Volunteers - why do they do it?

by Derek Mitchell, CAS Chief Executive.

This article was first published in the Herald on 6th June 2026.

As national Volunteers’ Week comes to an end, I’ve been reflecting on what it means to be head of one of the biggest volunteer organisations in Scotland. 

First, I’ll state the obvious. Volunteers are the beating heart of the Citizens Advice network. As a charity, we can only afford to employ so many people. So, without the help of those who generously give us their time, knowledge and energy, we wouldn’t have the scale of impact that we have.

But I’ve also been thinking not just about what our volunteers do for us, but what we should offer them, and whether we are getting that right. We recently surveyed them to find out.

There are over 1,700 CAB volunteers in Scotland across our 58 CABs. They vary enormously in background, age, experience and hours given. But what unites them is a desire to help their local community and a belief that the CAB network is the way to do this.  

I was especially pleased to see that 97% felt proud to be a CAB volunteer and 95% would recommend it.

And there’s a specific aspect of this that I want to emphasise. We’ve always tried hard to make CAB volunteering something that can be used as a pathway to personal development and other opportunities. So I was very pleased to see that 89% of our survey respondents agreed they’d gained valuable skills and experience within their role. 

Meanwhile separate research has found that 40% of people who left their volunteer role in the Scottish CAB network in 2024-5 progressed into full time study or paid employment. And 30% of those (196 people) moved to a paid CAB job.

I take a huge amount of satisfaction from that, and feel this isn't recognised or understood clearly enough across Scottish public society.

It would be remiss of me though not to mention there were challenges in the survey responses too. Our volunteers reported feeling the pressure of an ever-increasing demand for our service as the cost-of-living crisis drives record numbers of people to seek support. 

The main solution to that of course would be government action to ease the crisis and reduce the demand. We set out practical suggestions for such action in this space every week, like ways to reduce energy costs and Council Tax debt.

But in the meantime, that pressure felt by our volunteers would also be eased by more volunteers coming forward to share the workload. (There’s a hint here for anyone who feels so inclined). 

I love visiting our CABs and talking to the volunteers. I spoke to one recently who summed up very eloquently why she does it, and in doing so, painted a picture that I think many in our network will understand. 

“When you see someone come through the door, hesitant, quiet, a bit ashamed. Then you sit them down, give them a cup of tea, ask what they need help with. And it all comes flooding out – often accompanied by tears. And then later, after you’ve helped them, you see them leave - with a sense of relief and a smile on their face, telling you they wish they’d come sooner. That’s what it’s all about. That’s why I do it.”