It's hard to fill an unexpected gap at the last minute particularly if you have a specific ratio of adults to children to keep to. You could ask a parent who was present to step in as a supervised volunteer so that an activity can run. Have a process for letting people know if a volunteer is unavailable. If there is enough notice you can email other volunteers within your organisation and see if any of them could step in. Alternatively, you could have a more formal rota of qualified people who could be contacted to step in where there is a gap. Ultimately though, if you haven't got the right ratio, then the activity should be cancelled. Cancellation often causes a number of people to come forward to make sure an activity runs.

When recruiting and managing volunteers, we often hope that people's passions will align perfectly and produce our ideal roster. Unfortunately, unexpected changes and new needs will always arise. We succeed by having a flexible vision and accepting challenges as an inevitable opportunity. If there's not something we can do about it today – that's okay. Take a step back and see what flexibility you have to fill some of those gaps. Can somebody shift their role or responsibilities for this task? I have often been surprised by how successful an unexpected change may be. Embracing this flexibility and "imperfection" might just wind up yielding some of your best volunteer results yet!

sometimes it becomes more challenging to face the unexpected but the aim is to stay positive and serve the needs of the society through passion and resilient. A volunteer is like a soldier ready to serve the community and put a smile on people's faces without expecting anything in return.

To creatively fill gaps in a volunteer roster due to last-minute changes, you can: 1. Train volunteers to handle multiple roles so they can step in as needed. 2. Use group messaging apps or scheduling tools to quickly reach out to available volunteers. 3.Maintain a list of backup volunteers who can be called upon in emergencies. 4. Provide small incentives, like gift cards or recognition, to encourage volunteers to step in at the last minute. 5. If you’re struggling to fill a long shift, break it into shorter shifts that might be easier for volunteers to commit to on short notice. 6.Reach out to local community groups, schools, or businesses for emergency volunteer support. 7. Post about your needs on social media.

I understand that last-minute changes can be challenging, so I suggest contacting previous volunteers or reaching out to stay-at-home parents who might be able to assist.