There are many alarming issues highlighted in today’s society. Unemployment, lack of funding in the NHS, the destruction of our environment, and of course Brexit – just to name a few! However, not all stories are so negative. There are thousands of volunteering stories that are challenging some of these issues.
Unemployment
Currently, 3.7% of the UK are not in work – that’s around 2.5 million people! Now, some of you may be thinking “what’s that got to do with volunteering?”. Many studies & statistics show that volunteering can help boost employment for individuals. Sports clubs, in particular, have done a lot to boost employment opportunities through volunteering.
Newcastle United FC transformed the life of one of their staff who came to England from Syria as a refugee. Hikmat didn’t know much English or have many qualifications, but his attitude and desire to learn were unmatched. Despite his lack of experience, Newcastle took on Hikmat in a volunteering role, giving him a chance to prove himself. Since starting in 2013, he has been directly involved in many Premier League projects including helping out at children’s hospitals over the busy Christmas period.
Helping the elderly
Numerous elderly people in the United Kingdom have no living children or close relatives to help them in their daily care. Many relocate to areas which are far from their hometown, making it nearly impossible to provide the assistance required. As a result, many seniors spend much of their time living in isolation and loneliness. They often rely on the services of volunteers to provide services and opportunities for socialisation and entertainment.
The work of volunteers can help to drastically improve how easy it is to complete everyday tasks. Engaging in volunteering activity has also been found to significantly improve mental health which is an ever-growing problem worldwide.
Can volunteering even reduce crime rates?
The power of volunteering is so great that it can even reduce crime rates! Research shows that the more a person volunteers, the less likely they are to commit a crime. A specific societal experiment was constructed by Add Health in order to test this hypothesis, here’s a summary of what they found:
- Those who self-volunteered had less involvement in crime than those who did not volunteer:
- People aged 18 – 28 recorded 11% fewer illegal behaviours, 31% fewer arrests, and 39% fewer convictions.
- People aged 24 – 34 showed 28% fewer illegal behaviours, 53% fewer arrests, 36% fewer convictions.
These findings imply that adolescent volunteering may increase resilience over time and that school-based volunteering programs may help prevent criminal involvement over the course of a person’s life.
It would also suggest that volunteering from an early age is likely to mean that you are less prone to getting into trouble with the law. This will be beneficial to today’s society and it lays down a foundation for future generations.
Inspire the adults of tomorrow, today!
Building on the point of reducing crime rates, giving the youth of today a positive role model is important. Young people aspire to be who they look up to and who that person is can change the course of their life. Because of this, by pushing young people to volunteer the chances are they are less likely to look up to people who may be a bad influence, and more likely to want to be someone who brings something positive to society.
In 2018, only 39% of people aged 16-24 volunteered and even some of those people only said that they did it once a year. A lot needs to be done to drastically increase this number if we want to improve society and produce a higher amount of upstanding adults. Highlighting the charitable work that celebrities do would be a good way to inspire the youth to volunteer.
People such as Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, and Miley Cyrus have all been heavily involved with charitable work in the past (stay tuned for a blog on celeb charity work!). These role models can help give a positive stigma around the way charity work/volunteering is viewed.
Volunteers make great events
It’s not only the deprived that can use volunteering to change their lives. Many major events use volunteers and without them, the events simply wouldn’t be possible. In the 2012 Olympics over 70,000 “games makers” made the games what they were. Many international fans and athletes described the volunteers as “world-class”, see the video below for more.
A further event that was made successful by volunteering was the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The tournament had a total of around 2,500 volunteers with roles that varied from; welcoming fans to organising matches and helping out the media. The volunteers were given their own space: The Volunteer Centre. This was described as a friendly, hospitable space, where volunteers could get together, chat about their experiences and have some fun when they are off duty. Hear more about the World Cup volunteers in this video.
Volunteers at both these events had to pay for their travel to and from some paying huge amounts to get to do their particular roles. However, many said that it was the best experience of their lives and it was all totally worth it.
Read more about how volunteering has helped sporting events here.
How can TeamKinetic help?
Managing volunteers can often be a big struggle for people in the third sector. This is where TeamKinetic can help you. We offer a volunteer management system that can help you recruit, manage and retain your volunteers. If you would like to find out more please do not hesitate to visit our website and book a free demo today!
Alternatively, you can contact us on our social media pages:
Or by phone: 0161 914 5757
