Residents as volunteers: final evaluation report

Author(s)

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS, HORNUNG Lisa

Publisher(s):

National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Publication year:

2018

An evaluation of the Residents as Volunteers project, which aimed to support older people aged over-75 years living in a residential home setting to volunteer and to measure the impact of volunteering on well-being and quality of life. The project was delivered in partnership by Abbeyfield Society and NCVO, and funded by the Big Lottery fund. A total of 110 residents volunteered during the project. Those participating felt that volunteering had a positive impact on their emotional and social well-being and many also reported that volunteering helped them to stay physically and mentally active. The evaluation identified a number of barriers to volunteering faced by care home residents. These included feeling too old, having a health condition, lack of confidence, narrow views of volunteering or anti-volunteering sentiment. The project also found it was far more difficult to reach residents that had never volunteered before. It also identified barriers for staff and care homes themselves, including existing social interactions, staff to resident ratio, existing volunteering culture and non-supportive environment or lack of management buy-in. The report makes some suggestions to overcome these barriers. (Edited publisher abstract)