1. Volunteering as social assistance: pathways to well-being Jody Aked j.aked@ids.ac.uk SOCIAL ASSISTANCE volunteer interactions wellbeing Presented to Post-Graduate Research Conference University of Bradford 31 st October 2014

2. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 2 Study site Carood watershed: 6 municipalities, NGOs, Eskaya Tribe, national gov, private sector Volunteer profile: VSO ICS youth volunteers Filipino and British 18-25 years old 3 month cycles 8 cycles Intervention: Volunteering Outcome: Environmental management VSO: “volunteering provides the means through which the essential pre-conditions for systemic and sustainable change – ownership, participation, empowerment and inclusion – can be realised”

3. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 3 Conceptual lens Good feelings Good functioning Personal resources External conditions Source: nef, 2008; Ryan and Deci, 2000  feeling able to make choices important to you  feeling a connectedness to others  feeling able to master challenges

4. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 4 Intervention: Volunteering Outcome: Environmental management Focus Interest: Interpersonal wellbeing Well-being Social networks Autonomy Competency Relatedness

5. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 5 Questions What kind of feedbacks does the experience of autonomy, competency and relatedness create in the change process? Are there any particular contexts or patterns of behaviour associated with volunteering that support them? Can an understanding of well-being processes provide actionable insights that improve social protection efforts?

6. Systemic action research (SAR) Cycles of learning Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being

7. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 7 Methods net-map.wordpress.com https://www.globalgiving.co.uk /stories/ 1 2 3 Autonomy Relatedness Competency Self-direction Trust Contribution 3

8. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 8 Group analysis 1 2 3 4

9. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 9 Avoiding one- way relationships The importance of distributing ‘doing’ roles to enable competence power holders share responsibilities more self- directed reciprocate trust young people feel trusted increased confidence and trust in own work more initiation & persistence “As they see I trust them, they feel appreciated. And they use this appreciation as a tool, as an inspiration, to show their effort” [Local youth volunteer] "The doing role feels more of a contribution … it feels like the success is down to you” [British ICS youth volunteer] competence

10. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 10 Well-being interplays in two-way relationships Competence mutuality Competence But … Autonomy Experienced self-direction Experienced self-direction COM VOL Mode of contribution more important than substance

11. ISTR 2014Volunteering and pathways to well-being 11 The momentum of relatedness Trust If the experience is positive, “the legacy can be used both by volunteers and people in the community to form new relationships” If the experience is negative, “you have to build relationships from scratch” Hope False expectations Direct experience Shared goals A personal touch

12. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 12 Relatedness enables autonomy & competence Low competence interacting with others “laziness” Feeling comfortable in interactions g “We don’t feel close to them” [Local youth volunteer] One strategy: ICS volunteers instil pride among local young people Improved confidence g

13. Bradford 2014 Volunteering and pathways to well-being 13 Thanks This research was generously funded by VSO International as part of the Valuing Volunteering project carried out in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). With special thanks to all the volunteers, community members, local officials and locally based VSO ICS programme staff who devoted their experiences and time to processing and interpreting research findings. j.aked@ids.ac.uk