The head of the National Assembly Jubilee in Norway, Trond Ole Hølland Paulsen, will pick up Viking scenery from Bergeland upper secondary school in Stavanger. But he would like to have more helpers. He will first transport the large, round Viking shields to Haugesund, where the 1150th anniversary of the unification of Norway will start tomorrow. Eleven days with large events in several towns in Rogaland, but far too few volunteers. Trond Ole Hølland Paulsen will himself transport Viking scenery from Stavanger to Haugesund. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – At times it has been like talking to a wall. There has been little response from the volunteer centers in the various municipalities, says Paulsen. After two years of pandemics and incarceration, a drought of volunteerism is spreading across the country. Not least, organizers around the country are struggling to get volunteers for this year’s summer activities. Risks to cancel summer activities While volunteers flocked to help Ukrainian refugees this winter and people lined up in large numbers as vaccine guards during the pandemic, it is unlikely that the Red Cross in Stavanger will implement their free offer for children this summer. This is what daily leader Hanne Nybø Andresen says. Daily camp in the Red Cross Stavanger Hanne Nybø Andresen works hard to get enough volunteers for a free summer offer for children, where the children will be able to take part in various excursions and first aid courses. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – We were long skeptical about whether we would get enough volunteers. We have worked really hard and turned every stone, posted on social media that we need people and asked people we know, says Andresen. Andresen prefers that it be the Children’s Summer anyway, even though they still lack volunteers. She is not worried that the low participation is a lasting trend, but thinks it has to do with the fact that more people will travel this summer after two years of travel restrictions. – Many people want to travel during the summer holidays, also volunteers. – A corona fracture The Secretary General of Volunteering Norway, Stian Slotterøy Johnsen, also agrees. He points out that more people may have acquired new habits during the pandemic, but that it is also a matter of desire to travel. – We had a fairly high turnout until the pandemic, and then the turnout got a kind of corona crack. Now we are excited about the development ahead. In June, he receives figures on how many people take part in voluntary work, but Johnsen confirms that many voluntary teams report low participation. He believes that the main reason for low participation is that people are not asked. – We must be better at asking questions, and we must not ask those who already sit on four or five boards, but we must ask new people. In addition, we need good facilitation and framework conditions from the state and municipality to increase activity. Johnsen hopes for better times. – The voluntary effort is an arena where we meet, communities are built and it is good for health to have a social network. Everyone loses because fewer people take part in the voluntary effort. From voluntary efforts to paid summer jobs The voluntary drought also affects the festivals in Norway, and the Stavern Festival focuses on 800 paid summer jobs. – It is partly because it is difficult to recruit enough volunteers, at the same time as we experienced a fairly high degree of no-shows that led to costly solutions at the last minute to cover, says Jøran Kristensen, marketing and communications manager for the Stavern Festival. But many events depend on unpaid help, and must take into account that it can be more difficult. This is the case for the National Assembly Jubilee in Norway. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news – Getting the man on the street to be involved as a volunteer, I think it has become more and more difficult as the years go by, since Gerhardsen’s time, Paulsen laughs.
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Red Cross lacks volunteers – struggles to carry out events for children – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
