Teaching An Old Dog To Do New Tricks
Deborah Mattinson argues those urging us all to embrace the Big Society must change themselves first.
18 Oct 2011, 16:30
We are all urged to sign up to the Big Society. And many campaigners working hard locally and nationally are eager to swell their ranks. More volunteers means more successful campaigns, better networks, greater access to skills like web design and IT, and being more representative and inclusive.
Recent BritainThinks polling tells us that although over a third say they have ‘volunteered locally’ just 6% say they do this regularly. That is a very significant ‘activism gap’. Worse still, many perfectly well meaning people don’t get round to doing anything at all.
The theme for this year’s English Heritage ‘Heritage Counts’ review is ‘The Historic Environment and the Big Society’ and this summer, BritainThinks was commissioned to conduct research into people’s views and experiences of volunteering in this field. We ran focus groups, and workshops with people who were interested but had never been involved, and with people who had been involved on a one off basis but not regularly.
We found that most people, with busy lives, often juggling work and family, saw activism of any kind as a huge step. They set the bar very high in terms of time commitment and perceptions of the level of knowledge that might be required. Those who took the plunge often found their anxieties confirmed by the local activists themselves, whose demands were often unrealistic.
We heard tales of first time volunteers being told that they must commit to putting in many hours each week; that it was compulsory to participate in particular rotas; and being told to do work that they felt uncomfortable doing or merely seemed like an extension of their day job. Meetings were often long and process ridden, full of mystifying jargon and incomprehensible rules. When a volunteer had helped out on a campaign they were often not told about the outcome and left in doubt as to the value of their contribution.
A second stage of the project comprised workshops bringing together local activists from different organisations and would-be volunteers.The two groups collaborated to develop a list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ to boost involvement. The check-list stressed the importance of seeing things from the new volunteers perspective – thinking what works for them: activities for kids, events that are fun as well as worthy. It also offered communications advice: avoiding jargon and acronyms. Most of all it recommended having a clear vision: being explicit about the overall aim – why the group exists, why its aims matter, and what has been achieved so far.
But arriving at this set of ‘golden rules’ was the easy bit. The real challenge now lies in persuading local groups that to achieve success they may need to change themselves.This means recognizing where they have gone wrong in the past, and really putting themselves in the shoes of the people they are trying to engage with. Some of the heated discussions between local activists and potential volunteers in the workshops suggested that it might be quite hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Recent BritainThinks polling tells us that although over a third say they have ‘volunteered locally’ just 6% say they do this regularly. That is a very significant ‘activism gap’. Worse still, many perfectly well meaning people don’t get round to doing anything at all.
The theme for this year’s English Heritage ‘Heritage Counts’ review is ‘The Historic Environment and the Big Society’ and this summer, BritainThinks was commissioned to conduct research into people’s views and experiences of volunteering in this field. We ran focus groups, and workshops with people who were interested but had never been involved, and with people who had been involved on a one off basis but not regularly.
We found that most people, with busy lives, often juggling work and family, saw activism of any kind as a huge step. They set the bar very high in terms of time commitment and perceptions of the level of knowledge that might be required. Those who took the plunge often found their anxieties confirmed by the local activists themselves, whose demands were often unrealistic.
We heard tales of first time volunteers being told that they must commit to putting in many hours each week; that it was compulsory to participate in particular rotas; and being told to do work that they felt uncomfortable doing or merely seemed like an extension of their day job. Meetings were often long and process ridden, full of mystifying jargon and incomprehensible rules. When a volunteer had helped out on a campaign they were often not told about the outcome and left in doubt as to the value of their contribution.
A second stage of the project comprised workshops bringing together local activists from different organisations and would-be volunteers.The two groups collaborated to develop a list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ to boost involvement. The check-list stressed the importance of seeing things from the new volunteers perspective – thinking what works for them: activities for kids, events that are fun as well as worthy. It also offered communications advice: avoiding jargon and acronyms. Most of all it recommended having a clear vision: being explicit about the overall aim – why the group exists, why its aims matter, and what has been achieved so far.
But arriving at this set of ‘golden rules’ was the easy bit. The real challenge now lies in persuading local groups that to achieve success they may need to change themselves.This means recognizing where they have gone wrong in the past, and really putting themselves in the shoes of the people they are trying to engage with. Some of the heated discussions between local activists and potential volunteers in the workshops suggested that it might be quite hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
The author
Deborah Mattinson
Deborah Mattinson is Founder Director of Britain Thinks and author of Talking to a Brick Wall.
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