Demonstrating the Economic Value of NHCVS: Mapping Costs, Savings, and the Case for Continued Investment

With devolution approaching in Hertfordshire, charities facing boundary changes must demonstrate their economic contribution to sustain services that reduce pressure on public systems—for example, preventing missed hospital appointments and reducing avoidable readmissions. Building directly on the UH-developed Social Value Calculator, which serves over 500 registered charities, this project will compare NHCVS’s volunteer delivery costs with equivalent public services, producing unit cost comparisons, system savings estimates, and counterfactual evidence of the additional demand that would fall on NHS and social care without NHCVS. Impact will be evidenced through integration of cost data into the Calculator and documented uptake by commissioners.