Charity Starts at Home: Why young people in tougher communities are already volunteering – just not the way you think

Volunteering: A lifelong habit?

Volunteering is good for the soul. Plus, research suggests that if you start young, you’re more likely to keep giving back for life. This means better job prospects, more vibrant communities and happier people.

But there’s a problem: young people from economically challenged areas are volunteering less. So, our research focused on the drivers and barriers, digging into what’s really going on, to increase academic knowledge and provide some insight to our research partners – the Step Up To Serve (SUS) charity and the #iWill movement.

Listening to the voices that matter

SUS launched the #iWill campaign to get more 10–20-year-olds in the UK involved in volunteering. They brought together 40 young people from lower-income communities for focus groups – half were already volunteering, half weren’t.

The findings may surprise you.

Volunteering, but not as you know it

Many young people in these communities are volunteering, just not in the way most people define it. They’re looking after younger siblings, helping grandparents, supporting neighbours. It’s unpaid, it’s helpful and it’s done out of love and duty.

But no one’s really calling it ‘volunteering’, and that’s frustrating. Because if it’s not recognised, it’s not valued. And if it’s not valued, it’s not supported.

What’s getting in the way?

So why aren’t more young people signing up for formal volunteering schemes?

Our findings suggest that there are mainly collective motivations to engage (i.e. trying to make a difference in my community, helping others). The barriers to young people engaging include:

• lack of awareness of opportunities

• responsibilities at home

• a lack of support

Pride of place

Place plays a key role as a motivator in lower-income areas. Many young people told us they feel their neighbourhoods are judged unfairly. Volunteering, for them, is a way to push back – to show the world that their communities are full of heart, not just hardship – and to make their communities better.

Time for a new definition

Working with SUS and #iWill, we’re proposing a fresh take on what volunteering means. One that includes the everyday acts of care happening behind closed doors. One that’s rooted in real lives, real places and the real challenges that young people face.

Ultimately, if we want more young people to get involved, we need to start by recognising what they’re already doing. It may be beneficial for us to embrace a ‘closer to home’ view of volunteering.

What’s next?

We’re continuing our work with #iWill to explore how this new, more inclusive definition can shape policy and practice, while trying to ensure that young people feel their contribution is respected and valued. By endorsing their actions, we hope more young people will engage in other volunteering activities further from home, both now and in later life.

In engaging young people from economically disadvantaged communities, perhaps the old adage of ‘charity begins at home’ is not a bad place to begin.

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