Pathways Through Participation » life course

The volunteer journey

Veronique Jochum — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 08:35:28 +0000

Nick Ockenden from IVR (who is part of the Pathways through Participation team) presented a paper at this year’s NCVO/VSSN research conference on the ‘volunteer journey’ – a concept that was first developed by the Commission on the Future of Volunteering. The paper (co-written with Jennifer Russell, also from IVR) explores how people ‘journey’ in and out of volunteering. It suggests that individuals may experience ‘episodes’ of volunteering and ‘episodes’ of non-volunteering at different times of their lives, and examines the various triggers that may explain why these happen.

The influence of major life events on volunteering

Veronique Jochum — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:10:09 +0000

The Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management of Baruch College recently published a new working paper on the influence of life cycle and major life events on volunteering.

Research shows that people’s volunteering behaviors change over the life cycle. Young people might volunteer as means of improving their CV. Newly married couples decrease their volunteering in the face of the adjustment to married life. As couples begin to have children and invest in family life, their involvement shifts to be more involved in schools, youth organisations and religious communities. In their more mature years, people might increase their volunteering hours as they retire from their jobs. But as old age and declining health interfere, volunteering tapers off. In addition to the effect of the life cycle on volunteering, the paper looks at how certain life events can also influence volunteering, including the birth of a child, getting divorced or being widowed.

The full paper can be found here.

‘Grandmentoring’ scheme launched: teenagers to receive help, support and guidance from older volunteers

Eddie Cowling — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:44:03 +0000

Last week saw the launch of Welfare Minister Lord Freud’s initiative ‘Grandmentoring’; where older volunteers are paired with young people not in employment, education or training to support them in the pathway into adulthood. Nat Wei, the government adviser on the Big Society argues how the scheme, delivered with CSV, can help create new cohorts of people who have seen the benefit of being more socially active, and who feel a desire to give back which helps others but which also energises them.

To find out more see here

National Trust volunteers in a life-course perspective

Veronique Jochum — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:58:31 +0000

The Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) and the National Trust are offering a CASE studentship to explore the pathways through volunteering, and the relationship between the aspirations of volunteers and the goals of the National Trust. The application deadline is 1 June 2010. Interested? More information is available on the TSRC website.

Unfortunately the final report won’t be available before our project ends!