10 FACTS AND FIGURES ON VOLUNTEERING

I have just been looking at the statistics below which are taken from Davis Smith J (1998), The 1997 National Survey of Volunteering, published by the National Centre for Volunteering, except for no.5 which is from Argylle M (1996), The Social Psychology of Leisure, published by Penguin.

They certainly are interesting.

1. 22 million adults are involved in formal volunteering each year
2. 10 million people volunteer each week
3. Formal volunteers put in some 90 million hours of voluntary work a week
4. The economic value of formal volunteering has been estimated at over £40 billion per year
5. One survey found that volunteering was the second greatest sources of individual joy, behind dancing
6. Six out of ten volunteers said volunteering gave them an opportunity to learn new skills
7. Half of all volunteers get involved because they are asked to help
8. 90 per cent of the population agree with the notion that a society with volunteers shows it is a caring society
9. Eight out of ten people feel that volunteers offer something different that cannot be provided by the state

10. 80 per cent of people reject the idea that volunteers are less efficient than paid workers