WHILE more has to be done to support vulnerable groups within the community amid the pandemic and beyond, social service agencies continue to grapple with gaps in capabilities, including in areas such as digitalisation and resource management.

Skills-based volunteering is therefore expected to play a key role in filling these capability gaps within the sector. Such a form of volunteerism allows volunteers to contribute to the community through their professional skills and expertise.

To be sure, donations remain important to financially support charities and non-profits. But many within the social services sector are beginning to tap the skills and knowledge of corporates such as OCBC to improve their capabilities and to better serve their communities.

OCBC announced on Monday (Aug 1) that the bank will increase the number of skills-based volunteer projects its employees undertake by 30 per cent year on year across its regional markets. This is done by matching the skills of staff volunteers to meet specific needs of different charity organisations and beneficiary groups.

Skills-based volunteerism requires more work than issuing handouts given the planning and development work required to roll out customised tools and systems across different beneficiaries, said Koh Ching Ching, OCBC’s head of group brand and communications.

That said, this form of volunteerism is a lot more impactful and will truly help the less advantaged segments of the community, Koh noted.

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To boost financial literacy among low-income families, for instance, OCBC staff volunteers worked with Beyond Social Services, Care Corner Singapore and NTUC First Campus to equip 200 families with knowledge on topics such as budgeting and the impact of compounding interest on loans.

Volunteers from OCBC’s Group Data Office also developed a dashboard which allows food charity Food from the Heart to identify food redemption trends, track the popularity of food items and optimise shelf space.

This enabled Food from the Heart, which saw a 34 per cent increase in beneficiaries requiring food aid since the pandemic, to serve the needs of families promptly and provide a consistent supply of food items they want.

Manpower constraints and the need to provide food supplies strategically underlined the need to improve operational efficiency and digitalise to address rising demand for food security, said Food from the Heart chief executive Robin Lee. 

“With data-driven insights, a more meaningful and nuanced understanding of beneficiaries’ dietary habits will also help us shape the future landscape in food distribution efforts,” said Lee.

Meanwhile, the recent pandemic also took a toll on Singaporeans’ mental wellness, said Jasper Lim, a counsellor from Care Corner Singapore, adding that there were 3 times the number of youths who approached Care Corner for mental health support compared with the previous year. Separately, in the #AreWeOkay public survey conducted by SG Mental Health Matters in April last year, some 81.8 per cent of participants agreed that low-income households are at greater mental health risk and believe they should be given additional support.

“While there are more young people reaching out, there are still many youths who are reluctant to reach out for help due to the stigma associated with mental health. To provide timely resources, support and intervention for the youths, we found that social media is an effective communication channel,” said Lim.

OCBC staff volunteers extended their expertise in content creation and social media engagement to help Care Corner raise awareness of mental wellness among youths and to highlight the importance of reaching out for help and support in a timely manner.

“With their additional skills and resources, we hope to share more content, provide much needed support and resources to help more youths,” said Lim.

This article is part of a series on sustainability initiatives, supported by OCBC.