Volume 4. Issue 4. 2024.
Editorial Preface
The main topic of the fourth issue of the fourth volume of the online journal Voluntary Review is the mental well-being of volunteers, based on the results of the research supported by the editorial board. We considered it particularly important to analyse the topic – even relying on the results of a non-representative study – two years after the Covid-19 pandemic. Experience shows that many nonprofit organisations that employ volunteers have struggled and continue to struggle with maintaining the mental well-being of their volunteers during volunteer coordination. The first theoretical study presents the psychological and social well-being indicators of Hungarian volunteers from a psychological point of view, with special emphasis on examining the meaning of life and work. The further two studies present the results of analyses carried out among two specific groups of volunteers: young people and religious people. In our opinion, these are useful guidelines for nonprofit organisations working with young volunteers and those close to religion in retaining and employing volunteers. An important question in volunteering research is the relationship between volunteering and religiosity and how this has changed in recent decades. The fourth theoretical study presents the main results based on the analysis of international literature, with special regard to the impact of the rise of spiritualism and the role of online spaces on religiosity and volunteering. The series of case studies opens with a study that explores the activities and results of the Blue Line Children's Crisis Foundation, which has existed for thirty years. Although hospice care has also existed in Hungary for thirty years, there is still a lot to be done in raising awareness about end-of-life issues. This is why we considered it important to publish a case study that presents volunteering in hospice care. The Awakenings Foundation is one of the oldest non-governmental non-profit organizations working with the mentally ill, which is why the case study exploring the history and volunteer coordination of the organization is very instructive. In the review section, we present a Singapore study on volunteering for older people and a program presentation of the Corporate Volunteering Network and Platform.
Psychological and social well-being indicators of Hungarian volunteers in the light of meaningfulness of life and work – first results of an empirical study
László Dorner - Georgina Csordás
More than help? – The relationship between volunteering and mental well-being and health among young Hungarian volunteers
Fanni Radnai
"Volunteers in the study sample were significantly more satisfied with their volunteer work than with their paid work. Mental health showed a positive relationship with the meaning of life and volunteering and social networks, while the meaning of volunteering was more associated with autonomy, competence and meeting of connectivity needs during the activity."
Volunteering, religiosity and mental health. Mental health characteristics of religious respondents to a volunteer study
Rita Hegedűs
"Our results show that volunteering in the religiously religious group does not play a significantly different role in mental health than in the non-religious group. At the same time, there seems to be a specific type of religious volunteering which, although included, is not the same as activity for religious organisations."
"Among the functional dimensions describing volunteering (field of activity, year of volunteering, frequency and satisfaction), satisfaction with volunteering had the greatest impact on the mental well-being of young volunteers: those who were more satisfied had significantly higher well-being values."
The relationship between volunteering and religious beliefs. Analysing the impact of social change from a social theory perspective
Bulcsu Bognár
"Children must be heard to and adults must be enabled to be listen."- Volunteering at the "Blue Line" Children's Crisis Foundation
Rita Galambos
"Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Blue Line Child Crisis Foundation is that it is able to provide a safe space for callers aged 10-24 and adults and professionals concerned about them, using the methodology of helpful conversation. In 2023, about twenty thousand calls were answered. "
The organisational history and experience of the "Awakenings" Foundation in the field of volunteer coordination
Dávid Szokolay
"The Awakenings Foundation has employed volunteers from the very beginning, and they have been an integral part of the organization's operation ever since. Since 2011, it has been relying more heavily on the voluntary work of university students majoring in psychology."
Volunteering in the Hungarian hoscpice care
Tímea Bokorovics
