Coverage: Northern Ireland Frequency: Annual Publication
Date: 2 October 2025
Main Stories
In 2024/25, just under a half (46%) of adults had volunteered (either
formally or informally) within the previous year.
Over a quarter (27%) of adults had volunteered formally with an
organisation within the previous year, a similar proportion to 2023/24
(28%).
Over a third (34%) of adults had volunteered informally in their
communities, a decrease on the figure for 2023/24 (37%).
For those who volunteered formally, the most popular types of activities
included ‘Fundraising’, ‘Being a group leader, member of a committee or
a trustee’ and ‘Practical help such as shopping, gardening, DIY,
cleaning or cooking’.
The most popular types of activities for those who volunteered
informally included ‘Keeping in touch with someone who is at risk of
being lonely’, ‘Doing shopping, collecting pension, collecting benefits
or paying bills’ and ‘Routine household chores’.
The most common methods of identifying volunteering opportunities were
‘From someone already involved in the organisation’, ‘Word of mouth’ and
‘From a church or religious organisation’.
The top three reasons for not volunteering were ‘I have work
commitments’, ‘I don’t have the time’, and ‘I have to look after
children/the home’.
Introduction
Among other policy areas, the Department for Communities (DfC) is the
lead department for volunteering. DfC is responsible for the development
of voluntary and community sector strategies and policies and both funds
and works in partnership with the sector.
This report presents the findings from the 2024/25 Continuous
Household Survey (CHS) in relation to experience of volunteering in
Northern Ireland. These findings are used to inform the development,
monitoring and evaluation of policy. More information relating to the
CHS, methodology, definitions and the interpretation of the figures can
be found in the Definitions &
technical notes section. Data tables are available in
Excel
and
ODS
format. The questions that were asked in the CHS 2024/25 are available
here.
Note: In 2023/24 questions relating to volunteering were reviewed
to improve collection of data relating to informal volunteering. As a
result of these changes, and of changes to the data collection
methodology, figures for 2023/24 and 2024/25 are not directly comparable
to previous years. More information is available on the
NISRA
website.
Lead statistician: Catriona McKevitt
Engagement in volunteering
Almost half (46%) of the adult population had volunteered in 2024/25,
similar to the 2023/24 figure of 47%. This overall figure includes both
formal volunteering with organisations and informal volunteering in the
community.
Similar proportions of females (46%) and males (45%) volunteered in
2024/25.
A lower proportion of those aged 16-34 years volunteered compared with
those aged 35 years and over (42% compared to 48%).
Adults from the Protestant community were more likely to volunteer (52%)
than both those from the Catholic community (44%) and those of
‘Other/No’ religion (37%). Also, adults without a disability were more
likely to have volunteered compared to those with a disability (49% and
38% respectively). There was a difference in those who volunteered
between adults with dependants and those without dependants (49% and 44%
respectively). Furthermore, those who were married/cohabiting (51%) were
more likely to have volunteered than those of other marital status
groups.
Analysis by area shows that adults living in the least deprived areas
were more likely to have volunteered than those living in the most
deprived areas (50% and 38% respectively). Adults living in rural areas
were more likely to have volunteered than those living in urban areas
(49% and 44% respectively).
Local Government District
In 2024/25, over half of adults living in the following areas had
volunteered in the previous year; Fermanagh and Omagh (59%), and Lisburn
and Castlereagh (51%). In contrast, fewer than two in every five adults
(37%) living in Derry City and Strabane had volunteered in the previous
year.
Formal volunteering
In 2024/25, 27% of adults had volunteered formally with an organisation
within the previous year, no change on the figure for 2023/24 (28%). As
with volunteering overall, similar proportions of males and females
volunteered formally (26% and 27% respectively).
A higher proportion of those aged 35-44 years (28%), 45-54 years (31%),
55-64 years (28%) and 65 and over (27%) volunteered formally compared
with those aged 16-24 years (23%) and 25-34 years (21%).
Adults from the Protestant community were more likely to volunteer
formally (31%) than both those from the Catholic community (25%) and
those of ‘Other/No’ religion (21%). Also, adults without a disability
were more likely to have volunteered with an organisation compared to
those with a disability (29% and 22% respectively). There was also a
difference in those who volunteered formally between adults with
dependants and those without dependants (29% and 25% respectively). In
addition, those who were married/cohabiting (30%) were more likely to
have volunteered formally compared to those of other marital status
groups.
Analysis by area shows that adults living in the least deprived areas
(29%) and rural areas (33%) were more likely to have volunteered with an
organisation than those living in the most deprived and urban areas (19%
and 23% respectively).
Types of formal volunteering organisations
The organisations most frequently cited that adults volunteered with in
the previous year were: ‘Church/Faith Based’ (36%), ‘Sports’ (25%),
‘Local community, neighbourhood or citizens groups’ (16%),
‘Youth/Childrens activities (outside school)’ (14%) and ‘Children’s
education/Schools’ (12%).
There were differences in the types of organisation males and females
volunteered with in the previous year. A higher proportion of females
volunteered with a ‘Church/Faith Based’ organisation, ‘Childrens
education/Schools’, ‘Older people’, ‘People with a disability’ and
‘Animal care’ than males. In contrast, a higher proportion of males
indicated that they had volunteered with sports organisations than
females.
Types of formal volunteering activities
The most frequently cited activities undertaken by adults volunteering
in an organisation in the previous year were: ‘Fundraising’ (34%),
‘Being a group leader, member of a committee or a trustee’ (30%) and
‘Practical help such as shopping, gardening, DIY, cleaning or cooking’
(23%).
There were differences in the types of activities carried out by males
and females while volunteering formally in the previous year. A higher
proportion of females ‘Run or help out at a group for young people’ than
males, whilst a higher proportion of males provided ‘Education, training
or coaching to develop people’s skills’ than females.
Identifying volunteering roles
The most common methods of identifying volunteering opportunities
were ‘From someone already involved in the organisation’ (44%), ‘Word of
mouth’ (40%) and ‘From a church or religious organisation’ (27%).
A higher proportion of males (50%) indicated that they found out
about volunteering from someone already involved in the organisation
compared with females (39%). In contrast, a higher proportion of females
(31%) found out about volunteering from a church or a religious
organisation compared to males (22%).
Informal volunteering
In 2024/25, 34% of adults had volunteered informally in their
communities, a decrease on the 2023/24 figure of 37%. Informal
volunteering involves giving unpaid help to individuals who are not a
relative, for example, babysitting, keeping in touch with someone who
has difficulty getting out and about, or helping out with household
tasks such as cleaning, laundry or shopping. As with volunteering
overall, there was no difference in the proportions of males and females
who volunteered informally (both 34%).
A lower proportion of those aged 16-24 years (30%), 25-34 years (32%)
and 35-44 years (32%) volunteered informally compared with those aged
45-54 (38%), 55-64 (39%) and 65 years and over (35%).
Following a similar trend to formal volunteering, adults from the
Protestant community were more likely to have volunteered informally
(40%) than both those from the Catholic community (33%) and those of
‘Other/No’ religion (26%). Also, adults without a disability were more
likely to have volunteered informally compared to those with a
disability (36% and 30% respectively). There was also a difference in
those who volunteered informally between adults with dependants and
those without dependants (36% and 33% respectively). Furthermore, those
who were married/cohabiting (38%) were more likely to have volunteered
informally compared to those who were single (30%), separated/divorced
(30%) or widowed (27%).
Analysis by area shows that adults living in the least deprived areas
(39%) were more likely to have volunteered informally than those living
in the most deprived areas (31%).
Types of informal volunteering activities
The most frequently cited activities undertaken by adults volunteering
informally in the previous year were: ‘Keeping in touch with someone who
is at risk of being lonely’ (39%), and ‘Doing shopping, collecting
pension, collecting benefits or paying bills’ (26%).
There were differences in the types of activities carried out by males
and females while volunteering informally in the previous year. A higher
proportion of females than males were involved with ‘Keeping in touch
with someone who is at risk of being lonely’, ‘Doing shopping,
collecting pension, collecting benefits or paying bills’, ‘Providing
advice or support with letters or forms or speaking with others on
someone else’s behalf’ and ‘Helping with personal care’. In contrast, a
higher proportion of males than females were involved with ‘Helping
someone else to improve a skill’, ‘Car or home maintenance or repairs’
and ‘Helping to improve your local environment’.
Frequency of volunteering
Of those who volunteered both formally and informally, almost a quarter
had volunteered several times a week (23%), while almost three in every
ten (28%) volunteered about once a week. Around a quarter of all adults
who had volunteered both formally and informally had done so less than
once a week but at least once a month (24%) and less than once a month
(25%).
Time spent volunteering
Of those who volunteered both formally and informally, over a half had
volunteered less than eight hours in the previous four weeks (55%), 17%
had volunteered between eight and 16 hours. Almost one in ten adults
volunteered both formally and informally for more than 17 hours in the
previous four weeks (9%).
Benefits of volunteering
Just over two thirds of adults who had volunteered both formally and
informally in the previous year cited ‘Makes me feel better about
myself’ (67%) and ‘Helps me make a positive contribution to society’
(66%) as benefits of volunteering, whilst almost two out of every five
adults stated that they had fun volunteering (37%). Just over a third
stated that volunteering had improved their mental health (35%). Only 3%
of adults felt that they had received no benefit from volunteering.
Considering benefits of volunteering by sex, the proportions of males
and females citing most of the benefits were similar. However, males
were more likely than females to have stated ‘Improved physical health’
as a benefit of volunteering.
Volunteered in the past
Of those who had not volunteered within the previous year, more than a
fifth said that they had volunteered some time in the past (22%). Those
living in the least deprived areas were more likely to have volunteered
in the past than those living in the most deprived areas (32% and 14%
respectively). Those who were single (17%) were less likely to have
volunteered in the past compared to those who were married (25%) or
widowed (25%).
Reasons for not volunteering
For adults who did not volunteer, the top three reasons given for not
volunteering were ‘I have work commitments’ (36%), ‘I don’t have the
time’ (33%), and ‘I have to look after children/the home’ (21%).
Just over one in ten adults who did not volunteer stated that they
‘don’t want to do voluntary work’ (11%) whilst 7% said either they
wouldn’t know how to get involved in voluntary work. However, just over
one in ten (12%) gave ‘no reason’ for not volunteering.
Analysis by sex indicated that 30% of females who did not volunteer said
‘I have to look after children/the home’ compared with 12% of males. On
the other hand higher proportions of males said that they had work
commitments (38%) or that they did not want to do voluntary work (13%)
compared to females (34% and 9% respectively).
Definitions & technical notes
Continuous Household Survey
The Continuous Household Survey is a Northern Ireland wide household
survey administered by Central Survey Unit, Northern Ireland Statistics
and Research Agency. The sample for this survey consists of a systematic
random sample of 8,940 addresses selected from the Land and Property
Service’s list of private addresses. The findings reported for 2024/25
are based on 4,584 respondents, aged 16 and over.
In 2023/24 questions relating to volunteering were reviewed to improve
collection of data relating to informal volunteering. As a result of
changes to methodology and content, figures for 2023/24 and 2024/25 are
not directly comparable to previous years.
Data collection for the 2024/25 CHS was carried out using a mix of
telephone and face-to-face interviewing modes, a similar approach to
that used in 2022/23 and 2023/24. More information is available on the
NISRA
website.
Weighting the Continuous Household Survey
Analysis of the volunteering module of the CHS has been weighted for
non-response. A chi square goodness-of-fit test showed that the CHS
sample (4,584) was not representative of the population by age and sex
when compared with the 2024 Mid Year Estimates for Northern Ireland
(NISRA
11 Septenber 2025). As a result, separate weights were produced for
age, sex and age and sex combined.
Non-response weighting sometimes increases standard errors, although the
impact tends to be fairly small, i.e. the adjustment may be less or
greater than 1, but will generally be reasonably close to 1. In the case
of the culture, arts and sport modules of the CHS, the values of the
adjustment for all three weighting systems are so close to one, it is
not necessary to take account of this in the calculation of standard
error and confidence intervals.
While weighting for non-response (also called post-stratification)
should reduce bias, it must be acknowledged that it will not eliminate
bias. The reasons individuals choose to take part in surveys are complex
and depend on lots of factors specific to the individual. As a result,
the non-response biases in surveys are likely to be complex.
Post-stratification works on the assumption that, by aligning the survey
to the population along a small number of dimensions such as age and
sex, many of these complex biases will reduce. However, it would be
misleading to suggest that they will be eliminated.
Statistical significance in this report
Any statements in this report regarding differences between groups are
statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This means that
we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups are actual
differences and have not just arisen by chance. The base numbers and
sizes of percentages have an effect on statistical significance.
Therefore on occasion, a difference between two groups may be
statistically significant while the same difference in percentage points
between two other groups may not be statistically significant. The
reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer the
percentages are to 0 or 100, the smaller the standard errors. This leads
to increased precision of the estimates which increases the likelihood
that the difference between the proportions is actually significant and
has not just arisen by chance.
Official Statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics
Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and
value in the
Code of
Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics
should adhere to. Contact us directly with any comments about how we
meet these standards -
email:analyticsdivision@communities-ni.gov.uk.
Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing
regulation@statistics.gov.uk
or via the OSR
website.
Other notes
The following should be noted when interpreting figures and tables:
Percentages less than 0.5% are denoted by ‘0’ and where there are no
responses, they are denoted by ‘-’.
Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
Percentages may not add to 100% for questions where multiple responses
are allowed.
Detailed tabulations are not provided where the number of respondents is
too small to allow meaningful analysis.
The base number of responses to each question, which is shown in each
table, is the unweighted count. The base may vary due to some
respondents not answering certain questions.
Volunteering - Volunteering is defined as ‘the commitment of time
and energy, for the benefit of society and the community, the
environment, or individuals outside (or in addition to) one’s immediate
family. It is unpaid and undertaken freely and by choice.’
Includes formal volunteering with an organisation or informal
volunteering in the community
Formal volunteering - Thinking about the definition just
given, in the last 12 months have you carried out any voluntary work or
activity with any of the following types of groups, clubs or
organisations?
Church/Faith Based
Sports
Children’s education/Schools
Youth/Children’s activities (outside school)
Older people
People with a disability
Health and social care
Conservation, the Environment and Heritage
Culture/Arts/Crafts
Housing and Homelessness
Local community, neighbourhood or citizen’s groups
Animal care
Safety/First-Aid
Other
No voluntary work in past 12 months
Informal volunteering - The next section asks about any unpaid
help you as an individual may have given to other people or to improve
your local environment, that is apart from any help given through a
group, club or organisation. Do not include help given to a relative. In
the last 12 months have you done any of these things unpaid?
Keeping in touch with someone who is at risk of being lonely (in person,
telephoning or e-mailing)
Doing shopping, collecting pension, collecting benefits or paying bills
Routine household chores e.g. cooking, cleaning, laundry, gardening
Car or home maintenance or repairs
Babysitting or looking after children
Helping with personal care (e.g. washing, dressing)
Providing advice or support with letters or forms or speaking with
others on someone else’s behalf (e.g. speaking with a council department
or with a doctor).
Providing transport or accompanying someone away from home (e.g. on an
outing or to a hospital appointment)
Helping to improve your local environment e.g. litter picking but not as
part of an organised activity
