Post-Event Volunteering Legacy: Did the London 2012 Games Induce a Sustainable Volunteer Engagement?

Niki Koutrou, Athanasios (Sakis) Pappous and Anna Johnson
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Niki Koutrou: School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Kent, Chatham ME4 4AG, UK
Athanasios (Sakis) Pappous: School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Kent, Chatham ME4 4AG, UK
Anna Johnson: School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Kent, Chatham ME4 4AG, UK

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 12, 1-12

Abstract: The hosting of the London 2012 Olympic Games was seen as an opportunity to harness the enthusiasm of the 70,000 volunteers involved and to provide a post-event volunteer legacy. A total of 77 individuals who had acted as volunteers in London 2012 were contacted approximately four years after the Games and agreed to complete a web-based open-ended survey. The participants were asked to indicate their level of current volunteering engagement and whether volunteering at the Games had an impact on their current volunteering levels. The study found that the London Olympics were the first volunteer experience for most of the volunteers who completed the survey, with the main motivation to volunteer being anything related to the Olympic Games. Just over half of the respondents are currently volunteering. Lack of time is shown to be the main barrier towards further volunteering commitment. Only half of respondents had been contacted by a volunteering scheme after London 2012. The implications of the findings for a potential volunteering legacy are then explored.

Keywords: legacy; volunteering; sustainability of volunteer efforts; Olympic Games (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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