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In October 2006, the Department for Education and Skills commissioned The National Youth Agency (NYA) to undertake a six-month research project to explore the skills, knowledge and attitudinal development that young people derive from volunteering. The project was envisaged as a first stage in identifying the range of skills gained through volunteering that can be translated and potentially accredited to provide evidence for employability. Key findings [were that]: young people identify for themselves a wide range of personal and social skills developed through volunteering, but opportunities to reflect on and articulate this learning are often underdeveloped; the fieldwork findings clearly support the evidence of the literature review that young people can and do increase their self-confidence and self-esteem, develop a range of communication skills and improve their ability to work with other people through volunteering; volunteering can act as a catalyst for young people to engage more effectively with other learning, or in some cases re-engage with formal learning or training, putting them in a position where they can develop skills and potentially gain qualifications; [and] many young people also develop practical skills related to their specific experiences of volunteering. Three themes emerged strongly from the project: the potential contribution of volunteering to young people’s learning and skills development; the specific skills that young people identified and articulated; and the need for mechanisms to promote this learning and development.

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