After a significant amount of research has shown that volunteers report improved wellbeing and mental health from charitable activities, charity leaders have outlined how further funding for ‘social prescribing’ initiatives, where doctors prescribe volunteering over medication, could massively benefit the not-for-profit sector and health services. A study published by Shaping the Future with Volunteering showed that 80% of the 29,000 volunteers surveyed felt their lives had become more enriched since starting their charity work. This has led to charity experts calling for ‘social prescribing’ to be utilised more in order to help with a person’s health and volunteer numbers for charities. ‘Social prescribing’ was introduced by the NHS after it was proven to be an effective alternative to medicine. It … Continue reading Experts call for greater access to social prescribing to help charities and NHS reap benefits