by Ethan Harris
NEW research focusing on the social return from investment in sport has found revealing evidence that volunteering in sport creates satisfaction even greater than taking part in sport itself.
The study found several benefits across a wide range of categories, including health, crime reduction and education levels in Wales and England.
Dr. Larissa Davies and colleagues from Sheffield Hallam University and the Sports Industries Research Centre found sports volunteering created wider benefits to society than previously thought.
Furthermore, volunteering was found to have a greater social impact compared with the amount of time put into events, with £7.7 billion added to the system, volunteering time accounted for an output of £12.86 billion overall.
The research also found the average volunteering time in Wales stood at an average of 105 hours per year, which is less than that of England.
As a result, volunteering can clearly be seen to have multiple benefits across society.
“Volunteers are an integral part of sports participation,” said Dr. Davies, speaking at the UK Sports Volunteering Research Network Seminar held at the Sport Wales centre.
“From a benefit point of view, volunteers themselves feel happier from volunteering in sport, so that’s one of the benefits in itself.
“Volunteers get twice the amount of satisfaction from volunteering in sport than participants get from engaging in sport.”
With the evidence emerging from a snapshot study conducted in 2013/14, evidence also found that for every £1 invested in sport, societal benefits would stand at around £1.91 in return.
This evidence displays the value of volunteer work across the board within sport, with people reportedly displaying greater life satisfaction and health benefits as a result of their volunteer work.
However, further research is needed before a definitive conclusion can be drawn from this, although the evidence does point in a positive direction.
