What is Volunteering?

The Scottish Executive published a definintion of Volunteering as part of their Volunteering Strategy 2004. “Volunteering is the giving of time and energy through a third party, which can bring measurable benefits to the volunteer, individual beneficiaries, groups and organisations, the environment and society at large. It is a choice undertaken of one’s free will, and is not motivated primarily for financial gain or for a wage or salary

The important points are highlighted – it is something you do by choice to help someone else.

There are four categories of volunteering

Self help or mutual aid which includes for example activity done by organisations such as Women's Aid, Alcoholics Anonymous and Credit Unions.
Service delivery which most people might associate most with volunteering. Examples include volunteers working with children and young people in playgroups or youth clubs; volunteers involved in services for elderly people, people with disabilities or learning difficulties to name just a few. But this is not just about care. One other example is the volunteers involved in Scottish museums. Did you know that 53% of the people involved in running and operating our museums do so as volunteers helping to protect our heritage, raising awareness about our culture and making Scotland an attractive tourist destination.

Campaigning examples include volunteers in trade unions, political parties as well as particular groups such as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace or Amnesty. Many people active in this area might not call themselves volunteers even though their activity matches the definition of volunteering we looked at earlier.

And finally there is civic engagement and examples include school boards and the Childrens Panel system.

Is it only charities that need volunteers?

Most people might think that you’ll only find volunteers in voluntary organisations or charities. Well that’s not the case. Two recent pieces of research, one done by Volunteer Development Scotland the other by the Institute of Volunteering Research, found that around 25% of volunteers are active in the public sector. They are working in local councils participating in areas such as social work, community services and education. Volunteers are also directly involved in our National Health Service. So a significant number of people choose to volunteer in the public sector. Examples of groups who volunteer.

Nobody actually volunteers do they?

Yes they do – over a million people volunteer in Scotland. Some people have tried to put a monetary value to the work of volunteers and Volunteer Development Scotland has calculated a figure of one £1 billion per year. This figure uses the average wage in Scotland and the amount of time people said they volunteered in a recent Scottish Household Survey.

There are also social benefits gained from volunteering which some people would argue are more powerful and meaningful than an economic benefit.

Why do people volunteer?

There are many benefits that can come from volunteering, both to the individual and to the community. For individuals they can: