For Sport England, an insight-led organisation, understanding what is happening (and why) is key to supporting changes so that everyone feels able to give their time and have a great experience while doing it.
New data for the sport and activity sector
Sport and physical activity is one of the largest sectors for volunteering and the results of our latest Active Lives Adult Survey show that 8.8 million adults - or 19% of those aged over 16 in England - gave up some of their time to help others be active, at least once in the previous 12 months (November 2021-'22).
That’s pretty special.
And even more positive, it is an increase of 2.3m (+4.8%) from November 2020-'21. In the diagram below, the arrows show the percentage change from 12 months ago, in that time period.
As we dig into the data a little more, a couple of things jump out:
- In November 2021-'22 there was a higher proportion of new volunteers (those who have been volunteering for less than a year) at 21.2%, compared to 18.5% in November 2019-'20.
- There is an increase in volunteers giving their time regularly (once a week), up by 1.9% (see diagram above) which clubs and groups have told us is a huge help.
- There was a significant increase in the proportion of those aged 75+ (+4.9%) who had volunteered in the last year (November 2021-'22). There were concerns about this age group due to the impact of the pandemic but their habits appear to be recovering.
- The data implies positive retention with rates for those who had volunteered for more than five years (13.3% of volunteers) and for more than 10 years (21.7% of volunteers) being in line with data from November 2019-'20.
Together these could be indicators that volunteering habits may be starting to recover, but we must not forget that these new figures are still a decrease of 800,000 people (-2.1%) volunteering in the past year compared to November 2019-'20.
An unequal recovery
Underneath the headlines, the data also shows significant challenges.
You are still less likely to volunteer weekly in sport and activity if you are a woman, from lower socio-economic group, live in a more deprived area, have a disability or long-term health condition or are from a Black or Asian ethnic background.
The data shows that those who are from a lower socio-economic background (NS-SEC 6-8) or live in a more deprived area (IMD 1-3) are the least likely to feel they can volunteer.
This is important, as these groups in our communities are also less likely to be physically active.
We are growing our evidence and understanding of the power of ‘someone like me’ volunteering and ‘someone who understands me’ supporting others into activity.
Exploring the data further...
We will continue to explore the Active Lives data, alongside other volunteering insight, so we invite you to have a look at our open-use Active Lives Online. Please let us know what you think, as we would love to hear your reflections and thoughts.
...and reinventing the experience
With our long-term strategy Uniting the Movement, we are committed to focussing on addressing the inequalities in the country's activity levels.
That means supporting communities, organisations and volunteers who need the most help to do the amazing things they do.
But we also know that feeling able to give their time to help others, having the right opportunities at hand and being supported in the right way is complex.
Our commitment to ‘reinvention’, not just ‘recovery’, means thinking about volunteering differently and working collaboratively.
That’s why we are proud to work with the Vision for Volunteering, a collaboration of volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations across the UK seeking to support great volunteering for everyone by 2032.
Together, and over the next nine years, we’ll work tirelessly to make sure these opportunities are available to everybody who wants to get involved and positively benefit from giving their time to help others.
