🙌 Volunteering as a way out of isolation
In brief
Volunteering works against loneliness twice over: it creates a fixed, recurring appointment in your calendar and a feeling of being needed and belonging to a group. The range runs from occasional help in a club through regular voluntary tasks (e.g. visiting services) to a structured voluntary service lasting several months.
Step by step
- Assess your own time and interestsA commitment that suits your own life situation (a few hours a week vs. a full-time voluntary service) is easier to sustain than too big a leap.
- Contact a local volunteer agencyMany towns have a volunteer agency or volunteering exchange that matches people with suitable roles.
- Consider the Federal Volunteer Service or a voluntary social yearFor a structured, time-limited voluntary service with a fixed placement and educational support, the Federal Volunteer Service (Bundesfreiwilligendienst, BFD, all age groups) or the voluntary social year (Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr, FSJ, mostly young people) come into question.
- Volunteering with welfare associations or clubsVisiting services, club work, voluntary neighbourhood help or helping in self-help groups offer ongoing, usually flexibly arranged contact.
- Keep a volunteering certificateFor job applications or your own appreciation, a volunteering certificate is worthwhile; many organisations issue one on request.
Deadlines
- The exact duration and form of the Federal Volunteer Service (full-time/part-time, special forms for people over 27) should be asked about in each individual case directly at the Bundesamt für Familie und zivilgesellschaftliche Aufgaben (BAFzA) or the placement, as details vary by form of service.
- Volunteering should not be mistaken for a free stopgap workforce – reputable organisations clarify tasks, time commitment and contact persons beforehand.
- The trainer allowance and the volunteer allowance are tax allowances, not regular pay; anyone who depends on an income should not confuse volunteering with a job.
- Some services require an extended police clearance certificate (erweitertes Führungszeugnis) (e.g. when working with children or people in need of care) – clarify this early to avoid delays.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Legal framework of the Federal Volunteer Service
The Federal Volunteer Service (BFD) is regulated in the Bundesfreiwilligendienstgesetz (BFDG) and is open to people of all age groups. Under § 3 BFDG the period of service is as a rule at least six and at most eighteen months; in special cases an extension of up to twenty-four months is possible. People over 27 can often also serve part-time. The responsible body is the Bundesamt für Familie und zivilgesellschaftliche Aufgaben (BAFzA).
Tax support for volunteering
For secondary activities in non-profit, charitable or church institutions, the trainer allowance (§ 3 Nr. 26 EStG) and the volunteer allowance (§ 3 Nr. 26a EStG) apply as expense allowances exempt from tax and social insurance contributions up to annually set tax-free amounts; the exact level of these allowances is subject to legislative adjustment and should be checked in each individual case with the tax office or a tax adviser.
Effect on loneliness
Alongside meeting opportunities, the Kompetenznetz Einsamkeit names structured voluntary work as one of the building blocks of the National Strategy against Loneliness, because it creates fixed social roles and recurring contacts; as of this page, a quantified, methodologically sound effectiveness study specifically for the German context was not available in a form that would justify a concrete percentage.
A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.