Havering Volunteers Centre Has Saved The Council £5.8m In Unpaid ‘Volunteer Hours’ Yet Councillors Are Set To Debate If They Are Good Value For Money.

It is the only centre in Havering with a “large capacity of volunteers who have the ability to mobilise them in a swift manner and with the ability to carry out their duty and functionality”.

Local Democracy reporter Sebastian Mann today writes:

Havering councillors will debate whether Havering Volunteers Centre offers “good value for money” in the borough.

It is the only licensed and accredited volunteer centre in Havering, with a total of 7,657 volunteers on its books.

A report, due before the council’s cross-party scrutiny committee next week, offered a positive assessment of the centre.

It has been involved with various initiatives, including supporting refugees and asylum seekers from Ukraine, springtime clean-ups, and offering warden services during floods.

Since opening in 2015, Havering Volunteers Centre (HVC) has saved the council £5.8m in unpaid ‘volunteer hours’.

That includes 23 volunteers saving the council £117,208 by working as support staff at Havering Adult College.

They saved a further £524,160 by restoring and maintaining the sensory garden in Harrow Lodge Park since 2016. The council has said it has not “expended any of its own resources” as a result.

Scrapping council funding for the centre means it would “very likely close,” according to the report. It would also lead to reduced services for residents and other services potentially becoming overwhelmed without support from volunteers.

Havering Council’s assessment of the HVC comes after a series of heavy cuts to public services.

Earlier this year, top councillors voted to close three libraries across the borough in a bid to save £330,000 a year. The decision was taken after a council identified a £75million black hole in its budget for 2025/26.

The report does not indicate the council is considering cutting its £56,000-a-year funding.

“There is no organisation currently operating in Havering that can undertake the work that HVC does to the [same] standard, volume or capacity,” an officer wrote.

It is also the only centre in Havering with a “large capacity of volunteers who have the ability to mobilise them in a swift manner and with the ability to carry out their duty and functionality”.

Councillors will debate the report at a meeting on Wednesday (16th March).

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