As National Volunteers' Week approaches, Nacro, the crime reduction charity, has launched the findings of a research report looking at the makeup and work of their volunteers. The report shows that more young people than ever are volunteering for the charity, despite national youth volunteering levels showing a decline.(1)
The research found that 51% of Nacro volunteers are aged under 26 and 16% are under 19, proving that, contrary to some public opinion, young people are committed to helping others and changing their communities.
The findings also show that people from all walks of life are willing to give up their time to help others and reap all sorts of benefits from volunteering for Nacro. Over four-fifths of volunteers surveyed said it improved their knowledge and skills, over two-thirds said it improved their self-esteem and more than half said the experience could help them find employment. The findings also demonstrated that people who are often criticised for their lack of community spirit play an important role in Nacro projects.
The research into Nacro's volunteers found that:
*21% are unemployed
*9% are ex-offenders
*37% are parents (on one project we have five volunteers from the same family)
*58% are male and 42% are female
*80% of volunteers receive certificated training in areas such as sports coaching, drugs awareness, child protection, youth and community work, first aid and alcohol awareness
Danny Bulloch, volunteer football coach for the Kick Off project, said:
"I was working in a job I didn't enjoy and one that had no prospects before I started volunteering for Nacro. I didn't know what I wanted to do in the long term and felt I had no direction in life, but this all changed when I became a volunteer football coach. I can truly say that I've found my real vocation in life and with Nacro's help, I've recently completed my level two certificate in football coaching.
"Now I'm running my own Kick Off football project for Nacro, helping kids who feel excluded and engaging them in a sport I love. They play in a league and I take them off to play in football tournaments at weekends and during school holidays. It's a great way of keeping them out of trouble and giving them some direction in life. For some of these kids, this is all they've got."
Nacro volunteers get involved in a wide range of activities across England and Wales including sports projects, conflict mediation work, mentoring young people, supervising youth activities, helping young adults apply for work and running arts based activity sessions.
"Ends"
For volunteer case studies or further information please contact Rachael Quilton, Media Relations Manager, on 020 7840 6497 or out of hours on 07974 189979
Notes for Editors
1. 43% of 18-24 year olds volunteer in the UK, in 1991 this figure stood at 55% (1997 National Survey of Volunteering in the UK, Institute for Volunteering Research)
2. Adding that much more: Researching Nacro volunteers is written by Penny Fraser and Louisa Watkins. The report is available from Nacro publications on 020 7840 6427 priced £7.50 + p&p.
3. Nacro has nearly 500 volunteers who offer their time, skills and experience to the charity. In 2003/04 Nacro's staff and volunteers worked with more than 14,000 young people. To find out more information on volunteering for Nacro, contact 0121 250 5232 or volunteering@nacro.org.uk
4. Nacro, the national crime reduction charity, works with young people, deprived communities and ex-offenders to give them a positive stake in society. It has unrivalled expertise in developing effective solutions to crime and stimulating fresh thinking on how best to reduce it through policy, research and campaign work. Nacro runs preventive projects to steer young people away from crime, provides housing, education and employment programmes for ex-offenders and people at risk of offending, resettles prisoners into the community and works with families and communities to prevent crime. For further information please visit: www.nacro.org.uk
5. National Volunteers Week is a national celebration of volunteers and volunteering which takes place from 1- 7 June of each year. The Week aims to promote innovative ways to thank, recruit and involve volunteers and raises the profile of the work of the UK's 22 million volunteers. For further information please visit: www.volunteersweek.org.uk
