A quarter of British people have chosen to volunteer their time rather than donate money in the current economic climate,
a survey conducted for Volunteers Week (1-7 June) has revealed.
The study by Diamond, official volunteer sponsor of Race
for Life 2009, revealed that two fifths of people said the credit crunch has stopped them donating money, with 28% choosing
to volunteer their time instead.
The poll of more than 3,000 people also revealed that four out of ten of us
have volunteered our time more than once in the last year. But giving money is still more popular as 74% of people donated
money to a charity or cause more than once in the last 12 months, with one in ten donating £100 or more.
Diamond's Head of Operations, Nic Weng Kan said, "For many people who are struggling financially, volunteering does seem
to be an alternative to donating money to charities and causes and there's plenty of opportunities to volunteer out
there.
"Interestingly, the results of our survey turned the stereotype that it's only the older
generations who volunteer on its head. In fact, we found that it's the under 18s who are the most likely to regularly
volunteer their time than any other age group."
Almost 60% of under 18s have volunteered more than
once over the last year, and those aged between 50-55 were the least likely to have volunteered in the last year. 54% of
people in this age group said they haven't volunteered at all in the last 12 months; more than double the number for under 18s
(25%).
Under 18s are the most prolific volunteers with 15% giving their time to a charity or cause every week
compared to an average of 9% across all the age groups.
More people would be willing to volunteer their time to
animal organisations than any other organisations (36%), followed by young people (32%) and their local community (29%).
