Community building, volunteering and action research

Many leisure activities require that people meet together to organise their own resources in support of their particular interests. This type of organ isation often takes place at a localised community level. The community net works of mutual trust and support that these volunteer organisers build hav e been described in terms of social capital (Putnam, 1995). However, apart from work by Bishop and Hoggett (1985, 1987, 1989), there has been limited research at the local level that examines the construction of the social ne tworks of trust supporting individual volunteering. This paper draws on an action research project that took place in a small c ommunity theatre setting run by older volunteer women in Brisbane, Australi a. A series of planning workshops were facilitated by the researchers to as sist the women in organising and managing the processes of their group. In developing strategies to manage conflict and plan for the future, the women 's satisfaction with the group was enhanced and they felt more able to cont inue their volunteer work in support of the activities of the theatre compa ny. The research pointed to the significance of a developmental perspective in theorising volunteering. Personal change and growth is important in sustain ing volunteering as a leisure activity, but of equal significance is the ma intenance of the self-directing community. It is the element of personal an d community self-direction that aligns volunteering with leisure rather tha n work. The economic and social infrastructures that enable volunteers to e xperience their volunteer work as freely chosen, and consequently aligned w ith leisure, must be acknowledged and tangibly supported by governments if we are to maintain the social connections that build healthy communities an d social capital.