We are delighted to announce that we have now opened the nominations for this year’s Inspiring Volunteer Awards 2026
These awards celebrate the amazing people and groups who volunteer in Edinburgh.
Do you know someone or a team who deserves an award? You can nominate them! We want to celebrate as many volunteers as possible.
Every volunteer who is nominated gets a certificate. Some lucky nominees will be invited to collect theirs at a special ceremony with Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, and others will get theirs by post.
The ceremony will take place on Tuesday 2 June during Volunteers’ Week (1–7 June) at Edinburgh City Chambers.
Who can be nominated?
Volunteers must live or volunteer in Edinburgh
They must be at least 11 years old
They must have volunteered for at least six months
Previous winners cannot be nominated again
You can nominate individuals, teams, or for special awards. Fill in the online form here: voled.in/nominations.
Special Recognition Awards
Arts, Culture & Heritage Volunteer – helps with arts, museums, theatre, or heritage projects
Charity Shop Volunteer – works in charity shops with customers, tills, or donations
Digital Volunteer – helps with social media, websites, IT, or marketing
Environment/Conservation Volunteer – works outdoors, gardens, or teaches about nature
Fundraising Volunteer – helps raise money for a charity or organisation
Health & Social Care Volunteer – supports people in the community to improve health and wellbeing
Long-Standing Contribution Award – someone who has volunteered 10 years or more
Sports Volunteer – supports sports and active lifestyles in the community
Team of the Year – a group of volunteers who have worked together to make a big difference
Trustee Volunteer – someone who helps lead a charity or community group
Young Volunteer – for volunteers aged 11–25 showing great dedication
Lord Provost Awards
Paul Bennett Volunteer Manager Award – for volunteer managers who go above and beyond to support volunteers
Ian McInnes Award for Inclusion and Diversity – for individuals or organisations that champion equality, diversity, and inclusion in volunteering
Inspiring Volunteer of the Year All individual nominations are considered for this top award. Judges look at commitment, impact, and dedication. The winner will be chosen by the Lord Provost. Past winners are added to the Honour Board at City Chambers.
Thank you for helping us celebrate the incredible volunteers in Edinburgh!
For more information, contact Jason McCann at Volunteer Edinburgh:
Join us on Sunday 30 November from 11.00 until 15.00 at our office on Leith Walk for a fabulous day of sustainable shopping, sweet treats, and community spirit at our fashion sale to raise funds for the Community Taskforce project, supporting people across Edinburgh who have no one else, including those recently discharged from hospital, facing new health challenges, or in need of a helping hand.
There is a £5.00 entry fee which includes a delicious tea or coffee and a slice of cake, making it the perfect Sunday outing with friends.
We are also looking for donations for the sale so if you would like to help out and have some good-quality, pre-loved adult clothing or handbagsto sell at the event then please drop them off at our office on Leith Walk anytime Monday to Friday from 10.00 until 15.00.
Volunteer Edinburgh is thrilled to announce the return of its flagship event, the Volunteer Recruitment Fair 2025, taking place on Tuesday 30 September from10:00 to 17:30at St Paul’s and St George’s Church, York Place.
With free entry for all visitors, this inspiring event offers a unique chance to connect face to face with a wide range of organisations currently looking for volunteers across Edinburgh.
Attendees will have the opportunity to:
Browse hundreds of live volunteering opportunities
Receive personalised advice from expert volunteer advisors
Enjoy refreshments at the on-site café hosted by Space Kitchen
Whether you’re completely new to volunteering or seeking your next rewarding role, this fair is your one-stop destination to explore, connect, and get involved.
Organisations interested in exhibiting can now book a stall (fees apply, with flexible payment options available).
Join us to discover how you can be part of something amazing!
For more information, visit edvolfair.org.uk or follow #edvolfair25 on social media.
Save the Date! Volunteer Recruitment Fair 2025 Tuesday 30th September, 10am – 5.30pm St Paul’s and St George’s Church, York Place
Our Volunteer Recruitment Fair is back — and it’s your chance to connect face to face with a wide range of organisations currently looking for volunteers.
Whether you’re exploring volunteering for the first time or searching for your next role, you can speak directly with organisations or get personalised guidance from experienced volunteer advisors.
Who is this event for? – Organisations looking to recruit volunteers – Anyone interested in volunteering in Edinburgh
What does it cost? – FREE for visitors
Our last fair helped hundreds of people find volunteering opportunities and connected organisations with much-needed support. Don’t miss this chance to be part of Edinburgh’s biggest volunteering event.
The event is dog friendly and includes a café provided by Space Kitchen for when attendees (and stallholders!) need a break.
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh hosted a Civic Reception at the City Chambers last night to honour the 25th anniversary of Volunteer Edinburgh as an independent organisation and its outstanding contribution to the life of the city.
The event brought together past and present staff, volunteers, trustees, and civic leaders to mark a quarter-century of innovation, impact, and service.
At the heart of the celebration was a powerful address by the organisation’s CEO, Paul Wilson, who reflected on the journey from a small volunteer exchange to becoming one of the city’s most dynamic and adaptive third sector organisations.
Paul said: “If anyone asked me what Volunteer Edinburgh is all about,I simply say: ‘people’.”
A Legacy of Innovation and Impact
Volunteer Edinburgh has supported over 60,000 individuals in their volunteering journeys and welcomed more than 20,000 visitors to its annual recruitment fair over the past 25 years. Its pioneering Health and Wellbeing Service, which began as the UK’s first “Voluntary Work as Therapy” project, has helped more than 2,500 people in the past decade improve their lives through volunteering — many credit it with literally saving their lives.
However, this world-leading project is currently under threat due to potential disinvestment from the Health and Social Care Partnership. The CEO called on civic leaders to recognise and protect this invaluable service that embodies Edinburgh’s compassionate values.
Leading in Digital, Crisis Response, and Community Engagement
From launching Scotland’s first local authority-backed Volunteering Strategy in 2006 to building the country’s most-used volunteer management resource at volunteerwiki.org.uk, Volunteer Edinburgh has consistently led the way in developing practical solutions that scale.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation rapidly built and deployed a Community Taskforce, onboarding 550 trained volunteers to deliver over 17,000 critical support tasks city-wide. This flexible model later supported displaced Ukrainians, NHS vaccination efforts, and even mobilised 200 volunteers during the vigil for the Queen at St Giles’ cathedral in 2022.
“We Just Get Things Done”
Described by peers as an organisation that “just gets things done”, Volunteer Edinburgh has continually reinvented itself — from launching an AI tool for volunteer managers to establishing city-wide hubs and community engagement tools. The CEO paid tribute to the team’s dedication, noting “for a tiny wee organisation, we regularly punch above our weight.”
A Shared Belief in Service
Reflecting on his own 27-year journey with the organisation, the CEO emphasised that the core of Volunteer Edinburgh’s success is a shared belief across its team that “service to others is inherently a good thing.”
He paid tribute to his predecessors, trustees, and colleagues past and present, saying, “Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making Volunteer Edinburgh the vital asset it is today.
“Edinburgh needs it — and I hope it continues to flourish for decades to come.”
I am writing to you to provide an update on Edinburgh TSI* activity since the EIJB Board meeting on November 1 and to invite your collaboration on the next steps.
Though it was welcome that the IJB agreed not to proceed with an in-year cut to the Third Sector Grants Programme, the process leading to that decision, and risks flowing from the meeting on November 1 remain very challenging.
Resolving the funding position for the Third Sector Grant recipients, and all third sector funding from the IJB for 2025/6 alongside co-designing the conditions of success for any future model of working in partnership is a key priority for the Sector, and as a consequence, for the Edinburgh TSI.
We believe the IJB proposals need to be part of a wider strategic conversation in the city about how we invest in the Third Sector, ensuring we have the right investment in the right places with the right capacity to deliver the most impact.
Edinburgh TSI letter following November 1
In the lead-up to the November 1 IJB meeting, we worked collaboratively with the Edinburgh Community Health Forum, and others across our sector to draw out information for briefings from affected TSOs through phone calls, questionnaires and meetings. This concluded with a detailed rebuttal of arguments in Paper 7.2, as presented to the IJB as well as a TSI deputation. The deputation sought to build on the arguments put forward by organisations for time to plan better and work differently.
Following that meeting, I wrote on behalf of the TSI to the Chair of the EIJB, the leader of the Council, the CEC Chief Executive and the NHS Lothian Chief Executive. I emphasised the need for:
Resetting investment: there is a need for a whole city conversation on a sustainable financial settlement for the Third Sector
Reforming ways of working: there needs to be a better approach to commissioning, valuing and supporting The Third Sector through change
Repairing relationships: recognising and valuing the value of the Third Sector contribution to communities is an important part of relationship development
Edinburgh IJB engagement on Third Sector Grants and contracts
Agreeing on a funding settlement for 2025/6 is a key objective for the Third Sector, both for the Third Sector Grants Programme and for the larger contracted services with Third Sector Organisations.
There are different possible scenarios. A best-case scenario might be a one-year continuation of the grants programme while time is dedicated to coherently and collaboratively designing a sustainable “replacement” which enables the IJB to purchase what they need and want from the Third Sector while providing foundational funding for the wider sector.
This will require a series of conversations, some sense of prioritisation and scoping of how to manage change. The big challenge is time. Initial discussions are progressing between Edinburgh TSI and the IJB on immediate priorities, and a meeting has been invited with CEC.
To inform the discussions on funding, the Edinburgh TSI met with a group of Third Sector partners to scope priorities. This includes articulating the real consequences of making any cuts on the Sector and its ability to deliver outcomes with communities; seeking confirmation on the priority focus for the IJB in 2025/6, and inviting discussion on options around the best use of our joint resources through a process of co-design. These conversations will need to be ongoing. We welcome your views as to how best to shape them.
Edinburgh IJB engagement on Public Social Partnership
Any change to a way of working to a Public Social Partnership or some other commissioning model by the IJB demands an investment of time up front.
This time is needed to confirm commitment to co-design to ensure that any partnership is a partnership, and any working relationship is founded on clear conditions for success.
This needs an investment in learning from other PSP’s in the city, what worked, and what didn’t, and it needs clarity on roles and responsibilities. In the meantime, a clear transition arrangement needs to be set out, describing how current commitments and contracts are to be managed.
Following the November 1 meeting, the IJB have been reviewing budget and partnership proposals. They have invited a group of Third Sector representatives to discuss how to progress partnership working together on shared issues and challenges.
The purpose of the meeting is to start a conversation about how best to work together, who to engage and what success looks like. The next steps will need wider conversations within the sector and between the sector and the IJB, and we invite your views as to how best to shape this.
Reference Group Proposal
The Third Sector has important Board roles on the EIJB and other city institutions. However, at the EIJB meeting, Cllr Pogson asked if there was enough Third Sector representation on the Board.
A reformed Board may be a future possibility, but meanwhile, it is critical to be able to support the people who occupy these Board seats so the voices of the sector feed into them, support and challenge them.
This is particularly the case in the next year or so where there will be very challenging issues and decisions to consider, with significant impact for the Sector.
To try and make sense of where to best put attention around these issues, we have convened a small, embryonic group of sector people. We aim to build this into a Reference Group with representation from across the Sector to distil and amplify the voices of the sector around priority issues. This will evolve over the next few months, and we invite your collaboration.
Our initial sense is that the areas of focus are about:
Asserting value: articulating the impact of the sector with fair methods of measurement
Supporting resilience: co-designing ways of working for sector sustainability
Shaping investment: making the case for ongoing investment around sector need
Informing governance: supporting Third Sector Board seats on city partnerships
We have developed Draft Terms of Reference for this Group, which builds on the current issues around the IJB but also focuses on the Third Sector as a whole.
Next steps
In sharing this context and background, it is my intention to work collaboratively to find a solution to the real risks we are facing as a sector.
In this context, I invite you to get in touch with initial feedback on the role of the TSI in shaping the Reference Group. In the meantime, Edinburgh TSI colleagues will continue to convene the sector through forums, networks and meetings, alongside the Edinburgh Community Health Forum.
Together, we can also continue to highlight the risks and impact of this loss of investment in the third sector, both individually and collectively.
Please get in touch and get involved. We recognise that our strength is in working together and supporting each other across our rich, diverse and talented Third Sector. I look forward to working with you.
EDINBURGH INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD PLANS TO END £4.5 million GRANTS TO 63 COMUNITY PROJECTS
SCOTTISH COUNCIL of VOLUNTARY ORGANIATIONS (SCVO)
SCVO response to proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations:
Letter to Councillor Cammy Day, Leader of City of Edinburgh Council,
Professor John Connaghan OBE, Chair of NHS Lothian
cc Pat Togher, Chief Officer EIJB
Proposal by Edinburgh Integrated Joint Board to remove grant-funding from voluntary organisations
I am writing to add SCVO’s voice to the protests regarding the IJB’s proposal to withdraw funding in-year from charities and community groups. 37 of our members are impacted by this decision.
The intention outlined in the board paper to take a more strategic and collaborative approach in the future has been totally undermined by the impact of reneging on this year’s grant funding.
Trust is a fragile thing, and it will take a long time to rebuild any sense that the council and the health board have an understanding of, or respect for, the voluntary organisations that do so much to support our communities.
When you look to build your strategic partnership in 2025, many of them simply won’t be there because they will have gone out of business.
Far from saving money, this will generate significant costs to public services as people fall through the cracks, and the additional millions of pounds voluntary organisations bring in from trusts and foundations or the private sector through match funding and other fundraising activities will disappear. A truly strategic approach would be looking to maximise that income-generation, not cut it off.
It appears that over 100 people who were already in a precarious enough position will lose their jobs. And the discretionary effort of hundreds more volunteers will be lost.
It is evident that when money is tight, which I recognise it is, the council and the health board have retrenched and focused on short-term savings rather than the public good.
The table in the board paper which illustrates where the money could be “better spent” says it all – to the IJB, acute services matter more than prevention or early intervention. As well as being short-sighted ethically and financially, it flies in the face of all the evidence around what communities need and the rhetoric around person-centred services and prevention.
I would urge you to intervene and stop the IJB making a decision everyone involved will regret.
Yours sincerely,
Anna Fowlie Chief Executive, SCVO
BIG HEARTS: “The value the charity sector brings to our local communities should never be in doubt.”
VOLUNTARY HEALTH SCOTLAND:
VHS Chief Executive @MistryTej has commented on the recent cuts being proposed by Edinburgh IJB.
What will it take for recognition of the crucial work the third sector are doing to reduce health inequalities?
Along with the rest of the sector we are extremely concerned by the proposed early cessation of EIJB grant funding to 64 voluntary sector organisations. As well as the loss of important services and the associated job losses, this will impact volunteering.
Volunteers are at the heart of the affected organisations, contributing 206,000 hours of support to people in the community worth over £2m. These volunteering opportunities are not only a lifeline to people they help support.
They also enable local people to be active in their communities, build confidence, develop skills, reduce isolation – all of which contribute to better health outcomes for volunteers themselves.
The impact of the loss of these volunteering opportunities cannot be understated.
LIVING RENT:
64 charities are at the risk of closure due to £4.5 million worth of proposed cuts. This will have devastating effects for tenants, for workers and for communities across Edinburgh.
Let’s defend our community centres, services & jobs.
Join us to say NO to Labour-led cuts!
SCOTT ARTHUR MP:
I have today (Wednesday) written to the Cheif (sic) Officer of the EIJB opposing the proposed cuts to the third sector in my constituency – I expressed my concerns in the strongest possible terms.
I support @cllrcammyday fully in his call for fair funding for Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Integration Joint Board meets TOMORROW (Friday 1 December) in the Dean of Guilds Room at The City Chambers at 10am.
The following organisations will make their case against the cuts at the meeting:
The stallholder terms and conditions are available on our website, and additional resources including a risk assessment, exhibitors guide, promotional marketing can all be found to downloaded. There is also a range of FAQs for any of those all important queries you may have.
What to expect
The Volunteer Recruitment Fair 2024 will showcase the wide range of ways that people can get involved in volunteering with organisations big and small, local and national, who serve a diverse range of communities and causes all coming together with the common aim to attract new volunteers.
Entry is FREE to the public, and more than a thousand potential volunteers are expected to visit and experience the diverse range of ways they can become involved.
Volunteering helps people truly participate in their communities, build new skills, get a taste of different working environments, create new friendships and boost individual confidence and wellbeing. Or simply just feel good that they have done something that made a difference.
When visitors need to sit down after taking in all of this new information there is a café by Space serving delicious food and drink.
When? Tuesday 1st October 2024 from 10am until 5.30pm.
Where? St Paul’s and St George’s Church on York Place. Click here to view on a map.
Our last fair helped hundreds of people in their search for volunteering opportunities, connecting them with the organisations that needed their help.
For lots more info please visit our New dedicated Volunteer Recruitment Fair website edvolfair.org.uk
Join us on Sunday 30 November from 11.00 until 15.00 at our office on Leith Walk for a fabulous day of sustainable shopping, sweet treats, and community spirit at our fashion sale to raise funds for the Community Taskforce project, supporting people across Edinburgh who have no one else, including those recently discharged from hospital, facing new health challenges, or in need of a helping hand.
Find out more here: 
to sell at the event then please drop them off at our office on Leith Walk anytime Monday to Friday from 10.00 until 15.00.
) to find out more!!