Determinants of volunteering within a social housing community

The Smartline project is receiving up to £4,188,318 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (Grant No. 05R16P00305) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014–2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Additional funding is from the South West Academic Health Science Network.In general research demonstrates that deprivation, education, health, and well-being are determinants of volunteering, and that volunteering can play an important role in building stronger communities and provides many benefits for individual health and well-being. This study concentrates on the effects of physical and mental health and well-being as predictors when the aspect of socioeconomic impact has been minimised. It utilises a unique data-set from a UK Housing Association community with generally high levels of deprivation. Data were analysed using bivariate probit regression. In contrast to previous findings, physical health and mental health were not significantly related to volunteering. The key finding was that mental well-being was significantly related to informal volunteering.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe