The BBC was reporting this at lunchtime as the unemployed losing their benefits if they didn't do voluntary work. I don't think that's what "voluntary" means.

Really, if this kind of scheme actually worked they could start by not making it compulsory and not making you wait until you've been unemployed for a year first, but offering it to anybody who wanted a leg-up into employment. Simply the fact that they're not doing that suggests it doesn't.