Parkinson's UK volunteers
Research commissioned by Parkinson's UK finds 61 per cent of population have never volunteered
Almost a third of the British public have no interest in helping charities through volunteering or fundraising, according to new research commissioned by the charity Parkinson's UK.
The charity asked the polling company ICM Research to survey 2,000 nationally representative British adults to ask them about volunteering to mark this week's Parkinson's Awareness Week.
Thirty-two per cent of respondents said they were not interested in helping charities. Half said they had never fundraised before, and 61 per cent said they had never volunteered.
Despite this, the research also found that given a choice, 43 per cent of people would rather volunteer than fundraise. Twenty-five per cent said they would rather fundraise, and 32 per cent said they would do neither.
Steve Ford, chief executive of Parkinson's UK, said that, given everyone's increasingly busy lifestyles, it was important for charities to come up with a range of different volunteering opportunities to suit different needs.
"For us, it's about trying to offer more creative opportunities for people, such as writing a letter to your MP," he said.
Ford said it was also important for charities to understand what people wanted to get out of volunteering and to ensure that they understood the impact of their help.
