Volunteering by older people in the EU

Europe is undergoing a previously unwitnessed ageing of the population. In view of this, social inclusion of the elderly and strategies to promote voluntary work among older people are now important items on the EU’s political agenda. This report is based on 30 case studies from 11 Member States (Denmark, Finland,France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom) in which volunteers, not always exclusively older people, were successfully engaged in meaningful projects of all kinds. The cases demonstrate best practice in all aspects of the issue, ranging from strategies to recruit volunteers to ways of keeping them engaged and utilising their talents to the full. The report has a special focus on volunteering by those who may themselves be at risk of social exclusion.