Volunteering for sports mega events: A non-host region perspective

Shushu Chen, Jinming Zheng, Geoff Dickson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
65 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Despite a plethora of studies focussing on sports mega event volunteering, little is known about volunteers who live outside of the host city. This exploratory research makes a novel contribution by focusing on a group of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games volunteers from a non-host region. Within this context, the study explores volunteers’ motives, the utility of using financial subsidies to support volunteering participation, and their attitudes towards post-event volunteering. Semi-structured interviews with twelve volunteers were conducted, accompanied by interviews with key local stakeholders. The findings suggest that Olympic-related factors and altruistic feelings were central motivations to volunteering. Some previous volunteering experiences increased confidence levels to volunteer at the Olympics. The financial scheme was perceived as an impetus further enhancing Leicestershire residents’ confidence to volunteer. Program participants also indicated positive attitudes towards future volunteering intentions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)189-203
JournalManaging Sport and Leisure
Volume23
Issue number3
Early online date9 Oct 2018
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 9 Oct 2018

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