Articles

17th issue of Voluntary Action - Volume 6 Number 2

 

Averting a disaster within a disaster: the management of spontaneous volunteers following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York
Liath Sharon, London School of Economics

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This article examines the management of the thirty thousand or more spontaneous, unaffiliated volunteers who converged on New York City following the 11 September terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. It looks at: how effectively these volunteers were managed; who participated in their management; the lessons learned; and whether policy regarding the management of unaffiliated disaster volunteers has been changed. It concludes by comparing the likely effectiveness of New York’s draft plan for the future management of such volunteers with that of similar documents from other sources.

Voluntary activity in UK sport
Nichols, G., Taylor, P., James, M., Garrett, R., Holmes, K., King, L., Gratton, C. and Kokolakakis, T., Leisure Management Division, Sheffield University Management School

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Voluntary activity in sport has been recognised as an important provider of leisure opportunities and as an instrument of government policy - including the promotion of social capital, social inclusion, health and lifelong sports participation - but problems in measurement have meant that its precise size and importance remain an enigma. This article explores the size, scale and significance of voluntary activity in UK sport by comparing seven independent sources of information. The juxtaposition of survey data allows us to piece together a more accurate picture of the fragmented voluntary sector in sport. Thus, the article contributes both to our knowledge of voluntary activity in sport and to our understanding of how this knowledge can be gained. It concludes with a critical evaluation of the extent to which this voluntary activity contributes to policy objectives - highlighting the considerable research work that needs to be done on measuring the impact of the voluntary sector as well as its size.

Volunteering and mental health: a literature review
Steven Howlett, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Volunteering Research

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This article looks at research into the question of whether volunteering is beneficial for people with mental health problems. It begins with the literature on engagement in volunteering: are people with mental health problems under-represented as volunteers because their ill health affects the motivation to volunteer, or are volunteer-involving organisations putting up barriers to their participation? The next question to be considered is: why should volunteering be expected to have an impact on mental health? Finally, the article looks at studies of the benefits of volunteering in relation to mental health. The conclusion is that, although the links between volunteering and mental health remain relatively under-researched, the evidence does suggest that there are benefits to be gained. But one key question remains: could other forms of social interaction deliver the same results?

The impact of professional volunteer management on the volunteer experience: an exploratory investigation using the Volunteer Management Orientation Score (VMOS)
Kirsten Holmes, Management School, University of Sheffield

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This article reports on an exploratory study examining the take-up of professional volunteer management and its impact on the volunteer experience, using case studies from the museums and heritage sector. It presents a method for measuring the level of professional management procedures and analysing where and why measures might have been introduced. This measurement tool, the Volunteer Management Orientation Score (VMOS), identifies the key influences on organisations’ decisions to implement professional volunteer management. These influences were found to be external pressures (including trade union involvement), health and safety regulations and the availability of resources. While the take-up of professional procedures varied considerably, the level of VMOS at the organisations in the study was found to have no negative impact on the volunteer experience.

London’s School Care Committee Service 1908-1989
Phyllis Willmott, Honorary Senior Fellow, Institute of Community Studies

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An imaginative use of large numbers of volunteers directly employed by the local authority (the London County Council, later the Greater London Council) was a unique feature of the ‘school care committee’ service that for the best part of its 80-year existence provided a welfare service to London’s schoolchildren. This is a shortened version of a study of its history. It is based partly on the extensive records of the London Metropolitan Archives (www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/archives), partly on a comprehensive earlier history of the scheme (Jennings, 1930) and also on interviews with fifteen former volunteers seen a decade after the scheme had ended. The reasons are explored for the great dependence on volunteers in the early years of the scheme and the eventual drastic decline in their contribution.