The concept of volunteering needs to be ‘rebranded’ in order to fully tap the potential for young people to engage in it for the benefit of society, according to a new study by the National Youth Council of Ireland.
A report on young people’s experience of and attitude towards volunteering in Ireland was published today to mark the European Year of Volunteering and also marks International Day of Volunteering.
Some 90 young people throughout the country took part in a series of focus groups and interviews used to compile the Lending a Hand: Young People and Volunteering in Ireland report.
Among its findings were that many young people involved in volunteer activities don’t recognise the term “volunteering” or see themselves as volunteers.
It found the main reasons why young people decided to volunteer was that they were personally “asked to”, or that they had an affinity with the organisation or cause.
The report said young people felt that there had been a shift in attitudes as a result of the recession from “what you have in society to what you can give to society”.
It said: “This made it more likely that young people would volunteer.”
It also said Transition Year in school was important in allowing young people time and space to consider and experience volunteering.
The youth council report said in order to retain young volunteers, organisations needed to be flexible and recognise their limited time.
They also needed to treat young volunteers with respect and not just assign menial tasks.
Among the barriers to young people volunteering were lack of time and information, unwillingness to make the first move, feeling they were too young and the costs and logistics involved.
The report said that for many of those actively engaged in volunteering, there appeared to be a high level of altruism.
Many of them were undertaking the work without a long-term benefit having been identified.
“Although ‘altruism’ is a key factor for many young people that engage in volunteering, the ongoing promotion of volunteering will need to be based on a broader ‘set’ of appeals than altruism alone.”
Some of the drawbacks to volunteering highlighted in the report included the allocation of what young people perceived as ‘menial’ or ‘crappy’ tasks, by bodies such as charity shops. Giving up study time was also a factor.
Fergus Finlay, chair of Volunteer Ireland and chief executive of Barnardos, officially launched the report.
Mr Finlay said it was the case that if organisations were not prepared to treat volunteers with respect, then they were losing out.
One speaker at the event also raised a concern about being eager to volunteer, but having to wait months for Garda vetting.
Assistant director of the National Youth Council, James Doorley, said: “Volunteering not only benefits young people and society in the short term, but, by allowing young people to participate in activities, organise events, engage in decision making and in the development of their own projects, helps them to become responsible, critical and committed citizens which has a beneficial impact in the longer term.”