Standards Working Group Meeting 4

Published on: 18 February 2026

Categories: Working Group

Summary

We presented our data models for accessibility and crisis response, we demonstrated how to log suggestions, issues and questions on the data models. We also looked at sharing volunteering opportunities data, and what information needs to be recorded to enable data sharing.

MINUTES: Volunteering Data Standards Working Group 4 18 February 2026

Documents:

• Slide Deck
• Miro - https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVG_TGKwY=/

Agenda

1. Welcome & Project Overview
2. Data Model Updates
3. What information needs to be recorded to enable data sharing?
4. Next Steps

Attendee profile

The working group was attended by 18 people, including 2 members of the ODI project team (Andrew and Julie).

There was representation from a range of organisation types, including:

• Volunteering Involving Organisation (National)
• Central Gov.
• Consulting / Advisory

Welcome and Project Overview

Andrew Newman (chair) presented an overview of the project and the role of the standards working group, explaining that the Volunteering Data Standards Project is DCMS-funded and is a fast-tracked initiative designed to bridge the data infrastructure gap between communities and available volunteering opportunities.

The project follows a standard three-stage development cycle:

• Discovery: Identified seven key use cases focused on increasing participation, improving volunteer experiences, and evidencing impact.
• Alpha: Developed a formal data standard for volunteering opportunities and the technical infrastructure to support it.
• Beta (Current): Moving into real-world implementation through three specific pilots.

The Three Beta Pilots

1. National Interoperability: Ensuring data can be shared seamlessly across large platforms and adapting the standard as required.
2. Grassroots Inclusion: Testing the standards to ensure they are accessible and functional for smaller, local organisations.
3. AI Readiness: Developing an agentic search bot to test how standardised data can power AI-driven opportunity searches.

Timeline & Next Steps

The project is currently working toward a March deadline to complete the pilot phases. While the AI and grassroots pilots are on track for significant progress, the interoperability pilot is currently refining its deliverables with stakeholders. Findings will be shared in future working group meetings to determine the project’s long-term trajectory.

A member asked in the meeting chat: Are the pilots to be completed by the end of March? The chair explained that it is the aim.

Data Model Update

This phase of the volunteering data standards project focuses on refining the core data model and expanding its functionality through specialised extensions and open collaboration.

The project transitioned from a rapid Alpha phase (completed in December) to a continuous improvement cycle.

• Open Source Approach: All work is published openly on GitHub.
• Community Input: Stakeholders are encouraged to use the GitHub "discussions" feature to contribute expertise on specific topics like data governance, accessibility, and crisis response.
• Discussion Threads on Github

The group reviewed 3 aspects of the draft data model in an interactive session and suggested improvements to this model:

Accessibility Extension

• Rather than listing "barriers," the model should focus on available support.
• Physical & Digital Access: Includes place-based accessibility, transport links, technology assistance, and internet availability.
• General Requirements: Tracks age limits, language needs, and expense policies.
• Data Quality: Participants expressed a strong preference for pre-defined code lists over free-text or binary (yes/no) options to ensure data remains searchable and consistent.

Crisis Response Extension

To support spontaneous volunteering during emergencies, suggestions were made in three broad areas:

• Skills & Readiness: Focused on crisis-specific skills, first aid training, and physical stamina (e.g., ability to stand for long periods).
• Assets: Tracking access to necessary equipment, such as vehicles.
• Safety & Logistics: Includes requirements for PPE, risk assessments, and multi-agency coordination.

Metadata for Data Sharing

The project is considering how best to define metadata standards (data about the data) required to make volunteering datasets truly interoperable. To ensure data is discoverable, ensure sensitive information is handled correctly, and users can verify if a dataset is fit for their specific purpose. The group provided input on descriptive, structural, and administrative metadata essential for sharing volunteer opportunity data at scale.

Discussions

A working group member asks whether accessibility in volunteering should be managed through standardised data labels or through personal conversation and role adaptation.
The chair acknowledged that personal discussions were an important part of the onboarding process but that providing data about accessibility should help potential volunteers to identify opportunities that would be suitable for themselves.

A member highlighted that a lack of resources and funding—specifically the loss of dedicated “access to work” grants—creates a financial barrier for small organisations. The discussion surmised that better data about opportunities to volunteer could enable better targeting of monetary support and adaptations needed to help them open their doors to diverse volunteers?

A member highlighted the need to clarify the technical structure of the accessibility fields—specifically, will physical and digital accessibility be simple top-level flags or nested properties with specific boolean attributes. The project team flagged that they are still determining which fields should be binary (yes/no), free-text, or pre-defined code lists and that not everything has been modeled in detail yet.

The working group discussed enabling sector-wide data sharing. The discussion identified that metadata is the key to helping users determine if a volunteer opportunity dataset is trustworthy and “fit for purpose.”

Next Steps

Meeting 5 (04/03/26)

• We will focus on describing the value of volunteering as data, this will include the value to people volunteering and the value to the volunteer-involving organisation.

Meeting 6 (18/03/26)

• This will be a retrospective, we will present the work of the working group and our achievements and seek your views on what went well, what didn't go well and your ideas for the future.