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Help shape the future of volunteering in Athletics and Running: take our survey

As a member of the England Athletics family, we want to hear your views on volunteering.

Without volunteers our sport would cease to exist as we realise it. Volunteers have been the consistent ingredient behind the growth of clubs, competition and participation in parts of the sport athletics during the last decade.

Over the last three years we have tested a number of well-established views to better understand both the barriers and motivations in volunteering.

The numbers

  • During 2018 there were an estimated 40,000 volunteers across the sport
  • On average Athletics volunteers hold 3 separate roles
  • More than 3 in 5 volunteer on a weekly basis (63%)
  • Over 80% of volunteers are  generally satisfied with their experience

What is the current picture?

The current picture is positive; volunteers are satisfied and want to do more. It's a happy, social and worthwhile experience, which is rewarding and improves wellbeing. However,  the volunteer profile is lacking diversity, especially younger people.

How have things changed?

The volunteering experience seems to have improved. We see higher satisfaction levels; factors such as effective leadership, coordination, communication, training and recognition are rated more positively. Volunteering appears to be more social, friendly and welcoming; with less expectation and less focus on athletic performance. More women are now involved too.

What could be improved?

Although support, appreciation and workload distribution are improving, there are still some volunteers dissatisfied with these factors. Communication of the opportunities could be better. There may also be a feeling of a lack of progress, unclear outcomes or unavailable training.  Some volunteers drop out due to changes in personal circumstances, but many through preventable aspects such as lack of appreciation or poor organisation.

We want to see if there has been any further positive change in the last 12 months and identify what further action we can take to improve volunteering in the sport.


This research is fundamentally important and we need the views and insights from a variety of informed individuals and organisations if we are to truly make a lasting difference.

The survey, administered by our independent research partner Savanta, will take around 15 minutes to complete and there is a chance for all respondents to win one pair of Aftershokz Air headphones worth £100.

Click to take the survey


If you have any feedback regarding the survey please contact insightfeedback@englandathletics.org