FIFA World Cup promotes volunteer movement

Seventy five percent of Moscow volunteers, who worked at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, are ready to continue volunteering at various cultural and social events as well as in other fields, according to a study conducted by the Mosvolontyor Resource Centre of the Moscow Public Relations Committee together with the autonomous non-profit organisation Evolution and Philanthropy.

Online surveys and interviews involved 1,215 respondents, which participated in the City Volunteers programme. According to the results of the study “Volunteering on major sports events (for example the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup),” 77 percent of those polled said they improved their communication skills. Eighty percent of respondents got more friends and acquaintances and especially those aged under 25 and over 55.

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About 61 percent of respondents spoke about the growth of self-reliance, while 73 percent said they had raised their level of knowledge about things. Sixty five percent of volunteers began to better understand citizens from other countries and representatives from other cultures. Fifty percent of respondents reported that volunteer experience provided a better understanding of other generations (young, adult, or elderly).

About 90 percent of those surveyed said their awareness had been increased in various fields of volunteering. Some 81 percent of the volunteers noted that their own awareness of the work of volunteer organisations, NGOs and charities had grown.

Relatives and acquaintances of 88 percent of respondents learned more about volunteering through their activities at the World Cup. Seventy percent of respondents began to communicate more often with volunteers or representatives from NGOs and charities.

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As a guest or a spectator, relatives and friends of over 47 percent of the respondents visited events for volunteers while relatives and friends of 43 percent of respondents began to participate in volunteer programmes from time to time or on a regular basis.

After the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, 56 percent of volunteers began to assist more often at sporting events, 59 percent at cultural events and 42 percent of volunteers began to participate in new volunteering spheres, and 19 percent started to give donations to charities. Another seven percent of respondents secured jobs with NGOs.

The most attractive fields for volunteers were sports, cultural, social and environmental events. Some 75 percent of respondents said they planned to continue activities in these and other spheres. About 61 percent of respondents intend to participate in the Mosvolontyor programmes.

One third of those asked are going to volunteer through educational institutions, including university volunteer centres, one quarter plan to do this through NGOs and charities, and another 26 percent in private, that is, in person or with friends.