London, UK: UK Social exclusion Minister Hilary Armstrong today visited Mencap in Preston to mark the announcement of almost £1m of funding to increase volunteering by those at risk of social exclusion.  Read article

Most employees say they would prefer to work for a company that allows its staff time off to volunteer, new research in the UK has found.   Read article

They're the students who go abroad to boost their CVs, have a laugh - and help out in the developing world at the same time. But this week a charity claimed that young people volunteering during gap-year risk doing more harm than good. The Guardian's Patrick Bartham asks 10 volunteers what they think.  Read article

Most British high school graduates take a year off before university to volunteer abroad, the so-called gap year. After 20 popular years, the gap year's nature and necessity is being questioned by Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), a UK-based international volunteer-sending organization. VSO claims, among others, that gap years are becoming "outdated and colonial." Mike Pallis of The Guardian reacts on the changing faces of gap years.   Read article

London, UK: Research finds that people with mental health problems help themselves by helping others, writes Mark Oliver of The Guardian.  Read article

London, UK: Voluntary work abroad may usually be considered the domain of gap-year students, but now a charity is looking for top managers to join its ranks.  Read article

Belfast, Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland's Community Volunteering Scheme has set aside nearly £3 million aimed at attracting more volunteers to support local community projects.  Read article

The Citizenship Survey is a biennial survey of adults in England and Wales, covering a range of community based issues including views about involvement in the community, civil renewal, volunteering and charitable giving.  Read article

London, UK: Volunteers from Indonesia are being deployed to help fight poverty, drug and alcohol abuse in Glasgow, Scotland under Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) Global Xchange programme. The programme also aims to give volunteers from poor countries a glimpse of the "rich and glamorous western life".  Read article

Glasgow, Scotland: More than 1,200 volunteers, charity workers and trade unionists from around the world are in Glasgow, Scotland for a major international conference to discuss issues affecting civil society.  Read article