Large swathes of the country are dependent on volunteers in one way or another. Think of all the grandparents who look after kids so the parents can go to work. All the carers of disabled family members - if you care for a family member for 35 hours or more a week, you can claim a whole £55 in Carer's Allowance! That should just about cover your expenses... All the St Johns Ambulance, Lifeboats, Special Constables, Firefighters and so on who are volunteers. The veritable army of Mums and Dads who help out at schools, playgroups, youth clubs, community outreach programmes The National Trust, museum workers, plenty of historians, wildlife trusts, coastal cleanups... Day-to-day support services for living, such as hospital transport, befriending schemes, WRVS, Meals on Wheels, DIAL, Unemployed Workers Resource Centres... There are more... services that are either entirely free, or that only charge for expenses but are manned by volunteers, or that have a paid manager to co-ordinate it and arrange the overheads and so on but where the frontline stuff is done by unpaid volunteers. And then Tony Blair says he "wants an expansion of the role of charities and voluntary organisations in providing public services." Cos they're not doing enough already, or something. bbc link here