“Across the country, charities are working tirelessly to support their communities, and often, volunteers are at the heart of that effort,” writes Catherine Johnstone CBE, Chief Executive of Royal Voluntary Service.

“Readers who are part of charities will know how tough it’s become to find the volunteers that we need. It’s not that the willingness isn’t there, we hear every day from people who want to help. It’s just that life is busy, the process can be clunky, and too often, the right opportunities and the right people simply don’t find each other.

“That’s why, thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, Royal Voluntary Service is developing a free-to-use digital volunteering platform to support charities with recruiting and onboarding volunteers.

“It’s been designed with input from local and national charities to help all of us connect with volunteers from all generations and backgrounds, and aims to complement all the existing good work that is taking place to recruit volunteers at a local level and in specialist areas.

“The platform will officially open to the public in the autumn, when local people will be able to browse volunteering opportunities and click and connect with causes they care about. But today, I’m writing to encourage fellow charities to sign up for free and see how the platform could benefit them.

“Whether your cause is health, heritage, sport, animals, the environment — or something beautifully unique to your community — we want you with us.

“This platform is our chance, together, to make volunteering easier, more accessible and more visible.

“Whether someone has an hour to give or wants to commit long-term, we want them to find a role that fits - something they believe in, something local, or something flexible they can do from home.

“Visit royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk to find out more and sign your charity up to the platform. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be inviting charities to begin uploading their volunteering opportunities to the platform in stages, and to test it out before it launches to the public.

“So, from one charity to another: I hope you’ll join us. Let’s make it easier for people to find their place in volunteering, and let’s do it, as we always do, by pulling together. “