UK Volunteers – the facts
As it’s the start of a brand new year, here’s a round-up of the UK’s volunteering statistics for 2012.
- Did you know that if you’ve got a job, you’re more likely to volunteer than someone who’s unemployed? A respectable 42% of people in employment said that they formally volunteered (that’s through a club or organisation) at least once in the past year compared to 34% of unemployed people.
- The North/South divide is no exception to volunteering either, with a huge 49% of people living in the South West donating their time to worthy causes, compared to 29% of people living in the North East.
- 87% of surveyed employers thought that volunteering had a “positive impact on career progression for people aged 16-25”, and 90% of volunteers seemed to agree that undertaking some kind of unpaid work was beneficial to their employment prospects.
- A key element to the boost in figures is unsurprisingly down to the London Olympics, whose motto of “Inspire a Generation” certainly left many with a volunteering buzz that we’ll no doubt see in the figures for next year. In total, there were more than 70,000 ‘Games makers’, which may sound like a lot but is in fact similar to the numbers of previous Olympic Games volunteers. It’s important to consider that these volunteers did not have a traditional volunteering project, but nevertheless the volunteers really were the true stars of the Games.
- Ethnic minority groups aged 16-24 have seen a considerable boost in volunteering, with 30% now considering themselves volunteers as opposed to 20% in 2005-6.
- A third of English 16-24 year olds did some volunteering in the past year, compared to 24.7% five years ago
- Amongst students, 83% of those surveyed at higher education institutions said that they expect an increase and renewed interest in volunteering in the next few years, no doubt helped by the impact of London 2012 and the legacy of the Games makers. 53% of respondents claimed that there had been an increase in the student volunteer movement and that there had been no visible decline in interest in volunteering.
Overall, it’s been a very successful year for volunteering and things can only get better from here. The Olympics was a key factor in publicising the great work volunteers do and how rewarding it can be, and it’s hoped that the legacy will live on. It was also a great year for Lattitude, which celebrated its 40th birthday this year and is still experiencing great successes.
Obviously we don’t know what the statistics for 2013 will look like just yet, but why not get involved alongside the UK’s other 20 million volunteers to make these fantastic statistics look even better for next year?
