KEY FINDINGS

• Demographics

  1. Most Project L.O.V.E. volunteers are between 60 and 80 years old and most are women. They are likely to have a professional or academic qualification, to have worked in skilled jobs, and to have a wide variety of hobbies. Many have worked full-time in the home for a number of years. Most are doing volunteer work elsewhere.
  2. More than two-thirds of the teachers who participate in Project L.O.V.E. are women. Teachers in Grades 1-4 are most likely to work with volunteers. Typically, they have two volunteers who each come once a week.
  3. Most students in the program are from Grades 2-4. Girls and boys are almost equally represented.

• Key People in the School

  4. The principal takes the lead by bringing the program to the school, identifying a contact person, encouraging teachers to become involved and providing support. The principal contributes to the program’s success by welcoming volunteers, including them in school activities and expressing appreciation.
  5. The role of the School Contact is crucial for the effectiveness of the program. This person (an administrator or classroom teacher) creates schedules, finds space, encourages teachers to become involved, helps to recruit volunteers and students, arranges orientation and appreciation sessions, and keeps in close touch with volunteers and teachers.
  6. Classroom teachers agree to become involved with volunteers and they identify students and provide materials. They communicate with their volunteers in person, in notes, or in scribblers that go back and forward.
  7. Teachers and volunteers singled out good teacher-volunteer communication as a critical component of the program’s success and the volunteers’ satisfaction.

• Support for volunteers

  8. In most schools, the Contact Person arranges an orientation session where volunteers learn about the school and may be introduced to teachers with whom they will work.
  9. When teachers meet their volunteers, they may describe the role, outline expectations, introduce students, explain activities and suggest a way of working.
  10. Project L.O.V.E. provides each volunteer with a handbook that gives information about the organization and the role and responsibilities of volunteers.
  11. The Executive Director promotes the program, makes contact with school principals, monitors policy and is available to discuss issues throughout the year.
  12. A number of workshops for volunteers are arranged by the Executive Director of Project L.O.V.E.. The sessions are held in several regional areas and most often, cover topics suggested by the volunteers.

• Time Constraints

  13. Teachers and volunteers agree that the program would be strengthened by more frequent communication between them and that they would enjoy this. It is hard to arrange, however, both because teachers’ and volunteers’ “free” times don’t always coincide and because the demands on teachers’ time are overwhelming.