When we talk about volunteering in schools and community groups, we usually focus on what the volunteer contributes. We measure volunteer effort in cakes baked, sausages sold, tickets scanned, uniforms sorted and dollars added to the fundraising total.

What is discussed less often is what volunteering may give back to the person doing it.

At its best, volunteering offers more than the satisfaction of helping. It can create regular, meaningful contact with other people. It gives us somewhere to be, something useful to do and a reason to become part of the life of our community.

In a world in which many of us work from home, communicate through screens and spend much of our time rushing between work and family responsibilities, those opportunities for genuine connection are increasingly valuable.

Loneliness does not always look like being alone

It is possible to be surrounded by people and still feel disconnected.

Parents can spend their days moving between school drop-off, work, groceries, children’s activities and home without having a proper conversation with another adult. We may know hundreds of people online but have very few opportunities to build the easy, familiar relationships that develop through seeing the same people regularly.

Moving to a new community can make this even harder. So can returning to work, leaving paid employment, having a baby, experiencing separation or simply moving into a different stage of family life.

Friendship is often treated as something that should happen naturally. Yet adult friendships usually need the same ingredients as any other relationship: repeated contact, shared experiences and enough time for familiarity to grow.

Community volunteering can provide all three.

What the research tells us

There is growing evidence that volunteering may help reduce loneliness and support wellbeing.

A randomised controlled trial published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity examined a structured volunteering program involving adults aged between 50 and 70 who were experiencing loneliness. Participants who volunteered regularly reported a greater reduction in loneliness than those in the control group, with benefits continuing while they remained involved in the program.

A separate longitudinal study followed more than 5,000 older adults over 12 years. It found that people who participated in more than 100 hours of formal volunteering each year had a lower risk of subsequently experiencing loneliness than those who did not volunteer.

These studies focused on older adults, and we should not assume that the findings apply equally to every age group or every kind of volunteering. Still, the possible reasons volunteering may help are not difficult to recognise.

Volunteering can provide regular social interaction, a shared purpose, a sense of usefulness and a connection to something larger than ourselves.

Volunteering Australia identifies social interaction and a sense of purpose as two key ways volunteering may support mental health and wellbeing. It also recognises volunteering’s role in reducing social isolation, building relationships and strengthening community connection.

How connection happens through P&Cs

P&C volunteering gives people something to do together, and that often makes connection happen more naturally.

A discussion about where to put the fairy-floss machine becomes a chat about children, work or the local area. Two parents folding shirts discover they live on the same street. Someone who signs up for one canteen shift starts recognising familiar faces at the school gate.

A bake-sale shift becomes a chance to talk. Packing merchandise, painting signs or standing together at a Friday-night meat raffle creates the kind of easy, side-by-side conversation that can be much less awkward than walking into a social event and trying to make friends.

This can be especially valuable for people who are new to a school or do not immediately feel confident in a group. They do not need to arrive knowing everyone or be the loudest person in the room. They can begin with a practical job and get to know people as they go.

Schools bring together people from different professions, cultures, family structures and life experiences. Without a reason to become involved, many of those people may remain strangers, even while standing beside one another at school pick-up every afternoon.

A P&C gives them a reason to move beyond the polite nod at the gate.

Feeling useful matters too

Connection is not only about being included in conversation. It is also about feeling that your presence makes a difference.

There is a particular kind of satisfaction in knowing that a job needed doing and you helped get it done.

Perhaps you filled the final empty space on a roster. You found a sponsor. You collected an order. You stayed behind to pack up chairs. You showed someone new how the Square reader worked.

These may be small acts, but they matter. They tell us that we are not simply watching from the sidelines. We are part of the school and part of the group of people making things happen.

That sense of usefulness can be particularly valuable during periods of change. Work, caregiving and family responsibilities can shift dramatically over time. Volunteering can provide a little continuity and purpose outside our immediate household or professional role.

It is not just about what gets funded

Of course, the money raised matters. It pays for equipment, programs, resources and experiences that schools might not otherwise be able to provide. The events matter too. They give children and families opportunities to enjoy their school and create memories together.

But the value of P&C involvement does not end when the money is counted or the chairs are packed away.

It is also in the parent who moved to town and now knows a few people at the gate. It is in the grandparent who has found a role in the school community. It is in the person working from home who gets out of the house for a couple of hours and has a proper conversation with another adult.

Volunteering is not a cure for loneliness. It cannot replace close relationships, professional support or broader action to address social isolation. It should also never become another source of pressure, guilt or burnout.

But when volunteering is welcoming, flexible and well organised, it can offer something many people are quietly missing: a place to belong, a useful role and a reason to keep showing up.

So, to the P&C heavyweights filling rosters, opening canteens, selling tickets and finding jobs for the people who want to help: this is part of what you are creating too.

Yes, you are raising money and making more possible for your school and your community.

But you are also helping people find one another. And in an increasingly disconnected world, that matters enormously.

So go you.