One important trend in the 1990s has been an increase in the number of students who volunteer time for communityservice, such as tutoring disadvantaged pupils or visiting in retirement homes.
The council has extended the eight-month consultation by three months to give town and parish councils, schools and community groups time to find their own funding or to organise a volunteerservice.
As a result, health service providers are often forced to recruit illiterate women to serve as community health workers (CHWs, or volunteer health workers).