Volunteers are critical to how community businesses help to make places better.

There is a growing body of evidence on how communities have responded to COVID-19, highlighting an early surge in community action and the subsequent power of communities to mee

This report attempts to fill in some of the gaps in understanding what volunteering means in practice in a community business context. 

The study is based on primary data collection from 26 communities across England and a literature review.

New concepts of community power have risen up the policy agenda during COVID-19.

Community spirit has flourished and community power has been realised during the pandemic.

In Briefing 5, Volunteering through crisis and beyond: starting, stopping and shifting, we provided an overview of literature on volunteering.