As always:- follow the money (how is the MHRA funded?).
Surely you remember David Cameron's "Big Society" brainwave ... you know, where volunteers do the work (for nowt) and the CEO's coin in the Big Bucks (and the gold-plated pensions)?

I seem to recall that was around the same time we were promised a "bonfire of the quangos".
Myself, I don't see the point in working for nowt unless you're doing so on your own terms (doing something you enjoy doing, and doing it the way you want it done). If someone wants you to do something when and where, and the way they want it done - well, that sounds very much like "work" to me, rather than a "labour of love".
Over the years I can attest to the saying "No good deed goes unpunished"; I can also confirm that people never really value anything (even a so-called "free lunch") that was provided for free. That especially applies to something (a sale, or service) provided free of charge - but also to life's intangibles (such as giving someone a hand, or even unconditional love); sadly such noble gestures generally end up being resented.

Does not the well-worn idiom "You get what you pay for" still hold true?
