Broadening the base of the volunteer workforce

Project Leader: Sue Baines
Sponsors: Economic and Social Research Council
Partners: Professor Irene Hardill, Nottingham Trent University

This project has been funded by the ESRC under the Impact Grants Scheme in order to support further dissemination and user engagement of the recently completed research project ‘Doing one’s duty: a case study of volunteering in a deprived community’. (See previous projects.) There are three tasks

Work with the original case study community to encourage volunteers to tell and share their stories. A seminar open to the public and local and regional policy makers ‘Celebrating Active Citizenship’ will be held in March 2007, at the Enterprise Centre Cotmanhay.
Work with the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), who are producing a guidance document on recruiting, retaining and developing disabled volunteers.
Develop a Volunteering toolkit aimed at voluntary organisations, about not excluding volunteers for age, disability, caring responsibility etc. It will be launched during National Volunteering Week (June 1-7 2007), at the House of Commons (sponsor Liz Blackman MP).

In addition, the dissemination includes an event entitled ‘Diversity and participation in volunteering’ in the ESRC Festival of Social Science. This will take place at the Research Beehive, Newcastle University, March 13th 2007.