Facts and Figures - sport volunteering

How many volunteers in sport are there?

There are a few surveys on the number of volunteers in sport. The three frequently quoted ones are (most recent first):

1. Helping Out - a national survey of volunteering and charitable giving from the Cabinet Office (the governmental lead on volunteering). This builds on the previous National Survey of Volunteering and the Citizenship Survey.
2. Active People Survey, commissioned by Sport England, which contains data from 2006. This shows that over 2.7 million people put some voluntary time into sport (at least one hour a week volunteering to sport).
3. The 'Sports Volunteering in England' research document commissioned by Sport England in 2002, some of the headline information from this research is below:

• There are 5,821,400 sport volunteers in England.
• This represents 14% of the adult population.
• 26% of all volunteers cite 'sport' as their main area of interest.
• That makes the sport sector the single biggest contribution to total volunteering in England.
• 44 per cent of young volunteers are engaged in sport and exercise.
• That's the largest percentage across the age range 18-24.
• Sport volunteers contribute one billion hours each year to sport,
• That's the equivalent of 720,000 paid workers.
• Sport and ICT have been found to be particularly effective in engaging young men and more disaffected young people.
• The value of the time contributed by sports volunteers in England is estimated at over £14 billion

For more general facts and figures about volunteering in England, read our "National Statistics" Information Sheet

For more on volunteering research, visit the website of Volunteering England's research initiative: the Institute of Volunteering Research.

For more frequently asked questions about volunteering in general, visit the FAQ page of the Information team.