platform for those wanting to be alcohol free or control their alcohol use - remained sober.  Evie users were sent regular text messages of encouragement from volunteers - often former alcoholics themselves - to stick to their recovery plans and goals, facilitating professional support where needed.
• 50 percent of people cared for by Shared Lives Plus - where vulnerable people live with a local family in their home, rather than in residential care - went on their first holiday, and a third made five or more friends for the first time. Shared Lives Plus living arrangements also save £26,000 every year compared with residential care.
• 175 million data points have been collected by 100 for Parkinsons to help researchers find better ways to manage the disease. Volunteers with and without Parkinsons tracked their health for 100 days using a smartphone app and donated their anonymous data.
• Half a grade increase in GCSE English or Maths for students given extra tuition by volunteers. Students completed eight weekly tutoring sessions facilitated by Action Tutoring.

While there is existing support for reshaping public services, there is much still to be done to win hearts and minds and prove the impact and potential of local people supporting public services.

Vicki Sellick, Director in Nesta’s Innovation Lab, comments: “The public services we have inherited from our grandparents are being tested in new ways. By assuming that professionals can tackle alone complex problems like loneliness, long term health conditions, generational unemployment and child poverty we could be failing end users. The best public services make the most of the resources they have, drawing on the talents and insights of local people to give their time alongside skilled professionals. For example, enabling a GP to prescribe world class drugs and volunteer-led fitness classes for someone with diabetes, and giving stretched school teachers an option to have vetted volunteers work with children struggling to keep up in class.”

Nesta and The Office for Civil Society have announced £4.4million in new funding to support public sector volunteering. This includes three programmes to tap into the skills of older volunteers and to trial digital volunteering in remote and coastal schools. More information is available here.

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About Nesta: Nesta is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills. We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery. Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833

www.nesta.org.uk / @nesta_uk

For more information contact Laura Scruby in Nesta’s press office on 020 7438 2697/2543,  [email protected]