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Keep Your Volunteers Happy – and they’ll stay, says new survey
Keeping volunteers happy is more important than recruiting new ones, according to a Volunteering England poll released to mark Volunteers’ Week 2008. An overwhelming 86 per cent believe that building relationships with volunteers is crucial – which may indicate an acknowledgement of the hidden costs involved in volunteer recruitment.
Volunteers’ Week takes place from 1-7 June every year and celebrates the contribution of the country’s 20 million volunteers to their communities. During the week, events are held around the country with the theme of “recognise, reward and recruit” and many organisations will be hoping to attract enthusiastic new volunteers to their cause as well as publicly acknowledging those who have supported them for some time.
The Volunteer Centre South Bedfordshire is out and about during June, chatting to people about the many varied opportunities in the area, what organisations need and what volunteers get from volunteering.
In Dunstable the team has a stall in the market in Market Square on Wednesday 11 June and will be at the Downside Neighbourhood Centre Opening Day on Saturday 14 June.
Regular open sessions are also planned at the Downside, Parkside and Tithe Farm Neighbourhood Centres, where people can just drop in and find out about volunteering in their local area.
In Leighton Buzzard, the Volunteer Centre has a stall in the market on the High Street Tuesday 17 June and will be at Picnic in the Park on Wednesday 18 June (if wet, event will be on 25 June).
There’s also a display running in Leighton Buzzard library throughout Volunteers’ Week.
Lucy Crayk from the Volunteer Centre South Bedfordshire, said: “There are just so many different types of volunteering you can do. It doesn’t matter what time you have available, what your interests or skills are, there’s almost bound to be something to suit.
“Whether you want to support young people, fundraise, organise events, make teas and coffees at a local social club, be out in the countryside, look after animals, help children learn to read, or coach youngsters in a range of different sports – you can.
“Volunteers are vital to all sorts of community groups and other organisations. Without their contribution many groups would not be able to continue and the whole community would lose out.”
Justin Davis Smith, Chief Executive of Volunteering England, said: “Good volunteer management does not come free – it involves induction, training, often CRB checks and other administrative duties – and this may well explain why people are so keen to hang onto the volunteers they already have. Our question was a little unfair – obviously most organisations would like to both keep existing volunteers and recruit new ones – but it does highlight the need to focus on ways to keep volunteers enthusiastic and engaged in their activities as well as bring new people in by developing creative new opportunities.
“Volunteers’ Week offers the perfect opportunity to give volunteers the public profile they deserve, as well as introduce new people to volunteer roles they never knew existed.”
To find out more about these or other volunteering opportunities in your local area, contact Lucy, Rebecca or Janet at the Volunteer Centre South Bedfordshire, tel. 01525 850559.
Ends
About The Volunteer Centre
The Volunteer Centre promotes volunteering and acts as a broker between individuals wanting to volunteer and community groups, charities and non-profit making organisations seeking volunteers. The aim of the Volunteer Centre is to match a volunteer’s interests, skills and availability with appropriate volunteering opportunities. The Volunteer Centre is part of Voluntary and Community Action South Bedfordshire.
About Voluntary and Community Action South Bedfordshire
Voluntary and Community Action is committed to strengthening the effectiveness of the voluntary and community sector in South Bedfordshire by developing, enabling, promoting and supporting voluntary and community action. It seeks to achieve this through advocacy; capacity building activities; enhancing the provision of volunteering opportunities; the exchange of information; the provision of training; advice and consultancy; and by working in partnership with others.
Contact: Lucy Crayk, Volunteering Officer
Address: Volunteer Centre,
Bossard House, West Street, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 1DA
Telephone: 01525 850559
Email: volunteer@action-southbeds.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
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1,057 people responded to the question, “Is keeping your existing volunteers happy more important than recruiting new ones?”. 86% said yes, 14% said no.
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Visit www.volunteersweek.org.uk for more information on Volunteers’ Week, including details of events, volunteering opportunities and discussion boards.
Volunteering facts and figures*
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In 2007 73% of all adults in England and Wales volunteered (formally or informally). Almost half the population (48%) did so at least once a month. In 2007, 63% of adults in England volunteered informally, while 45% of adults volunteered formally.
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Volunteering is popular with young and old. 53% of young people aged 16-19 have volunteered with a club or organisation at least once in the last 12 months, while 78% have given unpaid help on an informal basis. 28% of over 75's have volunteered with a club or organisation at least once in the last 12 months, while 46% have given unpaid help on an informal basis.
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Women are more likely to volunteer than men. In 2007 31% of women regularly volunteered formally compared to 24% of men
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Black African (31%), White (29%), Black Caribbean (28%) and Indian (27%) people were all more likely to volunteer formally on a regular basis than those from the Pakistani (14%) or Bangladeshi (12%) groups.
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According to Helping Out: A national survey of volunteering and charitable giving carried out by IVR and NatCen for the Cabinet Office in 2007 found that 36% of employees worked for an organisation with an employer-supported volunteering scheme. Of these employees, 29% had participated in the scheme over the last year.
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Over 42,000 students volunteer through organised volunteering programmes at their university or college. Each student volunteer gives on average 82 hours per year to their community, contributing nearly £1,000 per year to the economy.
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Sport and recreation accounts for 26% of all volunteering in the UK and provides a workforce equivalent to 180,000 fulltime workers.
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Volunteering is good for you. 63% of 25-34 year olds and 62% of over 65's say volunteering helps them feel less stressed, while 71% of volunteers who offer their professional skills and experience say volunteering helps combat depression. Nearly half of all volunteers say volunteering has improved their physical health and fitness.
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Volunteering helps you lead a healthier life. Twenty-two percent of 18 to 24 year olds say volunteering helps them cut down on alcohol and 30% say volunteering helps them smoke less.
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Levels of volunteering relate to levels of happiness. Research published in 2004 indicated that people living in areas with a high level of civic participation were happier with their lives.
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One survey found that volunteering was the second greatest source of individual joy, behind dancing.
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Six out of ten volunteers said volunteering gave them an opportunity to learn new skills.
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Annually volunteering was worth over £48 billion in England and Wales. This is the equivalent contribution to the economy made by people involved in their local community based on the national average wage.
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Volunteers spend an average of 3 working weeks a year giving unpaid help through groups, clubs and organisations. This is the equivalent of around 1 million full-time workers involved in their local communities.
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82% of non-volunteers stated ‘not enough spare time’ as a reason for not volunteering in 2007.
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* from a variety of sources – please contact Cat Dean at Volunteering England for more details, tel. 0207 520 8932, email cat.dean@volunteeringengland.org
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