Revealed - 15% of Kilkenny people volunteer in their community

Almost 16,000 people in Kilkenny are donating their time as volunteers with community and other organisations, according to the latest Census figures.

As of April 2022, when the Census was recorded, 15% of the county’s population were volunteering in their community. Of these there were 7,542 females and almost 8,400 males volunteering.

Kilkenny Volunteer Centre is highlighting that not only do volunteers benefit their community, but getting involved in local groups is a great way to get to know your neighbours and make friends - and organisations are always in need of more volunteer help.

“We see high levels of interest in volunteering from new people arriving in Kilkenny,” said Paula Harte, of Kilkenny Volunteer Centre. “Through volunteering, people can become active members of their new community, make friends, learn English and build their own local network. It’s important to remember that people making Ireland their home make a huge contribution to our communities.”

Irish communities have a long tradition of volunteering. The most popular voluntary activity, according to the Census, was in a sporting organisation, where almost 7,500 Kilkenny people were volunteering. Nearly 5,200 people volunteered in their community while almost 3,800 were involved in social or charitable organisations.
There were 2,700 people volunteering in a religious or church group while 326 people were volunteers in political organisations.
More than 2,700 people were volunteering in more than one group or activity.

Looking at broad age groups, the largest group of volunteers were among people aged 45-64 where there were 6,474 people volunteering. A further 4,380 people aged 25-44 were also involved in voluntary activities. There were 2,998 volunteers aged 65 and over. Nearly 700 children (under 15 years old) and just over 1,400 people aged 15-24 were also volunteering.

“We know that many organisations are currently struggling to recruit volunteers and we’d encourage them to ensure that their volunteer programmes are open and inclusive to all members of the community,” Paula suggested.
Time is often identified as the most common reason people don’t volunteer and this data indicates that people who have more time are more likely to volunteer. However, it’s important to note that not all volunteer roles demand huge time commitments.

Paula explained: “Volunteering has changed a lot over the last five to 10 years. There are more ways to volunteer than ever before including shorter, more flexible roles. We’d encourage people to think about what time they have spare and even if it’s only an hour a week or a few days here and there, you’d be surprised at what’s available.

“Similarly, we encourage organisations to think about the roles they have and how they can make them more attractive to volunteers while still making a meaningful contribution to the organisation.”