MORE THAN 90 MILLION EU ADULTS ARE INVOLVED IN VOLUNTEERING, WITH A SIGNIFICANT SHARE IN SPORT

MORE THAN 90 MILLION EU ADULTS ARE INVOLVED IN VOLUNTEERING, WITH A SIGNIFICANT SHARE IN SPORT Brussels 92 to 94 million Europeans aged over 15, around 22 to 23 % of EU population, are engaged in voluntary work, according to the results of the study on volunteering in the EU conducted in the course of 2009 and 2010 by the European Commission. However, the level of volunteering varies considerably across Member States, ranging from 40 % of adults in Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK to less than 10 % in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Lithuania. Volunteering in sport represents a significant share of the adult population in Finland (16 %), Ireland (15 %), the Netherlands (12-14%), Denmark (11 %), Germany (10.9 %) and Malta (9.2 %). Volunteering also varies according to gender, age, level of education and employment status. In over half of the EU countries, most volunteers are active in sport, representing an important share of total volunteers in Denmark (31.5 %), France (25 %) and Malta (84 %). Most volunteers are active in football. In the majority of Member States there is no specific legal framework covering volunteering in sport. The main source of funding for the voluntary sector in Europe remains public funding.