Participatory arts, sport, physical activity and loneliness: the role of volunteering

There is promising evidence that volunteering can improve wellbeing and alleviate loneliness in participatory arts, sport and physical activity.

This review shows that volunteering can enhance wellbeing and/or reduce loneliness when taking part in participatory arts, sport and physical activity by:

• giving and sharing skills, expertise and experience
• creating places/spaces of security and trust
• providing opportunities for personal skill development.

The volunteering role can sometimes be challenging if the helper-helped relationship is not well-matched; resources for long-term volunteering are lacking; and if volunteers feel undervalued and without preparation and guidance. We recommend providing volunteer training and support and adequate resourcing to mitigate these effects.

The process map below shows how volunteering influences wellbeing and loneliness through participation in cultural and sporting activities.

Sports/physical activity – Any kind of sport or physical exercise.
Participatory arts – The active participation in any form of creative activity using voice, body or inanimate objects to convey artistic expression
Volunteering – Any act of helping others motivated by altruistic feelings of giving and sharing expertise, skills or experience, or instrumental approaches concerning the development of personal skill or the desire to gain experience. Volunteering is provided for the benefit of others and/or the volunteer and involves activities not undertaken for the primary purpose of financial gain.

The term WELLBEING is used synonymously with a range of concepts in the evidence in this review.
Wellbeing – The positive and/or negative psychological and emotional constructs of wellbeing.

Positive wellbeing is associated with feelings of belonging, empathy, pride and
pleasure, improved self-esteem, self-confidence, self-empowerment and self-worth, a
positive sense of identity, resilience and trust.
Negative wellbeing is connected to feelings of fear, anxiety, discomfort (mental and
physical) and exclusion.

We used the term LONELINESS in this review to examine the connection between wellbeing and loneliness:
Loneliness – The various unpleasant feelings associated with the absence of meaningful
relationships (emotional loneliness), deficits in the quality and quantity of relationships
(social loneliness) and as an expression of separateness from others (existential loneliness).
Solitude – There is also evidence of the positive wellbeing impact of solitude (choosing to be alone) which can be a powerful force for calm and peace: a type of recharging
experience when people need to break from human connection.

1. Volunteering has an important role to play in culture and sport policy
and practice

Collaborative partnerships and activities that amplify inclusivity and relationship building, and which serve to:

• share organisational burdens
• identification and delivery of more explicit forms of volunteer training and support
• identification and implementation of the structures of resources and supervision for volunteers that can continue after a volunteering opportunity has ended.

2. Develop collaborative partnerships, volunteer training; and adequate resourcing

The evidence shows that negative wellbeing experiences are possible for volunteers due to a lack of support and training, heavy workloads and feelings of exclusion, and for those being helped if they feel the volunteers are strangers.

These can be mitigated by creating collaborative partnerships and activities that:

• amplify inclusivity and relationship building
• deliver transparent forms of volunteer training and support
• identify and implement the necessary structures of resources for volunteers that can continue after a volunteering opportunity has ended.

3. Offer volunteering that reflects diversity and develops inclusivity

There is a dearth of evidence on volunteering and Black and minority ethnicity populations. Opportunities could be developed by exploring the barriers to including those from Black, minority ethnicity, and socioeconomically deprived backgrounds and by providing incentives, such as awards, qualifications and training.