We are proud to present the result of our consortium’s desk research – the transnational report on volunteering in sports.
There have been some interesting findings, such as Austria’s human-centric approach to volunteering, or Spain’s involvement of the government. Here is a snippet about the situation in the Balkan countries:
“To conclude the legal state of art in partner countries, it seems that all but one have an established formal structure when it comes to volunteering.
After many attempts to legally define volunteering, Bulgaria still falls behind its peers. Research shows that only 12% of Bulgarians participate in volunteer work, coming second to last in European ranking, according to Eurobarometer.
The other Balkan partners, Serbia and Croatia, both mention that volunteerism is ingrained in their national identity – Serbian humanitarian and charitable organizations go all the way back to the 19th century, whereas Croatia mentions the existing tradition of solidarity and helping others in trying times, leading to self-organized groups of volunteers.”
In Bulgaria, there is still a lot of work to be done. Although there is a will in the people, there are no legal definitions of volunteering, nor is volunteering being promoted in society. We need a change of mindset to understand why this topic is important and why it is highly beneficial – hopefully this report can serve as a perspective changer.
Currently we are working on the second result of the project, which is a training for youth trainers and educators on the topic of volunteering in sports. The training will walk educators through the process of picking volunteers, coordinating them, and how to proceed with an established network.
Here is a link to the full report on volunteering in sport:
