AQMeN - Applied Quantitative Methods Network

This compelling free workshop will present analysis of new and pre-existing data that will be essential learning for researchers, policy makers and practitioners across Scotland.

Funded by the Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMeN), the workshop is being organized by Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS), the University of Stirling, and the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC).

Does where you live influence whether you volunteer?

What are the implications?

How can data from the Scottish Household Survey inform policy and practice?

Voluntary activity has been linked with the promotion of social capital, social inclusion, health, wellbeing and the overall vibrancy of communities.

Secondary analysis of data from the Scottish Household Survey suggests that ‘rurality’ is a highly significant factor in determining a person’s propensity to volunteer through a group or organisation.

This essential workshop will explore why this pattern has emerged and how its potential implications for community participation might be considered by policy makers, practitioners and for organisations in the voluntary/third sector.

It will also explore how data from the Scottish Household Survey and other secondary sources can inform policy and practice in 2012 and beyond.

The day will comprise presentations followed by an open workshop which will give attendees the opportunity to evaluate the need for further research into volunteer participation and how to generate it.

Who should attend?

- Practitioners and policy-makers in both voluntary and public sectors involved in the strategic development of    volunteering and/or community participation

- Researchers interested in the voluntary/third sector

Agenda

The workshop will include four presentations followed by an open discussion.

Headline study presented by Alasdair Rutherford, University of Stirling and Helen Harper, Volunteer Development Scotland

‘Volunteering ‘below the radar’? Informal volunteering in urban and rural Scotland ‘
Mike Woolvin, Scottish Agricultural College

‘Volunteering in rural communities in Scotland’
Helen Timbrell, National Trust

‘Mapping the distribution of charities in Scotland: are formal volunteering opportunities more prevalent in rural areas?’
Helen Harper, Volunteer Development Scotland

Venue:   Volunteer Development Scotland, Jubilee House, Forthside Way, Stirling

Cost:    Free