Volunteering in an Active Nation: Strategy 2017-2021, Sport England, (2017). By investing in volunteering, measuring the benefits (to volunteers as well as the community), and using the knowledge we gain to fulfil volunteers’ expectations, we’ll be able to tap even more of the country’s vast volunteering potential. From 2021 to 2025 Sport England's focus will expand to involving a larger proportion of the population in engaging and helping out in sport and physical activity.
Active Lives: Adult Survey, November 2018/19 Report, Sport England, (April 2020). Based on people having volunteered at least twice in the last 12 months, Sport England found that men continue to be much more likely to volunteer in sport and activity (58% male; 42% female). This is in contrast to more general volunteering, where men and women were equally represented. Male volunteers in sport also held positions of influence as coaches, officials and committee members more often. The report also found that people from lower socio-economic groups were less likely to volunteer (making up only 11% of volunteers, although they make up 31% of the population), and people with a disability, who make up 21% of the population, account for only 13% of volunteers. Updated statistics on volunteering continue to reported in later Active Lives reports.
Sport + Recreation Alliance, (accessed 7 April 2021). Provides information and resources about recruiting, rewarding and retaining volunteers and includes registers for volunteer opportunities and organisations looking for volunteers.
- Hidden diamonds: Uncovering the true value of sport volunteers, Join in, (2014). Going beyond traditional valuation methods, which use the cost-replacement model, the research investigated the true value of sports volunteering to personal wellbeing and happiness of the volunteers themselves, plus the wider benefit to their communities.
- Givers: Recruit, manage and retain your volunteers more effectively, Join in, Sport + Recreation Alliance, Simetrica, (April 2017). For the first time, groundbreaking behavioural science research, has given us new evidence and insight into what drives people to volunteer, and what keeps them from doing so. We’ve distilled these insights into a simple framework to help grassroots clubs and organisations recruit, retain and realise the potential of volunteers. We call this GIVERS. It stands for: Growth; Impact: Voice: Ease and Experience; Recognition; Social.
Join In. Join In matches people to volunteering opportunities at clubs in their area.
The Youth Sport Trust (YST) is an independent charity, established in 1994, that aims to help all young people achieve their full potential in life by delivering high quality physical education and sport opportunities. Promoting ‘volunteering’ is an important part of YST leadership programs and workforce development. The Youth Sport Trust runs a variety of programs to encourage and promote volunteering in sport and physical education.