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Volunteering Health Benefits
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02 June 2025
From Stress Relief to Increased Happiness: The Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Volunteering
By Mandy Burrell
Volunteering has powerful individual, community and societal benefits and is a great way to support a cause that resonates with you, get involved in your local community and meet new people.
Studies even show that there are wide-ranging benefits of volunteering for your health and wellbeing, from your physical and mental health to your overall life satisfaction. Volunteering really is a win-win for all!
There are a variety of different ways to volunteer at our advice bureaus, where you can use your skills and talents to help others, and build new skills and connections. From adviser roles to becoming a trustee, administrative support to social policy, you will have access to ongoing training and development, and you can decide where you think you’ll make the best contribution.
Our volunteers often talk about the different ways that volunteering has impacted on their lives, those around them and the people they help. Let’s dive deeper into these powerful benefits of volunteering.
5 Health and wellbeing benefits of volunteering
Volunteering allows you to accomplish new skills and share your existing talents. In some roles, the training you receive and the skills you develop can be very advanced, or you could be utilising your existing skills to help others. This can increase your confidence and self-esteem and foster a deep sense of pride and accomplishment.
A powerful wellbeing benefit of volunteering is that it allows you to forge a new identity in your role and a greater sense of meaning and fulfilment. You have a new purpose beyond your normal day-to-day life, which can lead to a new perspective, other avenues and possibilities.
Volunteering can help you to meet new people and boost your social skills. Reports highlight how volunteering helps to build support systems with like-minded people and form friendships based on common interests. Volunteering also allows you to connect to your community, learning about local activities, groups, and resources.
Volunteering can lead to lower rates of depression, with many volunteers reporting an improvement in their mental health and wellbeing, and a distraction from daily stressors. An unexpected well-being benefit of volunteering is that it even makes you happy, and being helpful to others gives you enormous pleasure.
There are many physical health benefits of volunteering, with research suggesting it can help lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep health, and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Studies have also found that volunteering lowers mortality rates and improves health conditions ranging from digestive disorders to diabetes.
Everyone has their own reason for volunteering. The most important thing is to find an opportunity that suits you, which you find enjoyable and rewarding. No matter how old you are or how many hours you contribute, it’s clear that volunteering really can improve your health and happiness.
If you’re interested in finding out more about volunteering with Hamilton Citizens Advice Bureau, please get in touch, as we would love to hear from you.
“Volunteering and the ability to help others gives me a sense of confidence and happiness, and I can honestly say it is the greatest reward I’ve ever experienced. It has helped to shape my skills, confidence and self-worth.”