Every year, Volunteers’ Week gives us the opportunity to honour and celebrate the incredible efforts of volunteers everywhere. Since 1984, the first week of June has been about connecting big organisations with local groups — and, most importantly, about saying a heartfelt thank you to current and past volunteers.
Volunteering plays a crucial role in UK society, with countless people across Scotland, Wales, England, and Northern Ireland dedicating their time and skills each year. It's truly a collective effort that brings us all together. And the numbers highlight these incredible contributions: the Jump team is proud to be part of the 14.2 million people in the UK who have volunteered through a charity or structured group over the last 12 months.
The positive impact volunteers have on communities across the country is often much greater than we all might realise. Many organisations depend on volunteers to keep things running smoothly day-to-day: without this commitment and dedication, they wouldn't be able to do what they do.
At Jump, we cherish this opportunity to unite our team in the shared joy of giving back. We’ve set ourselves a goal of 500 hours of volunteering per year; so far this year, we have completed 185. Our grand total since becoming a B Corp is 1817.5! We’re on track to pass the 2,000-hour milestone in 2026, and we couldn’t be more excited.
This year, we all coordinated our volunteering plans for the first week of June and made Volunteers’ Week truly special. Some of us cleaned beaches that desperately needed some TLC after the heatwave crowds left, and many of us booked some shifts to help with one of the causes closest to our hearts: Felix.
Born from the merger between The Felix Project and FareShare, Felix is the UK’s food rescue network, supporting 1.5 million people across the country. Thanks to its 16 independent network charities, 18,000 volunteers (including us!), and thousands of partners, Felix supports breakfast clubs, community kitchens, neighbourhood centres, homeless shelters, and so many other similar organisations with food deliveries— over 5,600 in the past 12 months. In the same timeframe, Felix volunteers have moved over 26,000 tonnes of rescued fruit and veg!
This week, a few members of the Jump team volunteered with Felix. We sorted and checked fruit, vegetables, ready meals, meat, and fish; we picked, prepared, and packed delivery orders for local charities; we loaded those orders and delivered them to those in need. In just an afternoon, Nicki picked over 200 tonnes of food!
Volunteering with The Felix Project is incredibly rewarding, whether you're working in the warehouse or out on the road as a co-driver. In the warehouse, it's inspiring to see the sheer volume of food that has been saved from going to waste and is instead redistributed to those who need it most. Seeing pallets of food picked, sorted, and lined up ready for the next day's deliveries gives a real sense of purpose. Knowing that much of this food may otherwise have been thrown away, but will instead reach organisations that truly value and depend on it, makes every shift worthwhile. As a co-driver, you get to see the impact firsthand when delivering food to charities and food banks. Meeting the people and organisations that benefit from these deliveries makes you appreciate the incredible work that Felix does and just how many people it supports every day. Many of these organisations simply could not survive without the support they receive from Felix and the dedication of the amazing volunteers who generously give their time to help others. Being part of that effort, however small, is both humbling and incredibly rewarding. — Nicki, Marketing Analyst at Jump
Before becoming a B Corp, we had never really reflected on the impact of volunteering — the impact we ourselves could make. It’s almost surprising looking back on that time, now that volunteering is intrinsically tied to the very way we operate. Volunteering with Felix is especially humbling: all the food we move, pick, and sort with the other volunteers makes us appreciate the incredible work the charity does every day. There is so much food, but also so much need: being able to help means the world to us.
To everyone who volunteers, whether it's a few hours a year or a regular commitment, thank you for the difference you make.
