Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the role of a voluntary organisation in care-oriented volunteering for the elderly.

Caring, in this context, does not only come down to the volunteers' positive sentiment towards the service users, but also shows itself to be an activity that requires volunteers to learn certain skills.

The role of voluntary organisations as a gate keeper is essential as the tension between volunteers and vulnerable elderly people suffering from multiple deprivations, gives physical and emotional stress to volunteers as well as to the elderly.

This paper explores these issues through an ethnographic case study of a locally based voluntary organisation in London. The case study reveals that while both care-givers and care-receivers look for friendships in volunteering, volunteering relationships need to be regulated and standardized by an organisation with various strategies such as the logic of 'empowerment' and volunteering management schemes.