Promoting. The European Older People s Platform La Plate-forme européenne des Personnes âgées

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1 EN Promoting volunteering for Europe s seniors LET S MAKE 2012 THE EUROPEAN YEAR ON ACTIVE AGEING AND INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY The European Older People s Platform La Plate-forme européenne des Personnes âgées

2 73% of older workers want to get involved in volunteer activities when they retire The majority of older people want to continue to contribute to society after they retire and interest among seniors in engaging in a community and voluntary capacity is growing. The 2008 Flash Eurobarometer on family life and the needs of an ageing population revealed that 73% of workers approaching retirement want to participate in such activities after they leave the workplace. Many of these older workers also want to continue to contribute to society outside of their work context while still in employment. Older people who participate in volunteer activities bring with them considerable skills, knowledge and commitment. They have distinct qualities to offer due to their social maturity, accumulated life experience and sense of societal obligation. They are often good at problem solving, possess a high degree of cultural understanding and can engage effectively with others. They can also offer their availability, confidence, patience and loyalty in any voluntary commitment. Older people volunteer in diverse areas including community, welfare, political and religious organisations; education, training, sport, youth development and senior citizen groups; and local heritage, environmental protection and overseas development. They carry out a range of activities including work with users or beneficiaries and the provision of advice, care and practical tasks, administrative support, teaching, leadership and managerial activities, public relations and campaigning.

3 Yet only 44% of retired people actually volunteer 79% of respondents to the 2008 Flash Eurobarometer take the view that it is either very (42%) or quite (37%) important to encourage older people to become involved in volunteering activities. However, the take up among seniors is much lower. Only 44% of retired people actually opt to volunteer. Why this gap? Can anything be done to bridge this huge discrepancy which presents a loss to our societies? Senior volunteering makes a significant contribution to Europe s social, cultural and environmental well-being. It fits well into policy strategies for healthy ageing and social cohesion. As such, it is an essential component of active citizenship and promotes positive attitudes to active ageing. It is also one of the best examples of social participation as it provides a strong sense of community belonging. The economic and innovative contribution of voluntary activity is equally important but is often overlooked in national statistics as its monetary value cannot easily be measured. Such activity also increases human capital and creates social networks, providing participants with social, emotional, practical and sometimes financial support. This reinforces democracy and builds social solidarity. Member State initiatives and volunteer-involving organisations should create and promote more opportunities for older volunteers. Volunteering must not substitute for paid jobs nor be used as a means to fulfill duties that the state is unable to meet, as this issue requires attention from public authorities.

4 What prevents older people from getting involved in volunteer activities? Older people often face disincentives to volunteer such as negative attitudes and stereotypes, cultural and practical barriers, and discriminatory policies and practices. An increasing demand for specific qualifications, the administrative burdens involved in the organisation of simple voluntary tasks and unjustified age limits imposed by insurance companies on volunteer activities all present obstacles that we should help overcome. Older people themselves may be reluctant to volunteer due to lack of self-confidence or inadequate knowledge and understanding of what volunteering entails. Practical barriers such as ill health, financial restraints, mobility issues and time constraints can also pose problems. Older people from ethnic minority groups, seniors with a disability or those who fall outside standard perceptions of what a volunteer is like, may find participation in volunteer activities difficult, in particular within mainstream organisations. Such obstacles need to be effectively addressed and a change in attitudes to older people s community involvement needs to be achieved if older volunteering is to truly reach its full potential.

5 Why should senior volunteering be promoted? The gap between potential and participant senior volunteers needs to be remedied. Volunteering adds to the individual s life satisfaction: it increases social contacts, promotes social awareness, encourages well-being, facilitates community involvement and develops key competences and skills that further active societal participation. Senior volunteering forms a counterweight to the increasing isolation and egoism in modern societies. It also promotes greater understanding between generations when they support each other in a shared activity. Volunteering results from personal and altruistic reasons: the need for an outlet, a structure for free time, a means to feel useful and valued, an opportunity to use skills built up over a working life and the wish to give something back to society. Volunteering as a link to employment Older volunteering can ease the transition from full-time employment to retirement. It can also serve as an avenue back into the workplace as experience, knowledge and contacts accumulated by older volunteers are in demand by employers. Volunteering maintains and increases their employability. Mutually beneficial partnerships between volunteer organisations, local and regional government and companies can help mobilise older workers skills in shaping their communities. Employers can play a role in promoting voluntary activity among their staff. But there is a need for a greater recognition and support for volunteering in labour law and social dialogue.

6 What can the EU do to promote active ageing and more senior volunteering? The EU has paid increasing attention to volunteering in all its forms over recent years. Nevertheless we are still far from a comprehensive European strategy and action to promote, recognise, facilitate and support volunteering to realise its full potential. AGE calls on the European Commission to: > Organise a European Year on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity in 2012 that will promote volunteering; > Facilitate the exchange of good practice and peer-learning activities on older volunteer activity in Member States, and collate reliable and comparable statistics on its scale, importance and socio-economic value; > Ensure that EU policies and funding programmes to promote volunteer activity are inclusive and built on intergenerational solidarity; > Carry out more research on the types and amounts of volunteer work carried out by seniors and the specific issues they face, in particular in rural or remote areas; > Encourage businesses to support older worker s voluntary activities in the framework of corporate social responsibility schemes.

7 What can national governments do to help older people get involved in volunteering? Public authorities can do much to promote volunteering among older people in their countries. AGE calls on national governments to: > Agree on guiding values, principles and ethics for voluntary activities; > Take concrete actions to promote volunteering among seniors and remove legal and administrative obstacles; > Encourage the development of voluntary activities for all age groups based on greater solidarity between generations; > Frame national policies on voluntary action and devise strategies to ensure that such activities are encouraged and recognised; > Draw up legal frameworks to guarantee that the right to carry out voluntary activity is independent from an individual s legal or social status; > Recognise the importance of voluntary activity and provide mechanisms to exchange information, experience and good practice on the opportunities that exist; > Foster the active participation of older volunteers in developing and shaping their environment as a means to promote social cohesion; > Provide training for the management and development of voluntary activity among people of all ages.

8 What can regional and local authorities do to support older volunteering and community work? Regional and local authorities play an important role in facilitating volunteering, They can concretely support seniors who wish to volunteer by: > Putting in place policies and measures that encourage senior volunteering; > Providing information on volunteering opportunities and fostering training for senior volunteers and those coordinating and managing their activities; > Minimising the bureaucratic and financial constraints that volunteer organisations face; > Tangibly supporting senior volunteering as a way to promote healthy ageing and social inclusion of the individual; > Ensuring that volunteers are valued but that they are not exploited as cheap labour to replace professional services.

9 What can NGOs do to facilitate senior volunteering? Civil society organisations often rely on volunteers to carry out and to develop their activities. AGE believes that volunteering enables people of all ages to contribute to positive social, political and environmental change. Volunteering must be viewed as a vital part of our democratic and social life. It must also be valued beyond the services it provides. Participation in volunteer activities lies at the heart of our democracies and constitutes a dynamic force for social inclusion, active citizenship and intergenerational solidarity. Civil society can seek to ensure that policies among volunteer organisations do not discriminate against seniors. For instance, by assessing their practices for deep-seated assumptions about older volunteers capacities and interests. Older volunteers need to be encouraged by stressing the value of their contribution, the mutual benefits to be gained by their participation and by the tailoring of activities according to individual strengths, commitment and availability. Older people s organisations and volunteer-based organisations should be involved in the definition, development and implementation of policies that promote volunteering at all ages, and financial help and public funding should be justified by results.

10 European Union programmes in support of volunteer activities At the most fundamental level, volunteers are the agents of European values and objectives as laid down in the Treaties in terms of promoting social cohesion, solidarity, active participation and citizenship. It is volunteers who translate these values into action on a daily basis. Volunteering is vital across a range of policy areas. It is supported at European level by two key programmes: > Grundtvig Initiative on Volunteering in Europe for Seniors (2009) This new initiative consists of a scheme of grants to support senior volunteering projects between local organisations located in two countries participating in the EU Lifelong Learning programme. Its objectives are to enable senior citizens to volunteer in another European country and for local communities to draw on the potential of senior citizens as a source of knowledge, competence and experience. > Europe for Citizens programme ( ) Volunteering is a particularly powerful means to develop citizens commitment to the society they live in. That is why particular attention is paid within this programme to promoting volunteering. The programme aims to bring Europe closer to its citizens, enabling them to participate in their communities and to gain a greater sense of societal responsibility and ownership.

11 Campaign for 2012 to be the European Year on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity Many older people volunteer or benefit from the services of volunteers. Volunteering is an essential part of active ageing. It needs and deserves targeted support and an enabling policy environment. Following the success of the Slovene Presidency conference on intergenerational solidarity, Vladimir Špidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, announced that he will propose 2012 to be declared as the European Year on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity. AGE welcomes and firmly supports this initiative. The creation of 2012 as the European Year on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity will play an important part in raising awareness of the need for policy change and the creation of new visions on how to achieve a society tailored to all ages. It will provide a framework to encourage such discussions and exchanges of good practice between Member States. AGE has been campaigning as part of an alliance of volunteer stakeholders, led by the European Volunteer Centre, which together represent thousands of volunteer organisations at all levels - European, national, regional and local - for 2011 to be the European Year on Volunteering. AGE therefore welcomes the Commission s announcement that it is preparing 2011 as this European Year. This initiative will serve as a spring board to 2012 as the European Year on Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity. For further details, please contact Karen Vandeweghe, Parliament and Information Officer, at: karen.vandeweghe@age-platform.org.

12 Promoting VOLUNTEERING for Europe s seniors More information on AGE More information on AGE - the European Older People s Platform and on its objectives and EU lobbying activities can be found on the AGE website at: Information on volunteering issues can be found on the Lifelong learning and citizenship section. AGE - the European Older People s Platform Rue Froissart, Brussels Belgium Tel Fax info@age-platform.org This publication is supported by the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity ( ) managed by the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission. This programme was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment and social affairs area, as set out in the social agenda, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy goals in these fields. The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU- 27, EFTA-EEA and EU candidates and pre-candidate countries. PROGRESS mission is to strengthen the EU contribution in support of Member States commitments and efforts to create more and better jobs and to build a more cohesive society. To that effect, PROGRESS will be instrumental in: providing analysis policy advice on PROGRESS policy areas; monitoring and reporting on the implementation of EU legislation and policies in PROGRESS policy areas; promoting policy transfer, learning and support among Member States on EU objectives and priorities; and relaying the views of the stakeholders and society at large. For more information see: The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission. We thank Age & Opportunity, Age UK, National Pensioners Convention, Irish Senior Citizens Parliament, Geert De Cock, the European Commission and the European Parliament for the use of their pictures.