Friday December 5th 2025
Kate and her family after the 2022 Kiltwalk where she raised money for ELCAP which she is the Vice Chair of.
Written by local coach, Kate Flory
We all have very busy lives these days, and depending on who you ask, some of us are over- busy, stretched to the limit, and even on the edge of burnout. So, whilst we seem to be struggling with time and energy, why should we be thinking about giving some of our precious time away?
We all roughly have the same waking number of hours – 1000 minutes a day. So, giving 30 or 60 minutes a day (or a week) to do something for someone else may seem a lot, but in the grand scheme of things is just a blink of our waking day.
Volunteering in 2026 may not be on your radar, but as a more regular commitment to acts of kindness, it may be something for you to consider.
We’ve come up with a list of benefits for volunteering your time and energy, with an aim to encourage you to rethink what you can give and why.
Top 10 facts
1. Gives you confidence – helping others and using your skills or just sharing your time over a cuppa will help boost your confidence.
2. Improves your self-esteem – spending time as a volunteer has been shown to improve self-esteem. Stepping out of your comfort zone and building new skills, as well as relationships, all help to repair low levels of self-esteem.
3. Meet new people – not only do you meet those you are helping you also become part of a wider network of helpers, volunteers, and colleagues. This is an opportunity to expand your community. As the issue of loneliness has become a major concern in the UK, by volunteering you are actively integrating and engaging back into society.
4. Learn new skills – many volunteering roles support your personal development by giving you bespoke training and even qualifications. Learning also comes in the form of getting to know about other cultures and the viewpoint of people typically out with your community circle.
5. Having a purpose – volunteering gives us a sense of purpose and can be the reason that encourages someone to leave their house or gets out of bed in the morning. Having a reason or a role in an organisation, or community, is known to also make you feel happier and to help fight mental issues such as depression, anxiety, or stress.
6. Mental and physical health and wellbeing – the Royal Voluntary Service said that 80% of its volunteers felt that helping others improved their mental health and overall wellbeing and also improved their physical health.
7. Good on your CV – giving some of your time to something you feel passionate about highlights your character, passion and determination. Something that looks good on your CV no matter what age you are.
8. Increase brain function – learning on the job, stepping out of your comfort zone and acquiring new skills are all part and parcel of being a volunteer. But what is less known is how this improves your ability to problem solve and improve your short- term memory. Studies even suggest it reduces the risk of Alzheimers.
9. Live longer – A study in America found that people who volunteer over 100 hour a year are some of the healthiest people in the US and have less illness and better overall health.
10. Make a real difference – we can all feel that we have nothing to offer, no special skill to share yet the simple act of visiting and elderly person and sharing a cuppa with them, taking someone their shopping, or driving someone to a café are all ways that these simple acts can have a profoundly positive impact on someone else’s life.
Getting started in volunteering may feel daunting, but there are numerous local Midlothian organisations who offer guidance and support such as Midlothian Community Action, Volunteer East Lothian, Volunteer Edinburgh, and Volunteer Scotland, as well as asking around in your local area for which community groups are looking for helping hands.
Volunteering may start as something we give, but it often becomes something that gives back more than we expected.
Tweet Share on Facebook
