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Volunteering Strategy
chapter two THE EVIDENCE
28. A wide range of evidence has been considered in developing this Strategy, from research on volunteering from across the UK to consultation with stakeholders in voluntary, public and private sectors. The key findings of this evidence is presented here in summary form, covering the role of Scottish Executive policy, inclusion in volunteering, the demographic context and the role of targeting. The four strands of work which draw upon this analysis of the evidence are presented in Chapter 3.
Policy context
29. The aim of this Strategy is to embed a robust culture of volunteering in Scotland. The Review of Literature and Research on Volunteering, September 2003, carried out by Professor Mike Danson of Paisley University, and evaluation of the Active Communities initiative have identified areas in terms of national policy where action will improve the Scottish Executive's capacity to achieve this aim.
30. Where volunteering does have a role to play in policy implementation, lack of its articulation in policy documents makes it more difficult to implement properly on the ground. Although there are examples of good practice, such as the national sports strategy, Sport 21, there is a need for policy makers to better understand the role that volunteering can have in achieving policy objectives. The need to articulate the role of volunteering in Scottish Executive policy was echoed in the consultation with stakeholders.
25,000 unemployed people volunteer in any one year.
Volunteering develops confidence, self-esteem, communication and teamwork skills,
and provides opportunities to make contacts, gain training, qualifications
and a reference, as well as explore career options and demonstrate drive
and initiative to employers.
31. Connected to this, there is a need to ensure that the impact of broader policy on volunteering is fully understood as it is developed, by both policy makers and volunteer involving organisations. It is therefore necessary that communication channels are in place to ensure that volunteering interests are represented in policy formulation and proofing, and to inform the volunteering sector of emerging
policy which may affect them.
Supply of volunteers: an inclusive approach
32. The Review of Literature and Research on Volunteering shows that some people are never introduced to volunteering, do not know how to get started and are never attracted nor welcomed to become involved. Non-volunteers are especially concentrated amongst the socially excluded, those on low incomes and benefits, the economically inactive and unemployed, residents of poorer neighbourhoods and members of unstable families. This is illustrated through the 1997 UK Volunteering Survey carried out by the National Centre for Volunteering, the last two Scottish Household Surveys (2001, 2003), and two NFO System 3 polls commissioned by
VDS in 2003, which demonstrate that more than twice as many people in the higher socio-economic groups (A and B) volunteer than those in lower socio-economic groups (D and E).
33. The Review also indicates however that many people in lower socio-economic groups appear no less willing to volunteer than other groups. Moreover when they do volunteer, they report significant benefits such as increased self-esteem, better sense of purpose, development of soft and hard skills, and higher levels of contact with others. In the NFO System 3 poll commissioned by VDS to explore Scottish attitudes to volunteering, only 1% of people said they did not believe in volunteering, and only 4% said that volunteering was not for them. The groups with the lowest levels of volunteering have the poorest and least well developed networks on volunteering opportunities.
34. The barriers non-volunteers face can be summarised as:
- Many of the low skilled not appreciating that they could volunteer or have a role to play, inextricably linked to a lack of confidence;
- A continuing lack of awareness of the relationship between volunteering and social security benefits, and the role that volunteering can play in helping people make the transition to work;
- Concerns that mobility/disability and language problems will not be catered for, for example the need for adapted equipment for people with visual or hearing problems;
- Concerns that volunteering will result in being worse off financially, with out-of-pocket expenses and other outgoings to become a volunteer not being reimbursed; and
- The traditional "middle class, middle-aged image" appears to be a continuing reason, barrier or excuse for not volunteering amongst many.
Volunteers help communities conserve and improve the environment
through awareness-raising, campaigning and field work.
35. This confirms a critical need to address proactively those who are not currently volunteering in the community by ensuring inclusive practice in terms of volunteer recruitment and volunteer support and supervision. This will be crucial to dismantling barriers to volunteering.
Demand for volunteers: an inclusive approach
36. While much good practice exists, the concerns of many potential volunteers are not unfounded. In terms of demand for volunteers, the Review of Literature and Research on Volunteering found a lack of knowledge and understanding about potential volunteers by many volunteer involving organisations. In particular, problems of mismatches between skills and assets in the labour market are often reproduced in volunteering with the less skilled and less qualified not welcomed, or not considered as having a role to play in volunteering. Many volunteer involvers do not operate basic inclusive practice, such as reimbursement of expenses. There is little provision to enable those with disabilities or language problems to become involved. Of the approximately 4,000 volunteer involving organisations on the Volunteer Scotland website for example, a quarter do not offer to reimburse expenses. This is frequently an issue of resources, but also an issue of understanding the need to diversify the volunteer pool. In addition, almost half have neither health and safety policies nor equal opportunities policies which cover their volunteers. There is therefore a clear need to improve basic volunteering practice.
37. The evidence also shows a need for volunteer involvers to be more aware of how and when people are likely to volunteer, and what is needed to retain them, when they are creating volunteer opportunities. That many volunteer involvers do not appreciate what potential and existing volunteers have to offer is frequently recorded in surveys of current and lapsed volunteers. Flexibility, empowerment of volunteers, use of skills, competences and capacities are all critical to the effective and sustainable involvement of volunteers of all ages. It is critical in making volunteering more acceptable to those from socially excluded groups and communities, and especially amongst the young, that there is a balance of participants within a project or programme.
38. A high level of support was expressed in the consultation with stakeholders to prioritise action which would improve the experience people have as volunteers. This would have a positive impact not only on those who are currently under-represented in volunteering, but also on those who currently contribute their time, energy and skills to their communities as volunteers.
Supply of volunteers: the demographic context
39. Scotland has a declining and an ageing population. It is estimated that the proportion of children under 16 will fall by 20% by 2021, while the proportion of people aged 60 and over is projected to increase by over 25%. As well as providing a means to stay physically and mentally active, volunteering can provide a productive vehicle for successful transition from employment to retirement. With a 22% decline amongst those aged 30-44, these factors will have major ramifications not only for the Scottish labour market over the next 20 years but also for those available to volunteer. At present this is the prime age group for volunteering.
40. Demographic changes will impact on the environment within which the volunteer-involving sector operates, in terms of its client base and the demands put upon it. Activities targeted on children and young people will be required less and those focused on older people will be needed more. An improved supply of volunteers will be required to sustain present numbers of volunteers and to meet new demands.
Supply of volunteers: targeting
41. In considering how to improve the supply of volunteers, it is important not only to consider which groups are under-represented in volunteering and the nature of the barriers they face, but also to consider the factors which influence those who do choose to volunteer.
11,000 adult volunteers give one million
voluntary hours a year to Girl Guiding Scotland.
42. The role of the family and the peer group in encouraging or stigmatising volunteering is important in signalling to individuals whether they should become involved. Families and groups where there is no strong tradition of volunteering are less informed about volunteering, the benefits of volunteering and how to get started in volunteering. Conversely, where volunteering is the norm, successive generations will tend to be introduced to volunteering almost naturally. There would then appear to be a self-perpetuating cycle which by definition will serve to maintain the current patterns of volunteer involvement. This implies that unless there are alternative means for people to find out about volunteering, how to go about it and the benefits it brings, those from lower socio-economic groups will continue to be less likely to volunteer.
43. The importance of good volunteering practice and dismantling barriers to address inclusion of people from lower socio-economic groups has already been covered. What must also be considered is how to raise awareness of volunteering generally, to make volunteering an accessible, relevant activity for those whose family and immediate peer group do not volunteer. The overall aim of this Strategy is to embed a culture of volunteering in Scotland. The means selected must then be sustainable, building into the structures which are part of everyday life in Scotland.
44. In the consultation with stakeholders, 85% of respondents supported promoting volunteering around key life events. There are a range of potential means to take this forward. Many of those consulted by VDS believe that employers could be encouraged to be far more involved in promoting volunteering, especially for the young as part of the development of transferable and soft skills, and for older people as part of transition to retirement. That this area is underdeveloped is supported by the results from an NFO poll commissioned by VDS on barriers to volunteering in July 2003, which found that only 4% of people who had volunteered had done so through their employer. Employment services and advice providers were also identified by stakeholders as potentially having an extremely important role to play outwith the workplace in raising awareness of volunteering.
Supply of volunteers: targeting young people
45. The problems of encouraging volunteering by young people are often similar to those faced by other excluded groups. This concerns feelings of not being welcome and lack of confidence on the part of the young people, and perceiving young people as a problem or lacking in skills on the part of some volunteer involvers. In the NFO poll, young people, along with people from lower socio-economic groups, were most likely to cite the concern that volunteering would leave them out of pocket as one of the main barriers to their volunteering.
46. While it is extremely difficult to prove a causal link, it is certainly the case that people who volunteer when they are young tend also to volunteer when they are older. Results of the recent NFO poll on volunteering show that people who volunteer or have volunteered are most likely to have started when they were at school. It is also here that inequalities in volunteering begin. By the time they begin working, over 40% of the higher socio-economic groups (groups A and B) have volunteered, but only 10% of those in socio-economic groups (groups D and E) have done so.
47. However, there is evidence that government intervention can buck this trend. In the Scottish Millennium Volunteers programme, which provides dedicated support to young people to enable them to volunteer, 68% of participants during 2002-2003 were new to volunteering, 5% were from ethnic minorities, 10% had health or disability problems and 17% were unemployed.
48. There is strong support for focusing on young people. In addition to research evidence, the NFO poll found that 87% of people agreed that children and young people should be encouraged to volunteer. There was also strong support for this idea in the consultation which VDS undertook with stakeholders. Focusing on young people is a crucial response to the changing demography of Scotland and the effect it will have on the supply of volunteers in future years.
Information gaps
49. Although all organisations funded by the Executive have a requirement to provide monitoring information to the Executive, evaluation of the Active Communities Initiative identified problems associated with the fact that there was "no specific framework for monitoring performance in relation to ... objectives". This has consequences. If there is no mechanism to measure what is being delivered for the resources invested, or the difference that interventions make, it is extremely difficult to effectively assess, evaluate and improve policy. Nor can the Scottish Executive be transparent with its stakeholders about the benefits gained from the resources invested. Therefore mechanisms need to be in place to show what is being delivered for the resources invested. This is in terms of both outputs, for example training courses on good volunteering practice delivered by Volunteer Centres, and outcomes, for example the diversity of people volunteering.
50. While development work will be required to establish a framework to measure outputs, this is less complex than outcome measurement. As noted in work to evaluate the Active Communities Initiative, "many monitoring and evaluation frameworks focus on quantitative measures. There is a danger that this can lead to a situation that 'what counts is what can be counted'".
51. Some quantitative data to assess the volunteering market in terms of supply of, and demand for, volunteers already exists. The Volunteer Centre database of volunteering opportunities provides some indication of the quality of the volunteering experience through giving an outline of the support which volunteer involvers provide for their volunteers, such as reimbursement of expenses. This database also provides information on people entering volunteering through Volunteer Centres, but does not give an indication of the make up of the supply of volunteers as a whole.
Without the volunteers on the Scottish Domestic Abuse Helpline,
who provide confidential, practical and emotional support,
thousands of women would continue to live in fear from male violence.
52. In terms of supply of volunteers, the Scottish Household Survey provides a mechanism to measure numbers of volunteers, what they do and where they do it. However, measuring numbers of volunteers is not straightforward. Differences in questions asked and definitions used can present quite different pictures of volunteering. For example, when the questions posed about volunteering were changed between the VDS polls in January and September 2002, significantly different figures were produced. In the case of the latter, the figure for individuals not volunteering changed from 80% to 62%. Figures for numbers volunteering typically range from around 25% (Scottish Household Survey) to around 50% (1997 National Survey of Volunteering from National Centre for Volunteering), depending on the questions asked and methodology adopted. Action is already being taken in regards to the Scottish Household Survey to ensure that figures are as robust as they can be, taking into account recent learning in this field.
53. There is therefore some information on the demand side of volunteers in terms of the types and quality of volunteering opportunities being offered, and through the Scottish Household Survey, some information on the supply of volunteers. What is not available is a means to effectively link the two sides, and to capture the views and experiences of volunteer involving organisations about the impact of the Strategy on their work. This is fundamental to the proposal that the Scottish Executive applies the labour market model to volunteering. That is to say that Scottish Executive interventions into volunteering should be based on an analysis of gaps, failures and opportunities in the relationship between those who engage volunteers (demand), and those who give or could potentially give their time, efforts and skills to volunteering (supply).
54. In his Review of Literature and Research, Professor Danson identified that "more needs to be done to systematically record and evidence the impacts brought about
by volunteering on the individual, the intended beneficiary, the organisation,
the community and society". While those working in the field are well aware of the multitude of improvements volunteering brings to volunteers, organisations, communities and society as a whole, it is not yet possible to consistently demonstrate the impact of volunteering. This makes decisions on resourcing volunteering
more difficult.
55. Professor Danson also identified that "there is a need to improve learning about key practice issues". As well as being able to measure outputs, outcomes, and impact, information should be used to identify areas where there is a need for learning to achieve the objectives of the strategy. This includes learning on specific issues such as the impact of rurality on patterns of volunteering.
56. The key information gaps can be summarised as:
- Lack of national measurement framework to measure outputs; and
- Need for improvement in mechanisms to measure outcomes in terms of supply and demand of volunteers, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Volunteering can improve health and mental well-being,
providing a means to keep active and contribute to communities.
Over 50% of workers in museums are volunteers.
57. Within a market analysis model, which considers the supply of, and demand for, volunteers, development in these areas would provide information on which to base decisions about potential research, including project piloting.
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