What do local young people say about volunteering?

Over summer 2008 thanks to Community Consultants, a consultation with over 600 local young people was carried out, to find out what they say about volunteering in the Wigan Borough….

• Why? The majority of males said they ‘would not volunteer’- stating the reasons as they thought: 'they would be out-of-pocket, there would not be adequate support or training, they would be left on their own to get on with it, they didn’t know the benefits of volunteering'… Whilst the majority of females said they would volunteer to ‘gain experience for college or work’

• What? volunteering opportunities they would like to see:

Females – working with children, working with animals, hair & beauty and working in their own local communities
Males – sports & leisure activities, outdoor work, parks & gardens and working in their own local communities

• How? 47% of young people would like information on volunteering opportunities via the internet
• 86% of young people interviewed would like support from trained adults, supervisions sessions and travel and meal expenses provided
• 77% would like training and skills specific to their roles.

 Contact Catherine if you would like to see the full report

The vinvolved team aims to develop good quality volunteering opportunities for 16 to 25 year olds. They may be ongoing opportunities or new exciting one-off, taster sessions…

We are keen to know what volunteering opportunities exist locally within these areas identified by local young people plus within a wide range of other areas including health & social care, sports and leisure, children, older people, animals, families, IT, admin, working with young people plus much more. Please let us know if you have volunteering opportunities for young people.

We can offer support, information and ideas to your group to help get young people involved. You can also gain a free ‘Good Practice Guide in Volunteer Management’. Contact us on 01942 514234 or email cakehurst@cvswl.org