Activities and News

Institute for Volunteering Research

Voluntary Norfolk Good Practice Event: Where next for volunteering?

Voluntary Norfolk Good Practice Event: Where next for volunteering?
On 28th September 2021, Voluntary Norfolk hosted an online Good Practice Event, in collaboration with Community Action Norfolk Good Neighbours Network and the IVR, exploring what we've learnt in...

A critical evaluation of the role of relationships with public agencies in hyperlocal voluntary action, a case study: The Fine City Neighbours Network

A critical evaluation of the role of relationships with public agencies in hyperlocal voluntary action, a case study: The Fine City Neighbours Network
A presentation of co-produced research at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference 2021 in Birmingham, 6 September 2021

Enthusiasm, learning and disappointment: recognising volunteers’ experiences of mutual aid associations in Kensington and Chelsea during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

Enthusiasm, learning and disappointment: recognising volunteers’ experiences of mutual aid associations in Kensington and Chelsea during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
A presentation of co-produced research at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference 2021 in Birmingham, 6 September 2021. A video recording of this presentation for online and...

The Impacts of Volunteering on the Subjective Wellbeing of Volunteers: A Rapid Evidence Assessment

The Impacts of Volunteering on the Subjective Wellbeing of Volunteers: A Rapid Evidence Assessment
A presentation of interdisciplinary and cross university work at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference 2021 in Birmingham, 7 September 2021. A video recording of this...

Pandemic policy making affecting older adults in the COVID-19 pandemic in the four nations of the UK

Pandemic policy making affecting older adults in the COVID-19 pandemic in the four nations of the UK
Our Director, Dr Jurgen Grotz, gave a presentation at the British Society of Gerontology annual conference 7 - 9 July 2021. The video recording of this is now available to watch.

IVR policy paper: ‘not under the direction of any authority wielding the power of the State’: a critical assessment of top-down attempts to foster volunteering in the UK

IVR policy paper: ‘not under the direction of any authority wielding the power of the State’: a critical assessment of top-down attempts to foster volunteering in the UK
Dr Jurgen Grotz, the Director of IVR, wrote this paper for an online workshop on Volunteering in the UK and China, 25th June 2021 organised by the Manchester China Institute

Volunteering in a Global Pandemic

Volunteering in a Global Pandemic
Sharing views and experiences from around the globe, about the difference voluntary action makes during and after COVID-19 pandemic

Volunteering and Inequality

Volunteering and Inequality
IVR hosted a webinar exploring volunteering and inequalities; here are the position statements from each of the panellists   Peter Beresford, OBE is Visiting Professor at the...

The Role of Volunteering in Participation and Democracy

The Role of Volunteering in Participation and Democracy
IVR organised an online event to offer different narratives of volunteering as participation, democracy and citizenship. Here are six pre-recorded position statements from panellists

Animations: Volunteering for Beginners

Animations: Volunteering for Beginners
IVR has created a series of short animations on volunteering for beginners   Volunteering for Beginners in seven and a half minutes   And if you haven’t got seven...

IVR's Work Reaches China

IVR's Work Reaches China
Professor Ting Zhao and Cao Yu from the School of Political Science and Public Administration at the East China University of Political Science and Law and have written an introduction to IVR's...

Podcast: Volunteering Across the UK During the Pandemic

Podcast: Volunteering Across the UK During the Pandemic
In this podcast by the Eastern ARC, you can hear what we can learn about voluntary action and Covid-19.

Youth Volunteering Webinar: Participation in Times of Covid-19

Youth Volunteering Webinar: Participation in Times of Covid-19
We are pleased to present the  recording of our webinar , organised as a collaboration between the Institute for Volunteering Research at the University of East Anglia and the School of...

Journal Articles by IVR Members

Journal Articles by IVR Members
In November and December 2020, members of IVR authored two new journal articles contributing to important debates: -  Pandemic policy making: the health and wellbeing effects of the...

IVR Hosts Online Webinar for the Voluntary Sector Studies Network

IVR Hosts Online Webinar for the Voluntary Sector Studies Network
On 20 November 2020, IVR hosted a free half day online webinar for the Voluntary Sector Studies Network (VSSN) with fabulous speakers from Newman University, Leeds Beckett...

New Book Addressing PPI in Health and Social Care Research Linked to Volunteering

New Book Addressing PPI in Health and Social Care Research Linked to Volunteering
A new book to explain and promote a new approach to Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in health and social care by drawing on wider principles including volunteering has been...

Voluntary Action and Covid-19: What We Can Learn and How We Can Recover

Voluntary Action and Covid-19: What We Can Learn and How We Can Recover
The Institute for Volunteering Research, in a partnership of six UK universities and representatives from a variety of voluntary organisations, including the four key voluntary sector...

How Volunteering Can Increase Wellbeing

How Volunteering Can Increase Wellbeing
The Institute for Volunteering Research, with the  Spirit of 2012  and the  What Works Centre for Wellbeing   published  new research  on 20 October 2020...

IVR Delivers Presentations at VSVR Conference

IVR Delivers Presentations at VSVR Conference
The annual Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference  (VSVR) was held online this year under the theme  Times like these’: Researching civil society responses to and...

Building on strong foundations: the volunteer response to the pandemic in Wales

Building on strong foundations: the volunteer response to the pandemic in Wales
    Emma Taylor-Collins and Hannah Durrant from Wales Centre for Public Policy, and WCVA’s Helpforce Cymru Manager Fiona Liddell look for a pattern in recent volunteering in...

Press Release: Covid-19 Volunteering Response

Press Release: Covid-19 Volunteering Response
Covid-19 volunteering efforts need to be better coordinated - relying on local experience and knowledge, says Dr Jurgen Grotz, Director of the Institute for Voluteering Research. You can read...

Covid-19 Volunteer Responses - Video

Covid-19 Volunteer Responses - Video
Video of volunteer responses to covid-19 pandemic

Obituary of Duncan Scott, former Chair of IVR Advisory Group

Obituary of Duncan Scott, former Chair of IVR Advisory Group
Duncan Scott died on Monday 18th May, after a severe stroke. A long serving senior academic at Manchester University he was one of the pioneers who developed the new academic field of...

Volunteering and COVID-19 Evidence Group

Volunteering and COVID-19 Evidence Group
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has been hosting weekly webinars with both national networks of volunteer involving organisations and...

Volunteers' Week of Appreciation and Reflection

Volunteers' Week of Appreciation and Reflection
Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the four nations of the UK and around the globe, through volunteering as service, as leisure and...