Volunteering or not volunteering?
Jeremy Galpin
Jeremy leads at the intersection between infrastructure, social purpose and digital technology, to maximise social value for society
On Wednesday 14th August I attended the latest health research assessment of the Children of the 90’s, also known as the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children or ALSPAC. My eldest son and my wife and I have been involved ever since he was born and this was the 30th anniversary.
Children of the 90’s @CO90s is a groundbreaking medical research project based at the University of Bristol which has been charting the health and wellbeing of 14,500 families from the Bristol area since the early 1990’s. why is it groundbreaking? Well apparently, it is globally unique in the level of detailed clinic and questionnaire data on so many participants over 3 generations, a total of 34,000.
But what of the impact of the research? The study aims to use the participants data to improve the wellbeing of current and future generations on issues from Asthma to Diabetes and anxiety to pregnancy. The research has made a significant contribution to the understanding of health and development in children, mothers and families, publishing more than 2000 academic research papers and helping shape public health policy in the UK and abroad most recently on COVID 19 research.
From an impact perspective, the most significant outcome claimed by the project is the impact on global cot deaths. As a result of ALSPAC research it was identified that the practice at the time (in the 1990’s) of babies sleeping on their front increased the risk of ??cot death (SIDS) and as a consequence the government launched the ‘Back to sleep’ campaign. Since the launch of the Back to Sleep Campaign in England and Wales in 1991, the number of SIDS deaths has fallen by over 83% (ref 2) and in 2020 there were 150 deaths (ref 1). The project estimates that this one outcome of the research has saved over 10,000? deaths in the UK and over 100,000 worldwide. What an amazing achievement.
However as a business, and a line manager, should you support your staff in participating in this type of activity, and if so, should the time be covered as paid absence? Or volunteering? Or would you expect staff to work dynamically to cover the time themselves?
Personally, my involvement has involved completion of some very lengthy health questionnaires annually over the last 30 years, and occasional physical attendance at a clinic. ?On this occasion around 3 hrs. in Bristol. I was delighted that Costain were prepared to support my attendance on this occasion John Edwards FICRS however it did spark an interesting debate.? Is this volunteering?
What do you think ?
The beneficiaries are very broad and global, so it would not meet most client project based criteria for volunteering, unless perhaps Bristol based. The impact is assessed through a number of lenses including qualitative, for example the referencing of the study in policy documents, and quantitative, number of research papers, and some ultimate outcomes including the significant impact on cot deaths.
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As for attribution, well it would be virtually impossible, and most unlikely, and would breach the data confidentiality, for any outcomes to be directly attributed to my 3 hrs. of volunteering on Wednesday or estimated 50 hrs. over the last 30 years.
The benefits to me were the opportunity to expand my viewpoint and perspective on research, the opportunity for some feedback on my health, and not to have to take holiday or to work dynamically additional hours to enable me to carry out the visit. If I had to do either of these it would have made it more difficult for me to make the decision to attend, and for some people made it very difficult. I was pleased that ALPAC covered the travel expenses, so that was not as issue.
And what of the benefits for Costain Group PLC ? aside from the benefits to me ,which result in increased engagement with Costain, there is the opportunity to demonstrate the organisations contribution to these societal benefits that follow from this research and are in line with the Costain mission to ‘Improve peoples lives’.
So what do you think? Is it volunteering? would your organisations, and you as a line manager, support your staff with paid absence to attend a clinic? or should staff take holiday or work dynamically to attend?
End
@CO90s , www.childrenofthe90s.ac.uk , children_of_the_90s
Discipline Lead (Environment, Sustainability and Social Value) at Costain Group PLC
6 个月Sorry to be late to this post Jeremy, but thanks for asking the question. My personal view was originally that activity like this was purposeful (as James suggested) and valuable (as seen through the incredible Back to Sleep campaign, which I am sure has saved countless lives) but wouldn't necessarily fall into the category of 'corporate volunteering'. Christopher touched on some of this in his reply to Beth's comment, so gets close to where I was. That said, the comments here have somewhat shifted my view as volunteering should be led by the employee not the employer (assuming compliance with time-off guidelines) and so contributing to a project like this is absolutely volunteering. There are circumstances under which time is project funded which would be separate to (personal) volunteering days, but not if the two are not connected. I am also clear that taking part in experiences like this has positive impacts on the volunteers themselves (as with much volunteering) in terms of personal fulfillment, employee engagement and pride, perhaps even job satisfaction as we're being supported to contribute meaningfully to society. Rob touched on this as well. Great work though, and thanks for letting me have time to consider.
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Corporate Responsibility Director at Costain Group PLC
6 个月Great blog Jeremy and all credit to you and your family for supporting this piece of fascinating research. To offer my opinion, it comes down to the purpose of the input if anything would class as volunteering or not. If you can answer the simple question, “will my input be purposeful?”, you will have your answer. Make sure you log your volunteering time ??
Social Value Consultant
7 个月This is amazing work Jeremy and volunteering as a participant of health care research is super important work. The impact it has on people’s lives and well-being is fantastic! In my opinion, if a company advertises for example 2 days of volunteering in their benefits package it is up to you how you choose to spend them definitely should be something you are passionate about and interested in. Whilst we as social value consultants organise a wealth of volunteering opportunities for employees to participate in, if they are linked to the project they should (in my opinion) be part of your working days as the company gains something from it by way of positive public opinion, meeting social value targets or winning future work. Therefore, this absolutely counts as volunteer work as you are doing unpaid work that benefits the community and health sector!
Social Value Consultant at Costain Group PLC
7 个月As you are volunteering as a participant in the research, I definitely agree that this is volunteering time- and volunteering time well spent in my opinion! What a great initiative to be involved with. Although immeasurable, I’d be surprised if the Back to Sleep campaign’s prevention of 10,000 deaths in the UK and more than 100,000 globally didn’t have any impact on Costain or our Client’s. We currently use Thrive - Social Impact Software?to capture social value on some of my project work and I believe this time spent would be reportable under the IES volunteering metrics. I’d be interested to hear whether Christopher Lunt?has any thoughts?