Volunteer, Reflect, Grow: Cards to Inspire & Sustain Volunteering

Volunteer, Reflect, Grow is a collection of 27 cards each introducing a model of reflective practice designed to inspire and sustain volunteering. Each card responds to one or more themes: volunteer training, volunteer motivation and commitment, resource constraints and diversity of volunteers. An academic reference is provided for each model.

The themes and cards were developed from a research project at the University of East London investigating how reflective practice can support volunteering in charities and nonprofits. The research defines reflective practice as a structured way of thinking about, understanding and learning from what we do.

The research partnered with four nonprofit organisations (Care4Calais, Freedom2, INADES, Newham Renewal Programme) to understand their priorities. These were identified as: volunteer training, motivation and commitment, resources, and volunteer diversity. The 27 models of reflective practice were selected through a process of mapping research literature (1938-2023) from accounting to youth work. Each model was then ranked against partner priorities by through workshops with volunteers, partners and students.

As of March 2025, the resource has been shared with over 150 charities and nonprofits across the UK.