Hitting the Right Buttons
Jessica Salmon
“Charity work,” “A personal interest,” “Something you don’t have to be asked to do,” “Not being paid,” “Hoovering a charity shop,” “Sponsored walks” – “Helping people.” These are a list with one main thing in common; some of the responses of a group of 16 to 18 year olds to the word ‘volunteering.’
In August 2007 I spent two weeks working with The Great Generation. Most of my time was spent carrying out interviews aimed at discovering the interests of young people – relating especially to volunteering and their reactions to descriptions of The Great Generation’s current and proposed work. The questions derived from suggestions from V charity – an independent charity championing youth volunteering in England. The resulting twenty questions covered everything from likes and dislikes, the associations of volunteering and whether it’s frequent coupling with school made it less desirable, to interpretations and knowledge of enterprise and microfinance – though most importantly the good and bad of descriptions of The Great Generation.
So the questions were devised, positive answers hoped for. The only vital missing part was the interviewees, who kindly volunteered from among my friends – though pinning holidaying people down meant some questions were responded to from airports.
The data gathered during the interviews were expected to show young people’s propensity towards volunteering, especially considering the slightly biased nature of the interviewee’s backgrounds – i.e. a group of middle class students with a general grasp of their privileges in life in relation to others. The interviews were casual – maximising the chance of natural answers – and carried out by phone, with the same overall positive response as described in the quotes at the beginning of this piece.
The results demonstrated volunteering is seen as a “nice thing to do,” from previous and current experiences. Descriptions of The Great Generation were singularly positive, suggesting its projects manage to capture young people’s interests.
Sport was mentioned in some form by all, but one interviewee as an enthusing activity. This may imply that physical work in a project is an attraction, though equally it could be working in a team or being able to set and reach a target. Unsurprisingly, it was friends who featured as the ingredient to happiness in the majority of answers, as well as half of the answers to who inspires them. It is lucky then, that The Great Generation can encompass more than one or two of the expectations shown by these responses.
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