Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

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

Koutrou, Niki, Pappous, Athanasios, Johnson, Anna (2016) Post-Event Volunteering Legacy: Did the London 2012 Games Induce a Sustainable Volunteer Engagement? Sustainability, 8 (12). Article Number 1221. ISSN 2071-1050. E-ISSN 2071-1050. (doi:10.3390/su8121221) (KAR id:58964)

Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.3390/su8121221
Uncontrolled keywords: legacy; volunteering; sustainability of volunteer efforts; Olympic Games
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Sport and Exercise Sciences
Depositing User: Niki Koutrou
Date Deposited: 23 Nov 2016 17:34 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 19:15 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/58964 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.