A Report on Access Into Volunteering

Shaping the Debate

A report on access into volunteering

for disabled people

Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities

2005

Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities

Chapter House

18-20 Crucifix Lane

London SE1 3JW

Tel: 020 7450 0620

Fax: 020 7450 0650

Email:

Website:

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written

permission of the publisher.

Supported by City Parochial Foundation

6 Middle Street, London EC1A 7PH

Tel: 0202 7606 6145

Fax: 020 600 1866

Email:

Website:

Page

Executive Summary1-3

Section OneIntroduction3-4

Definitions3

Background4

Section TwoMethodology4-5

Profile of organisations5

Section ThreeResearch Findings6-23

Volunteer Involvement6

Recruitment8

Support12

Policies and Procedures17

Experiences of disabled volunteers19

Section FourConclusions and Recommendations23-26

Conclusion23

Recommendations25

Recommendations for further research26

Appendix AVolunteer Centre Questionnaire28

Notes29

Executive Summary

Introduction

Access to volunteering for all sections of our communities has been one of the defining features of the current volunteering debate. Amongst practitioners, researchers and policy makers there has been a growing awareness that some groups are less well represented in volunteering than others and among them are disabled people. For many working in the disability field, simply documenting the experiences of disabled volunteers, though important, fell short of providing an adequate explanation for reasons behind the apparent inequity of access. What was needed was a comprehensive investigation into the experiences of the volunteer-involving organisations.

In November 2003, following a successful pilot scheme involving disabled volunteers in its London and Edinburgh offices, Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities embarked on a two-year project funded by City Parochial Foundation which focused on access to volunteering for disabled people from the organisations’ perspective.

The research involved 45 organisations based primarily (but not exclusively) in London. The aim of the research was to identify existing good practice and the related issues surrounding access into volunteering for disabled people and has culminated in the publication Access to Volunteering - shaping the experiences and opportunities for disabled people: A How to Resource Manual for Volunteering Organisations to help organisations better engage more disabled people as volunteers. Details of how to order the manual can be found on page 29. This report summarises and highlights the findings of the research.

Methodology

The research was carried out over a five-month period from January to May 2004 and was based on the following methods:

A review of existing literature on disabled volunteering;

Circulation and promotion of research through print/online press and voluntary bodies;

Distribution of a 15 page questionnaire to 90 London-based organisations and a limited number of organisations outside London;

Face-to-face interviews, with twenty-six organisations and twenty active disabled volunteers.

Key findings

Disabled volunteer involvement amongst all participating organisations was encouraging and there was evidence of a desire to increase existing levels. There appeared to be significantly more disability organisations working with disabled volunteers but there appeared to be no particular concentration of disabled volunteer engagement in specific core activities within organisations.

Recruitment of disabled volunteers was encouraging amongst both the disability and non-disability organisations. However there were reported difficulties in recruiting via their local volunteer centres, many of which did not directly target or support disabled volunteers.

Support for disabled volunteers showed marked differences between organisations that had planned and funded support in place and those organisations that did not, who had more concerns about costs of support. This indicated a need for greater funding to meet the cost of making adjustments and/or providing specialist support. Whilst attitude to disability-related support was positive, there was still a need for a general increase in disability awareness and equality training.

Policies and procedures were recognised as essential elements of a volunteering programme. However some organisations operated without a volunteer policy and preferred to work without a written volunteer agreement for fear of contract-related litigation.

Disabled volunteers’ experiences were generally very positive. Moving out of volunteering and into employment was one of their main concerns, as many had been in voluntary work for several years and sometimes within the same organisation. This could suggest a lack of opportunity and/or encouragement.

Conclusions and recommendations

The findings provided in this report are intended to give practitioners and policy makers information about current good practice, issues and trends relating to the involvement of disabled volunteers. The data generated suggested a positive climate existed within organisations. There appeared to be a growing recognition of the value of disabled volunteers, which was reflected in the number of respondents keen to involve disabled volunteers. There were, however, two main areas of concerns that came out of the research.

Firstly, there was evidence to show that many local volunteer centres were unable to meet demand. Whilst many operated special support schemes that targeted and supported disabled volunteers into volunteering, a significant number offered no provisions for disabled people. A follow-up survey carried out as part of the project, involving 20 London-based volunteer centres, showed that only six had a specific project in place that targeted disabled volunteers. Whilst it was recognised that the funding structure across the volunteer centre network contributed to the current inconsistency in service provision for disabled volunteers, it was felt that a comprehensive and full review of the existing structures could serve as a good starting point towards rectifying the situation.

Secondly, many respondents felt that more funding could increase their capacity to engage more disabled volunteers, in particular those with higher support needs. This reinforced the current on-going debate amongst many practitioners for an access to volunteering scheme similar to that of the ‘Access to Work’ scheme for disabled employees.

Section One - Introduction

This report is based on research findings from a questionnaire and interviews on access into volunteering for disabled people. The research was carried over a five-month period in 2004 by Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities.

The primary aim of the research was to find evidence of good practice and to identify the issues which prevented access in the areas of recruitment and support.

The research focused primarily on London-based volunteer-involving organisations, with and without experience of working with disabled volunteers. It also included some comparative organisations outside London. In addition, it included interviews with active disabled volunteers.

This report offers an insight into the experiences of volunteer-involving organisations around access for disabled volunteers. It does not claim to provide a complete picture but does provide the basis for future research.

Definitions

The definition of disability used in the research and terminology used in this report is that described in the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 which states:

a person has a disability… if he has a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. [Part 1, Section 1]

For the purposes of this research we also included people who will be considered disabled under the draft Disability Discrimination Bill (2004) which has widened the definition of disability to include people with HIV and cancer from the point of diagnosis as well as including more people experiencing mental health difficulties.

Disability and non-disability organisations were targeted as part of the research in order to look at the trends in their experiences. A ‘disability organisation’ was defined as one whose core interest targeted groups that fell within the definition outlined above.

Background

The questionnaire and interviews formed a part of Skill’s wider two-year project on access into volunteering for disabled people, funded by the City Parochial Foundation.

The aim of the project (due to end May 2005) was to promote disabled people as volunteers within organisations across all sectors. It followed a successful pilot scheme in Skill’s London and Edinburgh offices in 2001 involving disabled volunteers. It was conceived as a way of enabling greater access for, and inclusion of, disabled people as volunteers but also stemmed from a growing awareness that disabled people were largely under-represented in volunteering. This had been highlighted in research by Community Service Volunteers Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (Who’s helping whom? 2000) and had been reinforced by work carried out by Institute for Volunteering Research (Volunteering for All? 2004). The latter work found that 52% of all participants felt that disabled volunteers were under-represented in their organisation.

In broad terms the questionnaire and interviews were designed to meet the overall aim of the project within the context of highlighting existing good practice and related issues. However both also served to:

Gather information to provide to organisations wanting to prepare or develop a volunteer policy;
Collect information for Skill’s website listings guide (located at
Provide material for a ‘How to’ resource manual aimed at organisations.

Section Two - Methodology

This report is based on a questionnaire and interviews taken over a five-month period between January and May 2004.

A total of 90 questionnaires were distributed to volunteer-involving organisations, primarily in London, and a smaller number of organisations outside London. Forty-five questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 50%.

Organisations were targeted from the public, private and voluntary sectors by a variety of methods including: Skill’s ‘expression of interest’ online questionnaire; volunteering websites and newsletters; notices and articles in the volunteering press; regional and umbrella voluntary sector bodies’ email bulletins; cold-calling organisations; and networking.

Of the 45 organisations that took part in the research project, 21 were disability organisations and 24 were non-disability organisations. Significant numbers were drawn from the voluntary sector (89%) with 7% and 2% from the public and private sector respectively. Thirty-nine were London based organisations and six were located outside London.

Follow-up face-to-face interviews were carried out with 26 organisations, selected to reflect a range of core activities; 19 of these were non-disability organisations and seven were disability organisations.

A total of 23 volunteers participated in the research. These were drawn mainly through Skill’s ‘expression of interest’ online questionnaire and participating organisations in the project.

Interviews were taken up with 20 volunteers. These consisted of 19 face-to-face interviews and one telephone interview; in addition three volunteers submitted written evidence.

Profile of organisations

Seventeen different types of organisations were involved in the research. These were defined by the nature of their core activity. The most common (18%) were ‘community resource centres’ offering a range of services to a variety of client groups. This included providing advice and information, training and educational classes and crèche facilities to service users (figure 2.1).

Sixteen per cent were ‘support networks’, ranging from self-help groups to those offering counselling and 11% described as ‘disability resource and information’ centres, offered services only to disabled clients.

Seven per cent worked in the area of ‘Disability Rights’ and were mainly involved in disability awareness and campaign work. Another 7% worked in the areas of gardening and allotments, social and sports clubs.

Figure 2.1 Profile of organisations’ core activities

The majority of organisations had between 1-5 employees. Twenty per cent had between 6-10 and 9% between 11-30 and 31-100 respectively.

In terms of the numbers with active volunteers, 27% said that they had between 11-30 volunteers. Twenty-six per cent had between 6-10 and 18% between 31-100 volunteers.

Section Three – Research Findings

Volunteer Involvement

Overall, 74% of organisations (33 in total) said that they had experience of working with disabled volunteers with a range of impairments and health conditions (figure 3.1). This included individuals with autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, cleft palette, diabetes, downs syndrome, dyslexia, heart condition, Hepatitis C, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), multiple sclerosis (MS), sickle cell anaemia and HIV. There were, however, significant differences in the level of involvement between the disability organisations and the non-disability organisation. Whereas 95% of all the disability organisations said that they had worked with disabled volunteers, only 54% (or 13 out of 24) of the non-disability organisations said that they had.

Figure 3.1 Organisations involving disabled volunteers

These figures may not be entirely unexpected, as it could be argued that disabled volunteers would be drawn to disability organisations because it is there that they may feel more welcome or where their needs maybe better met. There were, however, encouraging trends that both types of organisations shared around the issue of volunteer involvement. For example, both types of organisations involved similar levels of sensory and mobility impaired volunteers as well as those with learning disabilities (refer to Table 3.2).

Interestingly, the findings revealed a relatively higher number of non-disability organisations involving volunteers with mental health difficulties than their disability counterparts: 77% (or 10 out of 13) for the former compared with 35% (or 7 out of 20) for the latter. This trend may demonstrate a growing understanding and awareness of metal health difficulties, particularly as it has been estimated that one in four of the UK population will experience a mental health problem at some point in their life.

Notably, with the increase in the numbers of people living with HIV in the UK, the engagement of volunteers living with HIV was confined to disability organisations working within a remit that covered this health condition. One possible explanation for this trend is that the needs of these groups of volunteers are such that only groups with specialist knowledge and expertise are able to meet them. Equally, it could be due to the continuing prejudice in society, which makes disclosure an issue or a perception by volunteers that disclosure would only be beneficial to organisations working in the HIV/AIDS policy area. The situation could change when the draft Disability Discrimination Bill 2004, introducing new protection for people living with HIV, becomes law.

Table 3.2 Disabled Volunteer involvement within all organisations

Impairment / Disability organisation / Non Disability organisation
Frequency / % / Frequency / %
3 or more / 5 / 25 / 8 / 61
2 or more / 5 / 25 / 5 / 38
Sensory / 6 / 30 / 5 / 38
Learning difficulties / 8 / 40 / 7 / 54
Mobility / 5 / 25 / 6 / 46
Mental health / 7 / 35 / 10 / 77
AIDS/HIV / 4 / 100 / 0 / 0
Base / 20 / Base / 13

Disabled Volunteers Refugee and Asylum Seekers

A total of nine respondents described themselves as refugee and asylum seeker organisations. A further two reported that aspects of their work brought them into close contact with these two groups. Whilst there were healthy numbers of non-disabled volunteers within these volunteering schemes, very few involved disabled volunteers from these communities. It is entirely possible that they exist but have not disclosed their status. For example, a volunteer from a society where the subject of disabilities is taboo may not wish to disclose a disability, particularly if it is hidden, for fear of discrimination. Situations like this could be resolved by introducing disability awareness training within organisations, together with improved monitoring.

The absence of figures for these groups would tend to reflect the current trend in wider society where no official figures for the number of disabled refugee and asylum seekers in the UK exist. Estimates are put at between 3% and 10% of the said population.

Recruitment

General recruitment trends

The research findings show that the general attitude amongst participating organisations was one of a desire to involve as broad a range of volunteers as possible. As one respondent said:

We take volunteers from all parts of the communities and disabled people are just as welcome as anybody else to carry out any type of volunteering activity they wish…

In general, organisations used a range of ways to recruit volunteers of all abilities as shown in table 3.3. Word of mouth appeared to be the most popular choice of recruitment. Fifty-eight per cent of organisations (26 in total) said they used this method. Forty-seven per cent said they approached their local volunteer centres. Thirty- six per cent (16) used either their own websites or other external online volunteering sites. The same number went through local colleges and universities.

Twenty-nine per cent (13) of organisations displayed flyers and posters, in doctors’ surgeries, day centres and social clubs. The local and national press were the choice of 29% (13), particularly where specialist volunteers were required, such as accountants. Very few used the volunteering press or specialist publications and, where specialist publications were used, these tended to be either linked to their own organisation or within a specific field related to the core activity/business.

Some organisations reported that targeting BME groups with disabilities was a concern. As one respondent revealed:

We want to include disabled people within our [Asian] communities but they tend to be a hidden community, so it makes it difficult for us to include them…

Overall nearly one-third, (30%) of responding organisations said that they could benefit from more information on where and how to recruit more disabled volunteers (figure 3.9, page 15).

Table 3.3 Organisations’ sources of volunteer recruitment

Source / Frequency / Percentage %
Word of Mouth / 26 / 58
Volunteer Centre / 21 / 47
Local colleges and universities / 16 / 36
Websites / 16 / 36
Local/National Press / 13 / 29
Flyers/Posters / 13 / 29
Partnerships with other organisations / 6 / 13
Volunteering Press / 4 / 8
Specialist Publications / 3 / 7
Mail shots / 1 / 2
Internal news letters / 1 / 2
Community Road Shows / 1 / 2
Annual Campaigns / 1 / 2

Recruitment through volunteer centres

A Report on Access Into Volunteering

Shaping the Debate

Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities

2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section OneIntroduction3-4

Section ThreeResearch Findings6-23

Section FourConclusions and Recommendations23-26

Executive Summary

Introduction

Methodology

Key findings

Conclusions and recommendations

Section One - Introduction