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Against a backdrop of rising
hate crime, volunteering boosts tolerance towards others
AS intolerance and hate crime continue
to rise*, a new study to mark Student Volunteering Week by disabled people's
charity Revitalise; which runs the Sandpipers respite holiday centre in
Southport; has discovered that student volunteers are leading the way when it
comes to making society a more tolerant place.
With issues around intolerance and hostility towards diversity seemingly never
far from the news agenda, particularly in more recent times, the personal and
social benefits of volunteering were clear, found the charity. 95% of the
student respondents said that volunteering for Revitalise had made them more
tolerant towards others and 96% said it had made them more aware of diversity
issues.
While self interest may have been the primary motive for students to volunteer
in the 1st place; 7 out of 10 respondents said they had volunteered to gain
extra skills and enhance their CV's; the potential benefits to society were
irrefutable. 8 out of 10 said that volunteering had inspired them to play a more
active role in their home communities.
83% of the volunteers who provided feedback were full time students and these
formed the focus of the charity's study. Each year the charity's army of
volunteers give a total of over 3,000 weeks of their time in order to live and
work at Sandpipers and the charity's 2 other respite holiday centres for
disabled people and carers.
Revitalise runs the largest residential volunteer programme of any UK charity.
Volunteers are integral to Revitalise's mission to enhance the lives of disabled
people and carers by providing vital opportunities for social interaction. The
volunteers; 85% of whom are between the ages of 16 and 25; enable the centres'
guests to take full advantage of the inclusive social activities and excursions
provided by Revitalise.
Revitalise Chief Executive Chris Simmonds commented:- "We live in
challenging times. Society is becoming increasingly polarised, so we were very
heartened to discover that our young volunteers are really flying the flag for
tolerance and diversity.
It is also very encouraging to find that not only do our student volunteers
become more optimistic about their own futures, they are also inspired to play a
role in improving society too.
This proves that, whatever one's motives for volunteering in the first place,
the experience leads to more confident, engaged and tolerant individuals; and
this in turn makes society a better place. I hope this study will inspire many
more young people to try their hand at volunteering for Revitalise and
experience for themselves the many life enhancing benefits it provides."
Revitalise is a national charity providing respite holidays for disabled people
and carers at Sandpipers and 2 other accessible centres in Chigwell and
Southampton, with 24 hour nurse led care on call, personal support and a range
of accessible excursions, activities and entertainment.
People wanting more information about volunteering for Revitalise are requested
to call:- 0303 303 0145, email
them or visit
them
online.
* The Home Office has found that hate crimes; including those against
disabled people; rose by 19% from 2014 to 2015 to 2015 to 2016. 62,518 hate crimes were
recorded by the police in 2015 to 2016. |
