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Bridging the Gap: Helping You Work with Spontaneous Volunteers
In every crisis, spontaneous volunteers arrive ready to help. But for many organisations and healthcare systems, their presence becomes a strain instead of a strength. You’re not alone if you’ve struggled to work with unaffiliated volunteers - they can disrupt routines, overwhelm staff, and pull precious resources away from your core mission: delivering aid, care, and stability to those who need it most.
That’s where I come in.
I’m Henrik Kjellmo Larsen - PhD in International Relations, published author on this very subject, civic response consultant, and former spontaneous volunteer.
For over a decade, I’ve studied and worked at the intersection of formal systems and informal help. I’ve lived on both sides of the problem and built a solution that brings them together.
I create step-by-step consulting and workshop programs that helps organisations and healthcare systems confidently engage, manage, and support unaffiliated volunteers - before, during, and after crisis.
The result?
We’ll assess your context, align your team, and put a practical plan in place. I’ll stand beside you in the field or online, wherever help is needed and support your transition from overwhelm to clarity.
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More coordinated responses
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Less wasted effort
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Better volunteer experiences
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A healthier system that sustains both your mission and the people who show up to serve it.
You don’t have to choose between professionalism and openness. With the right bridge, you can have both.
Let’s build it together.
Schedule a discovery call
Assess your specific needs
Develop a customised plan
THE JOURNEY
PHASE 1
Management Focus
Assessing the organization's situation
Mapping available internal/external resources
Evaluating emotional and cognitive readiness
With Team Lead
(1.5 hrs)
Management Workshop
(2.5 hrs)
Team Member 1
(45—60 mins)
Action Plan Presentation
(1.5 hrs)
1-2 MONTHS
PHASE 2
Plan Rollout & Team Enrollment
Align the team and activate the plan.
Onboard Field Managers (leadership alignment)
Onboard Field Workers (readiness and buy-in)
1 MONTH
PHASE 3
Field Implement Action Support
Deliver real-time structural and psychosocial support
Startup meeting
Reorientation and re-enrollment to the plan
Decide on an on-site or digital presence
1-2 WEEKS
PHASE 4
Digital Support & Quality Control
Provide ongoing guidance and support during the crisis.
Regular Quality Reports & Feedback Loops
Scheduled Digital Check-ins (Zoom/Other Tools)
ONGOING
PHASE 5
Final Evaluation & Strategic Learning
Capture lessons and prepare for future collaboration.
Debrief with field managers
Review feedback
Deliver the final report and recommendations
1 MONTH
Academic Publications
'...this is not about humanity. This is purely political...' How spontaneous volunteers disrupt the management of life seekers.
Kjellmo Larsen, H.
Palgrave Macmillan,
Forthcoming.
Gordon, E. and Kjellmo Larsen, H.
Disasters, 2022.
Gordon, E. and Kjellmo Larsen, H.
European Journal of International Security, 2021.
Industry Reports
Kjellmo Larsen, H.
Shuddhashar, 2024.
A change in the Criminalisation of Asylum Seekers?
Kjellmo Larsen, H.
Oxford, Border Criminologies, 2023.
Double standards in the European and Australian response to Ukrainian displacement.
Kjellmo Larsen, H.
Asylum insight, 2023.
Undocumented trauma amongst humanitarian volunteers
Kjellmo Larsen, H.
Shuddhashar, 2022.
Criminalising the right to seek asylum
Kjellmo Larsen, H. and Gordon, E.
Oxford, Border Criminologies, 2021.
Kjellmo Larsen, H. and Gordon, E.
The Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Centre for International Development, 2021.
No More Morias': How the World's Worst Refugee Camp Was Destined to Fail
Kjellmo Larsen, H. and Gordon, E.
E-International Relations, 2020.
Criminalising search and rescue activities can only lead to more deaths in the Mediterranean
Gordon, E. and Kjellmo Larsen, H.
London School of Economics and Political Science, 2020.
Popular Publications
McNeill H, Jayasuriya R, Molland S, Kjellmo Larsen, H, & Gamlen A. Literature mapping, 2025.
TESTIMONIALS
I first met Henrik on Lesvos in 2015 during the height of the refugee crisis. I was there representing the Danish Red Cross, and Henrik had come as a spontaneous volunteer- driven not by mandate or salary, but by compassion and a deep sense of justice.
Even then, it was clear that Henrik wasn’t just there to help in the moment: he was observing, reflecting, and learning. Since that time, I’ve followed his journey as he’s transformed those first-hand experiences into a powerful and much-needed voice for how humanitarian systems can better understand and work with spontaneous volunteers.
Henrik brings insight that many established actors miss. He understands both the formal structures of aid and the human drive to act outside them. His work challenges us, especially those of us in older organizations to rethink how we welcome, support, and protect people who step up to help without waiting for permission.
Henrik is not just a researcher or an advocate, he’s lived this reality. That gives his work a credibility and urgency that’s hard to ignore. I’m confident that any organisation or municipality looking to improve collaboration with local groups and spontaneous volunteers would benefit immensely from working with him.
— Jan Erik Krøyer, Senior Humanitarian Professional.
