Support us: Volunteers' Week: Celebrating the Volunteers Who Help Tree of Hope Support Families Across the UK

It's Volunteers' Week, a national campaign that celebrates and recognises the incredible contribution volunteers make to charities, communities and organisations across the UK. Taking place annually from 1–7 June, Volunteers' Week also inspires people to explore volunteering opportunities and discover how they can make a difference through charity volunteering.

When people think about volunteering for a charity, they often imagine helping in a charity shop or supporting fundraising events. While these are valuable ways to help, volunteering can take many forms. Volunteers can support charities behind the scenes through administration, marketing, graphic design, fundraising, research, networking, business development and professional expertise.

At Tree of Hope, volunteers play an important role in helping us support families across the UK who are fundraising for vital medical treatment, therapy, equipment and support for their children.

Why Volunteering Matters

According to government data, around 28% of adults in the UK volunteer for a charity or organisation at least once each year, while approximately 17% volunteer regularly, or at least once a month.

The number of regular volunteers has fallen significantly over the last decade, declining from 27% in 2013/14 to 17% today. Much of this decline occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been influenced by ongoing cost-of-living pressures and increasing demands on people's time.

At the same time, charities face growing challenges. Demand for support continues to rise while public services remain under pressure. Charities are increasingly relied upon to fill gaps in support, often with limited resources.

Volunteers provide essential capacity, skills and expertise that help charities continue delivering their services. Research suggests volunteers contribute an average of eight hours per month, creating significant value for charitable organisations.

At Tree of Hope, volunteer support has often been the difference between being able to deliver large-scale fundraising events or not, expanding family resources, strengthening partnerships and reaching more families who need support.

Celebrating Our Volunteers

As part of Volunteers' Week, we'd like to recognise two dedicated volunteers who have made a significant contribution to Tree of Hope over the past 18 months.

Srilakshmi – Graphic Design Volunteer

Srilakshmi joined Tree of Hope in January 2025 as a graphic design volunteer and has played a key role in enhancing the resources we provide to families.

Over the past 18 months, she has helped develop our branding guidelines and created a range of family support resources, including a social media guide, fundraising top tips guide and a getting started toolkit. These resources help families maximise their fundraising efforts and feel more confident when beginning their fundraising journey.

More recently, Srilakshmi has expanded her support into fundraising projects, helping source raffle prizes for our Charity Golf Day and researching new funding opportunities across neighbouring counties.

Her work directly supports the objectives of our three-year Bridging the Gap strategy by increasing our capacity to provide families with practical fundraising tools, guidance and support. Ultimately, this helps families access the treatment and care their children need more quickly.

Catrin – Volunteer Marketing Assistant

Catrin joined Tree of Hope at the same time as Srilakshmi and has provided valuable support as our Volunteer Marketing Assistant.

She has worked on a variety of projects, including researching Charity of the Year opportunities, increasing awareness through national directories and helping strengthen supplier networks within the healthcare sector.

Building stronger partnerships with healthcare providers and charities is a key objective within our Bridging the Gap strategy. Through her work, Catrin has helped create new opportunities for collaboration, referral pathways and partnership development, enabling more families to learn about the support available through Tree of Hope.

Looking for Volunteer Opportunities? Here's How You Can Help

Whether you're a professional looking to share your expertise, a company interested in corporate volunteering, a student seeking work experience, or a parent wanting to support other families, there are many ways to get involved with Tree of Hope.

• Fundraise for Tree of Hope - Organise your own fundraising event, challenge or community activity. Every fundraiser helps raise vital income that enables us to continue supporting families across the UK.
  
  
• Share Your Professional Skills - We welcome volunteers with experience in marketing, communications, fundraising, data analysis, networking, business development, grant funding, graphic design and many other areas. Skills-based volunteering can have a lasting impact on our charity and the families we support.
  
  
• Become an Advocate - Help raise awareness of Tree of Hope by sharing our services within your community, workplace, school, healthcare network or professional connections. Advocacy helps ensure more families can access the support available to them.
  
  
• Become a Parent Advocate - If your family has benefited from Tree of Hope's services, we would love to hear from you. Parents and young people can help share their experiences, support other families and champion the work we do.

Volunteer with Tree of Hope

Volunteers are an essential part of the Tree of Hope team. By donating their time, skills and expertise, they help us reach more families, strengthen our services and make a meaningful difference to children's lives.

This Volunteers' Week, we'd like to thank all of our volunteers, past and present for their dedication, passion and support.

If you're interested in volunteering for a charity, gaining work experience, exploring corporate volunteering opportunities or using your professional skills to make a difference, we'd love to hear from you.

Contact us today to find out more about volunteering with Tree of Hope: https://www.treeofhope.org.uk/contact-us/