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Slide 1: Rosemarie Hilton Year 2. Gerontology ( Distance Learning) University of Southampton
Slide 2: Helping Out :Older People and their contribution to society through volunteer activities with the Church.
Slide 3: Definition of volunteering: • “a volunteer is someone who willingly gives unpaid help in the form of time, service or skills, through an organisation or group. An organisation or group is any body with a formal structure. It may be as large as a national charity or as small as a local book club”. • Australian Bureau of Statistics (1991)
Slide 4: • “In Western Protestant societies the work ethic is an important organising principle” • “The conceptualisation of ‘work’ is narrow therefore the related notion of ‘retirement’ must be borne in mind”. • Victor (1995)
Slide 5: Definition of retirement: • “ the formal withdrawal from the labour market and gainful economic activity at a specified chronological age”.
Slide 6: People with no religion: by Age and Sex in G.B. (ONS Census 2001)
Slide 7: Religion by Age, G.B, 2001.(ONS Census 2001)
Slide 8: English longitudinal study of Ageing (ELSA) (2006) • C- control: the ability to intervene actively in one’s own environment. • A- autonomy: the right of an individual to be free from unwanted interference. • S- self realisation: the active processes of human fulfilment • P- pleasure: the sense of fun derived from the more active (doing) aspects of life.
Slide 9: Quality of Life of people Aged 50 and over measured by CASP-19, England 2006
Slide 11: • “As far as the factors that influence participation in volunteer activities are concerned, literature shows that older volunteers are more likely than non volunteers to have a high socio economic status, to be married, to have a religious affiliation, to be in paid work, to evaluate their health highly, to have large social networks and to have volunteered previously”. (Warburton et al 2001: Choi 2003)
Slide 12: • “ Beyond the social value of volunteering activity, the majority of volunteers apparently expected a non – monetary personal gain”. • Narushima (2005)
Slide 13: Five features that make older people valuable resources as volunteers. • Maturity- older people have ‘lived through enough experiences’ to enable them to understand the problems of others. • Skills- they have spent decades perfecting all kinds of skills. • Availability- they tend to have more time and greater flexibility. • Loyalty-older people spend more time volunteering and stay longer. • Numbers- older people make up an ever increasing proportion of the population. • Review of Home Office Initiative : Older people Volunteering. (2002)
Slide 14: . • Two possible reasons that relationships tend to thrive in religious settings: • Late life is associated with role loss, retirement from eg. paid work, widowhood. • Loss of social relationships.
Slide 15: Types of volunteering activity historically associated with the church. • • • • • • • • • Bell ringing and practise Flower arranging Choir Visiting the sick and frail at home Distribution of ‘alms’- harvest festival Collections (money) More recently Helping in schools Visiting in hospitals
Slide 16: Findings from the group: • People attend regularly • The same people engage in other activities with the church • 2 ladies who arrange flowers – both WI members. One retired school teacher, one retired civil servant. Both have a strong faith. • Cleaning / making tea.- men and women. Various previous occupations. All have faith.
Slide 17: Continued • Helping in school- several members. Activities include reading with children, gardening with children, bird watching – nature group. • Volunteers said they got a sense of achievement from their activities and it kept them in touch. • One volunteer said that working with the children made her feel happy- she had no grand children of her own. • One volunteer said that her parents had helped in the church also. • One volunteer said she saw the church as the focus of the village.
Slide 18: Continued • A group of volunteers said they saw the Church as a family, with everyone looking out for each other.
Slide 19: Conclusion • Older people participate in volunteering activities- among the 50+ age group. 50-54-15% (male and female) 55-59 - 21% (male and female) 75- 79 - 7% (male and female) • More older people will say they have a faith- less than 5% of over 65’s said they had no faith. • Contribution to society includes well being amongst older people. Friendship, sense of belonging and freedom from lonliness. • Older people as volunteers are a valuable resource. • Volunteering with the church enables older people to continue ‘work’ according to their ethic whilst involving their faith.
Slide 20: References • Ensol,S. Nelson,P. (1995) Volunteering and Older People. Sydney NSW. Consultative Committee on Ageing. • Erlingham,M. Hank,K. (2006) The Participation of Older Europeans in Volunteer Work. Ageing and Society,26.pp 567-584. U.K. Cambridge University Press. • Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (2002) A Review of the Home Office Older Volunteers Initiative. London: Home Office.
Slide 21: References • Office for National Statistics (2001) Focus on religion in Great Britain. London: ONCS • Office for National Statistics (2009) The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Wave 3 2005/6. London:ONCS • Office for National Statistics (2008) Focus on Society. A National Survey of Volunteering and Charitable Giving. London: Cabinet Office. • Victor,C. (2005) The Social Context of Ageing. Chapter 8. Material resources loss and Bereavement in later life. Pp245-248.London: Routledge. •
Slide 22: Bibliography • Alcock,P. (1997) Understanding poverty: Second Ed. Chapter 11, Ageing and Poverty. Pp 165-177. Great Britain: Palgrave. • Coleman,P. Mills,M. Speck,P. (2006) The Futures of Old Age. Chapter 12, Ageing and BeliefBetween Tradition and Change. London: Sage. • Levin,J.S. (1995) Religion. In The Encyclopedia of Ageing, 2nd Ed. Edited by George Maddox. Pp 799- 802. New York: Springer Press.