Jolliffe was Assistant Private Secretary to the
Governor-General of Canada between 1960 and 1962. Since 1962, he was member of the
Abbeyfield Society, the Catholic Housing Aid Society, the London Housing Aid Centre, the
National Federation of Housing Associations,
Mencap, the Foundation for Alternatives, the Hugh of Witham Foundation, and the Action around Bethlehem Children with Disability (ABCD). He has worked for Age Concern,
L'Arche Ltd as well as the Mendip Wansdyke Local Enterprise Group. Since 1988, he is further president of the Northern Ireland Association for Care and Resettlement of Offenders. He is a member of the Housing Associations Charitable Trust and of Forward Thinking. As a member of the
House of Lords, he worked to promote peace talks in the Middle East and Ireland amongst other work. He once stated that he regretted "very much that the fine old English and French word ‘gay’ has, in my lifetime, been appropriated by a small but vocal minority of the population. The result is that it can no longer be used in its original and rather delightful meaning." ==Philanthropy==