Older volunteers

At the other end of the age scale, the question arises of older people needing to keep in paid work these days in order to survive in retirement - has that had a noticeable impact on the number of older volunteers? "We've seen no evidence of that," she replies. "If they want to work at B&Q two days a week and come and volunteer with us for two days a week, that's fine with us! In fact, they can then recruit more volunteers from among their work colleagues."

Since 1988 CSV's Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP) has been involving older people with time to spare in their communities. Attached to over 270 GP practices, they help elderly patients get to the doctor's surgery, pick up prescriptions for those who are housebound or simply visit an isolated patient to see if all is well.

Research has been carried out into the positive health benefits of volunteering in this age group. Already many instances have come to light where those isolated and elderly people being helped by volunteer 'telephone friends', for instance, have discovered that they can help in their turn by phoning others.

It isn't just older people who find a new lease of life through volunteering, as an 11-year project in Newcastle working with mental health service users has illustrated. "We approached mental health trusts because we had identified the vicious circle of patients leaving hospital, getting home, being alone and getting depressed.

Stigmatised, they can't get a job, they become more depressed and next thing you know they're back in hospital. That's so unnecessary and it costs the NHS a fortune." A simple buddy programme with regular social evenings broke the vicious circle of loneliness and depression. Now two new projects are starting up in London and Nottingham.

"We look at opportunities for those being helped to act as volunteers themselves. There are lots of things they can do - rebuild canals, read to children, whatever. It's a pathway back into employment because when you've worked as a volunteer and got a reference, an employer is going to take that into consideration.

"You can be sure the Government has calculated the tremendous savings to be made by this kind of initiative. Their budget for the London project is £7.3 million and this is on the basis that there will be a big saving in health service costs."

Which brings up the vexed subject of Criminal Record Board (CRB) checks - something, I suspect, that has increased CSV's administrative headaches. "Yes, the CRB checks mean a lot more cost and paperwork and it is difficult for volunteers who are waiting to give their time to understand why the checks take so long. But you only need clearance where there is substantial access to a child, not for inside the classroom."

She worries also that the CRB checks are leading to a false sense of security: "They should never take the place of vigilence," she warns. "Ninety per cent of paedophiles are not on the list anyway. We must always bear in mind that children are vulnerable, so the more we can organise activities in groups, the better."

* The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is published by Random House.