Retaining public health volunteers beyond COVID-19

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a change in people’s volunteering behaviours; participation has increased in informal volunteering (giving unpaid help to those who are not a relative) while decreasing in formal volunteering (unpaid help to groups or clubs). There is an interest from stakeholders who have experienced increased participation in maintaining the positive patterns of volunteering, aligning with National Health Service (NHS) objectives and realising benefits in a wider public health context. This research uses a local COVID-19 public health volunteering programme case study to explore the volunteer’s journey and perspective using volunteers’ reported experiences to consider the potential for volunteer retention and role expansion into other public health issues beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Recruitment was undertaken by Birmingham City Council Public Health Team via the COVID-19 Community Champions programme mailing list. Semi-structured focus group discussions, one-to-one interviews and email interviews were conducted with volunteers. Data were analysed through directed thematic analysis using an iteratively developed coding frame. RESULTS: Data were collected from three focus group discussions, four interviews, and one email interview involving a total of 16 participants. Six themes were identified: volunteer motivations and expectations; volunteer management; programme organisation; feeling valued; continued need for role, and interest in new responsibilities. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the factors which are conducive to volunteer recruitment, retention and re-purposing were: maintaining the original terms of engaging with the volunteering opportunity (including retaining the original brief and remit), adjusting these through consultative processes with an emphasis on seeking permission from the volunteers already involved and ensuring a reliable and consistent management and support structure. While some of the learning is specific to the local volunteer programme in question and the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are lessons that can be generalised to other scenarios and settings.