Could we make volunteering more like a 'social group with a purpose'? More like booking a gym session, or going on a date - more fun & more flexible. Ditto professionalising and personalising the management of how it works - book a zoom call, ask (park mangers to make something happen rather than stop it).

The over 65s do lots of the volunteering. 39% of people aged 65-74 volunteer monthly compared to 25% of the wider public - this has been largely static for 15 years. Those people are getting older in years and so far the next generation aren't going to volunteer in the same way.

I used to joke that I don’t like the word volunteering, and I have no idea what community means. But I know who ‘people’ are, they’re all around us. Those involved in volunteering or community projects often know (and maybe love) it, but for many people they’re an irrelevance. Millions of people volunteer in parks, millions also do not. If local authorities want to represent their populations, these things matter.