Introduction

Interest in volunteering and participation in voluntary organisations and activities has a long history. Considerable benefits arise at an organisational and societal level from the efforts of those who commit their time and energy, without compulsion or personal financial gain, to a huge variety of causes and activities from philanthropy through to self-help and campaigning. In recent years, increased attention to the forms and effects of social capital has stimulated further interest in voluntary activities and organisational membership as indicators of the degree of social capital within communities and societies (Putnam, 1995, 2000). While some measures of social capital rely on attempts to measure the degree of trust relations, and some the existence of reciprocal networks of activity, others focus upon the extent to which individuals are members of voluntary organisations, or participate in voluntary activities. The economic value of formal volunteering in the UK has been calculated to be in the region of £40 billion per year (Hill, 2002). In this chapter, we define the concept of volunteering widely to include not only conventional volunteering, for example working without pay for a charity, but also to include other forms of voluntary civic or community engagement, such as joining a residents’ association or a pensioners’ club, or being active in a trades union (Findlay and McKinlay, 2002). Individuals may contribute to local social capital by establishing networks of information, communication and trust through their participation in a range of organisational activities.

The launch of the Active Community Initiative by the Prime Minister in January 1999 signalled a clear commitment to support the work of “those of us who believe in the power of community” (Scottish Executive, 2000) by encouraging people to volunteer and to involve themselves in community action. This initiative has also been strongly supported by the Scottish Executive who view voluntary activity as a key component in promoting and developing active citizenship and in addressing issues of exclusion.

Themes and issues in volunteering research

For many years, attempts to understand the individual rationale behind formal voluntary activity have tended to focus on altruism or selfsacrifice as an explanation. Indeed, volunteers themselves consistently list service to others as their most important reason for volunteering (Pearce, 1993).