My second week at Samaritans has been largely populated with reading and organisation.
I’ve received some responses to the survey I designed last week, which is promising, and hope to get some more soon. The branch at Hereford is fairly small, so I don’t anticipate a huge amount of responses. However the volunteers who have contacted me seem very keen, so we’ll see!
In my briefing for the volunteers I also asked if they would be interested in taking part in some interviews, which would be either face to face or over the phone. Thankfully the response to this has been rather positive, and I have a few lined up for the following week. I hope that by speaking to individual volunteers I can get a better idea of what motivates these individuals to volunteer, and what might hold them back.
I’ve also scheduled an interview with the Volunteering Services Officer from HVOSS (Herefordshire Voluntary Organisations Support Service) in an attempt to get a wider picture of volunteering in the local community, and what position Samaritans has in that.
As part of my project’s role in outreach and recruitment I have found some fascinating studies on the subject, conducted only earlier this year. They provide a very revealing picture regarding what motivates a volunteer, and what are the main inhibitory factors. I look forward to seeing whether my results will match theirs.
Next week I should be meeting some volunteers, hopefully in person, before analysing and writing up my findings in the final week!
