YouthVIP is here with a simple mission: to encourage and facilitate inclusive volunteering among young people in Scotland.
NEW TERM. NEW FOCUS.
As the new academic year kicks off for schools across the country, we wanted to take a moment to highlight the incredible Youth Volunteering in Schools' Resource! Complete with case studies, good practice insights, activity and session plans, myth-busting exercises, and much more, this fantastic resource is designed to explain and contextualise policy and procedures surrounding volunteering in schools, and highlight the profound benefits.
Take a look at the resource and listen to the insights from our amazing YouthVIP panel members on their experience volunteering in schools, to understand how you could embed volunteering into your educational institution.
Click the image above to view the resource!
Case Studies
The below case studies are a phenomenal resource, and really emphasise the impacts and benefits that youth volunteering in schools can have! Each one acts as an accompanying piece of content to the resource, and tells the story of an organisation who has embedded volunteering within their practices, detailing just how transformative the result has been. These are great examples of partnership working and it is this collaborative approach that has allowed volunteering to become embedded with these school settings.
Panel Member Insights
Ahead of the new term kicking off, we asked some of our incredible YouthVIP Panel members to share their thoughts and experiences when it comes to volunteering in school. We then compiled their insights into the below video for you to consider as you move through the resource!
About YouthVIP
YouthVIP is a multi-organisational initiative consisting of Volunteering Matters and partners Young Scot & YouthLink Scotland to promote inclusive and participatory youth volunteering across Scotland.
Formed from 13 recommendations made by young people from the Youth Volunteering Innovation Project (YouthVIP) to the Scottish Government in 2020. We now work with local Government authorities, Volunteer Involved Organisations (VIO's) and young people to make this vision a reality.
Take a look at the 25/26 YouthVIP Annual Report to find out exactly what we have all been working on!
New Research Report
Young People's Perspectives on Volunteering
Discover what young people really think about volunteering in Scotland. The latest YouthVIP report, developed in partnership with young people across the country, offers fresh insights into what motivates youth to volunteer, the barriers they face, and what they need to feel inspired, included and supported.
From flexible social opportunities to clearer communication and engaging roles, young people are calling for a volunteering experience that works for them.
Dive into the findings and be part of building a volunteering landscape that benefits not just young people but all of Scotland, now and into the future.
Scotland’s Poverty-Related Youth Volunteering Gap
Young people in the most deprived areas in Scotland face more barriers to accessing high quality volunteering opportunities. This paper highlights the challenges we need to address to create more equitable and inclusive volunteering opportunities.
YouthVIP undertook a research project to create a picture of how youth volunteering in Scotland currently looks
-
who is volunteering and why
-
barriers preventing young people accessing volunteering opportunities
-
what can be done to make volunteering opportunities more inclusive, appealing and rewarding for all
Nine recommendations were formed as a guide to how this could be achieved
A deeper dive was then carried out to specifically explore the challenges facing young people from the most deprived areas.
A report from YouthLink Scotland and YouthVIP links with previous work done on youth work and volunteering; and careers support, sets out key areas that must be tackled, and how the recommendations and a youth work approach are ways of breaking down some of these barriers.
YouthVIP in 3 Words...
We asked some of our YouthVIP panel members how they would describe YouthVIP in 3 words. Their responses covered everything from their experiences to the skills they have developed - here were their responses...
International Youth Day 2026
Different Contexts, Common Aspirations
This year for International Youth Day, YouthVIP were featured on Volunteering Matters social media!
As the theme of this year's celebration was "Different Contexts, Common Aspirations" - alongside an introduction to what we do - we also wanted to spotlight the wealth of experience and diversity of journeys of some of our incredible YouthVIP panel members. To do this, we highlighted our case studies which contain the stories, insights and reflections of our panel.
These case studies are a fantastic resource for demonstrating the true variety of experiences of young people when it comes to volunteering, and the value that having young volunteers can bring.
The #iWill Movement
#iWill is a UK-wide movement, amplifying the work if young people aged 10–25 who are making a difference in their communities through social action - from campaigning and fundraising to volunteering, befriending and mentoring.
In Scotland, #iWill works with delivery partner YouthLink Scotland, with support from Volunteering Matters' partner YouthVIP.
What We're About...
Inclusion
Connection
Integration
Support