Fourteen per cent of Meath people volunteer with local organisations

More than 30,000 people in Meath were volunteering in their community and various organisations according to the latest data released from The Central Statistics Office on Census 2022, which focused on Volunteering in Ireland.

The details are containined in the first in a new series of Census 2022 analyses which will be published under the title of 'Census 2022 Spotlight Series'.

Today's publication looks at volunteering in Ireland in April 2022 and provides information on the types of volunteering, the age breakdown of volunteers, their locations and more.

In Meath, 14 per cent of the county's population - almost 30,300 people - were volunteering in their community and various organisations in April 2022. Of these there were 14,625 females and just over 15,600 males volunteering.

The most popular voluntary activity was in a sporting organisation, where almost 13,600 Meath people were volunteering.

More than 9,000 people volunteered in their community while just over 7,500 were involved in social or charitable organisations. Almost 5,300 people were volunteering in a religious or church group while there were 652 volunteers in political organisations. More than 4,500 people were volunteering in more than one group or activity.

Looking at broad age groups, the largest group of volunteers was among people aged 45-64 where there 11,963 people volunteering. A further 9,308 people aged 25-44 were also involved in voluntary activities. There were 4,624 volunteers aged 65 and over. Just over 1,500 children (under 15 years old) and almost 2,900 people aged 15-24 were also volunteering.

Nationally, more than 700,000 people volunteered across sporting organisations, community groups, social or charity groups, religious, or political organisations in April 2022. Sporting organisations were the most popular area for volunteering across all age groups and in the majority of counties.

Leitrim, where 18 per cent of the population were volunteers, had the highest rate in the country. Dublin City and South Dublin had the joint lowest rate at 11 per cent. Volunteering rates tended to be higher in Western counties, with 17 per cent of people in both Mayo and Sligo volunteering.

Commenting on the results, Sheelagh Bonham, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “For the first time since 2006, the census in 2022 included a question on volunteering. The 2006 question on volunteering was restricted to people aged 15 years and over while in 2022 it was open to people of all ages. The number of volunteers aged 15 and over grew by 23 per cent between 2006 and 2022, matching the growth in that age group in the period. Sporting organisations had 50 more volunteers in 2022 than 2006, while religious or church groups had 13 per cent fewer volunteers.

The most popular area where people volunteered in 2022 was a sporting organisation. This was followed by community activities and then volunteering in social or charitable organisations. People were least likely to volunteer in religious or church groups (18 per cent) and political organisations (two per cent).

Volunteering is integral to a huge range of organisations and activities which people in every town, village, city, and county in Ireland participate in and rely on every day. This publication provides invaluable data and will help us to better understand volunteering in Ireland today.”