Project guiding hands

• Main Authors: Soh, Anthea Wei-Xuen, Chong, Si Min, Lim, Brenda Yan Ting, Siow, Wei Liang
• Other Authors: Wong Pei Wen
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/63481
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Volunteerism fell in 2014 last year, with majority of Singaporeans only volunteering occasionally. Despite government efforts to build a culture of giving from young, only 1 in 5 volunteered in 2014. Singaporean youth lack motivation to volunteer, and were predominantly found to volunteer because of compulsory community involvement programmes in school. Beyond school requirements, over 50% of youth surveyed rarely or never volunteered, with only 10% volunteering frequently. Primary research also revealed that youth do acknowledge the importance of helping other disadvantaged communities, but unfortunately, they lack motivation to take action. Based on the survey findings, Project Guiding Hands was launched to increase the motivations for volunteering and promote positive volunteering attitudes targeted at youth aged 15 to 25. This is done by bringing the focus to the volunteers and their volunteer experience. This campaign seeks to make the volunteering experience enjoyable, through a series of fun and rewarding volunteering activities to achieve the above goals. Over 120 students were recruited over the course of the campaign, contributing more than 1000 volunteer hours towards helping a group of disadvantaged children from Lakeside Family Services. Subsequent sections of the report detailed the campaign execution process such as volunteer recruitment and the series of fun-based activities conducted. The report also evaluates the effectiveness of campaign tactics in influencing youth volunteering attitudes. Lastly, limitations will be discussed to provide recommendations and future direction for volunteering-related initiatives. Accompanying this report is an appendix including data from an original research study of 208 youth respondents on volunteering attitudes and campaign collaterals for further reference.