Grassroots Helped By £7.9bn Volunteer Industry
Britain’s grassroots sport structure is reliant on nearly £8 billion worth of good-will hours donated by an army of volunteers across the UK, according to statistics released by Pitchero this week.
Pitchero, who provide free websites for community sports clubs, surveyed more than 2,300 community club volunteers across a range of sports including football, rugby, cricket, and hockey. The average number of hours ‘gifted’ to sports clubs was found to be 6.7 hours per week, equating to 3,484 hours per year.
There are estimated to be approximately 150,000 community sports clubs in the UK and each of these benefits from the support of an average of 24 volunteers.
Mark Fletcher, CEO and founder of Pitchero, said: ‘The statistic is much higher than we were expecting and this is a conservative estimate. We based the calculation on the minimum wage for adults over 21 which is £6.31 per hour rather than an average wage.’
Research also showed that 95% of the volunteers who completed the survey were adults aged 30 and over. Less than 2% of those surveyed fell into the 16-21 age bracket.
Fletcher added: ‘This statistic should raise a few alarm bells. If youngsters are not feeding into the volunteer network, how will sports clubs survive in the future? Sport England awards funding to National Governing Bodies based on their success in growing grassroots participation but if the growth in players is not supported by adequate numbers of groundsmen, officials, coaches and administrators what does the community sports structure of the future look like?’
‘This research should be a wake up call to the sporting community, highlighting that more needs to be done to encourage young people to donate time to their local sports club.’
The research also suggests that the incredible summer of sport in 2012, which included a momentous effort from thousands of volunteer Games Makers to deliver a professional London Olympic, has had no impact on volunteer recruitment.
Meanwhile, despite an incredible summer of sport in 2012, an overwhelming majority of club volunteers surveyed (93%) believe the Olympic legacy has had no impact on the number of volunteers willing to dedicate time to the running of their local sports club.
Fletcher adds: ‘On a positive note, the volunteers questioned do not need financial incentives or shiny award ceremonies to feel appreciated. Almost two thirds (60%) feel ‘very appreciated’ by the players and spectators of the clubs. In many case (50%) a simple ‘thank you’ is all the reward needed.’
