Hobbies and Skills

Respondents were given a long list of hobbies and other interests from which to choose those in which they currently engaged. Their answers clustered into these areas:

  1. Reading - Close to 70% indicated they were active readers.
  2. Handicrafts - 60% marked some sort of handicraft activity as part of their daily lives. Activities like sewing, woodworking, painting, photography, and music were listed.
  3. Physical activity-Over 30% checked activities like walking, gardening, exercising and sports.
  4. Variety of indoor activities - A further 15% listed a variety of indoor activities as hobbies and interests, such as ham radio, watching sports, pets, and collections.

Volunteers were asked to indicate which skills they felt their hobbies and interests added to their volunteer work with Project L.O.V.E. Their answers were grouped as:

  1. interpersonal skills;
  2. building general knowledge;
  3. developing and refining skills; and
  4. physical benefits.

Skills Needed to be a Project L.O.V.E. Volunteer

One of the interesting areas probed in the survey concerned the set of skills respondents felt were needed to be a Project L.O.V.E. volunteer. The foundation of their work with Project L.O.V.E. is the need for a deep and abiding interest in and care for children and their well-being. This came out repeatedly throughout the surveys and focus groups: Project L.O.V.E. volunteers loved children and wanted to help them do better in their reading.

Four other skills built on this foundation of love for children and provided the basis for success as a Project L.O.V.E. volunteer:

  1. Passion for Reading: A love of reading and a desire to help young people recognize the importance of reading and become excited about reading in their lives.
  2. Personal Qualities: Patience, kindness and tolerance are essential as well as a respect for who these children are and what they and their teachers face each day in their lives.
  3. Interpersonal Skills: Volunteers need a balance of humour, understanding, and empathy. They need to be social and out-going and able to work independently in the busy environment of a school.
  4. Knowledge and Life Experience: Volunteers need to bring their knowledge and their life/work experience to the work they do as volunteers. Figure 3.1 illustrates the relationship among the four valuable traits of Project L.O.V.E. volunteers and shows how the caring for children is inherent in all they do.

Figure 3.1: Volunteer's profile of the project L.O.V.E.

This came out repeatedly throughout the surveys and focus groups: Project L.O.V.E. volunteers loved children and wanted to help them do better in their reading.