World Volunteering Conference

by Denise Hayward, Chief Executive, Volunteer Now

The World Volunteering Conference was held in Busan, South Korea in October.  Volunteer Now had submitted proposals for a range of sessions and were delighted that two of our papers were chosen.  Lindsay Armstrong and I travelled to Busan where we delivered sessions profiling our older people’s volunteering work and the impact on wellbeing as well as the cascade model we use for safeguarding training.

The conference was attended by people from 98 countries.  It was opened by the President of Korea who related the role volunteers had played in Busan during the Korean war in supporting refugees.  He explained that the reason the government had supported the conference in Busan was to recognize it as the birthplace of volunteering in Korea.

Key reflections for me are that across the developed world volunteering has changed post covid.  Many countries have experienced a falling off in numbers of volunteers as well as hours given.  However, some countries, including us are now seeing a recovery.  The role of young people in less formal activism was explored at the event and this is seen as an important ingredient in driving long term recovery in volunteering.

The role of Employer Supported Volunteering was clear in many settings and this is something that has not been particularly well developed in the UK in comparison to other countries.  There is definitely scope to consider this further and there is a role for greater research to build understanding and explore what can sometimes be a mismatch between voluntary organisations and employers.

I attended an excellent presentation from Korea about the new national occupational standards for volunteer management which have been developed.  This is very useful as we are revisiting these in the UK at present.

Finally, the role of volunteering for young people in a schools setting was explored.  In many countries this is compulsory and that means that all young people have opportunities to participate.  In N Ireland there is evidence that young people from less well-off backgrounds are less likely to volunteer.  Compulsory school volunteering may not be on the agenda here however it is clear that better promotion and greater opportunities in school are vital.

Overall, there was a real richness in the debate in the conference and an opportunity to build networks with people with similar roles from across the world.