A report outlined how volunteers could help in the fight against crime by supporting police officers with their investigations, freeing them to spend more time on the beat.
Source: Jo Hathaway, Tackling Crime Together Volunteers and the Police Services, Community Service Volunteers (020 7278 6601)
Links: Report | CSV press release
Date: 2006-Dec
A report said that volunteering could help schools play a leading role in supporting and protecting young people, and ensuring they reached their full potential.
Source: Peter Hayes, New Perspectives on Volunteering in Schools, Community Service Volunteers (020 7278 6601)
Links: Report | CSV press release
Date: 2006-Nov
An article described a method of producing small-area estimates of characteristics of the neighbourhood social environment, such as participation in associational life. As an example it outlined a model of the determinants of volunteering. This indicated significant variation between places in the relationship between individual and area characteristics which influenced the probability of volunteering.
Source: Liz Twigg, Steve Barnard, John Mohan, Kelvyn Jones, 'Developing and evaluating small-area indicators of the neighbourhood social environment', Environment and Planning A,Volume 38 Number 11
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Oct
A study found that fears related to risk were having a deterrent effect on volunteering. In more than half the organizations surveyed, volunteers had expressed anxiety about risk; and around one-fifth said that potential volunteers had been deterred from joining them. A similar percentage had lost existing volunteers for these reasons.
Source: Katharine Gaskin, On the Safe Side: Risk, risk management and volunteering, Volunteering England (0845 305 6979)
Links: Report | Volunteering England press release | WCVA press release
Date: 2006-Oct
Researchers found that most volunteers claimed to volunteer to help make a difference to their community, either through mutual aid or as a philanthropic act. Relatively few people volunteered for career development purposes.
Source: Irene Hardill and Susan Baines, Doing One's Duty: Why people volunteer in a deprived community, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Sep
A study examined how and why older people chose to volunteer. More than half of the volunteers interviewed said putting their spare time to good use was the main reason for volunteering. The most typical way older people became volunteers was via word-of-mouth, and friendship with people who already volunteer was one of the most important reasons for getting involved.
Source: Susan Baines, Mabel Lie and Jane Wheelock, Volunteering, Self-help and Citizenship in Later Life, Newcastle University (0191 222 6067) and Age Concern Newcastle
Links: Report | Age Concern press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined how public service institutions and government might better recognize the contribution made to their neighbourhoods by people outside paid work, and the relationship between such activities and welfare/public services. There was an emerging 'co-production' sector both inside and outside public services where service users were regarded as assets, involved in mutual support and the delivery of services.
Source: David Boyle, Sherry Clark and Sarah Burns, Hidden Work: Co-production by people outside paid employment, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | NEF press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A paper said that informal extra-household helping activities were greater in frequency and duration than formal volunteering, and were therefore more economically valuable.
Source: Muriel Egerton and Killian Mullan, An Analysis and Monetary Valuation of Formal and Informal Voluntary Work by Gender and Educational Attainment, Working Paper 2006-22, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2006-Jun
An evaluation report examined the Young Volunteer Challenge pilot programme. The programme aimed to test whether the YVC model led to an increased uptake of volunteering among young people from low-income backgrounds, and assessed the extent to which this type of intervention could increase the likelihood of progression towards positive outcomes and destinations, particularly into higher education.
Source: GHK Consulting Ltd, Evaluation of Young Volunteer Challenge Pilot Programme, Research Report 733, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-May