Including one, but excluding another; UK Law changes to Age of Participation

According to definitions.net, under the law category, the definition of a volunteer is someone who ‘acts without legal obligation to do so’. The UK law surrounding volunteering is in constant development and has gone through some changes in the past few years, with some major changes still to come in the next few years. As well as changes to the law on volunteering itself, there are changes in the law which affect the volunteering world; one of which being the raise in the age of participation (RPA). Coming into effect this year, if a young person is currently in Year 10, they will have to continue in education or training until at least the end of the school year in which they turn 17. If they are currently in Year 9 or below, they will have to continue until at least their 18th birthday. This does not necessarily mean they will have to stay on at school after Year 11; they will have a choice about how they want to participate post-16, which could be through:

•             Full-time education, such as school or college;

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•             Work-based learning, such as an Apprenticeship; or

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•             Part-time education or training if they are employed, self-employed or volunteering for 20 hours or more a week.

(WIRRAL, 2013)

This could result in a rise in younger people opting to go into volunteering. The number of people volunteering formally once a month has fallen slightly from 29% in 2005 to 25% in 2009/10. The implication of this is that there are growing expectations from volunteers to be rewarded (by the organisation and/or its (commercial) partners) in relation to the amount of time they invest (Third Sector Foresight, 2010). However, now that every student is required to choose from those options, the number of volunteering positions available to adults in the UK could run the risk of becoming significantly diminished.

It is important to understand that in the coming years, if one wants to gain experience via volunteering, especially in the arts sector, one will have to see it as a stepping stone which may not be so easy to tread. However, unpaid posts can bring career credentials for arts practitioners as well as for would-be arts administrators, curators and educationalists.

Volunteer jobs have become as coveted as paid positions in some instances; in one museum, over 200 applications are received yearly with only approximately 40-80 volunteer roles offered annually and these types of figures are typical of visual arts venues (SydneyLivingMuseums, 2013).

Please click on this link for further information on RPA

References:

Sydney living museums, 2013. Volunteer FAQs. [online] Available at <http://www.hht.net.au/support_us/volunteer/faqs> [last accessed 11/04/2013]

WIRRAL, 2013. Raising the Participation Age. [online] Available at <http://www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/childrens-services/education-and-learning/schools-and-colleges/information-parents-and-carers/raising-participation-> [last accessed 11/04/2013]

Third Sector Foresight, 2013. Trends in Volunteering. [online] Available at <http://www.3s4.org.uk/drivers/trends-in-volunteering> [last accessed 11/04/2013]

Definitions.net. [online] Available at <http://www.definitions.net/definition/volunteer> [last accessed 11/04/2013]