GEN Consulting and Insight Collective were commissioned by HIE's enterprising communities team to carry out research into volunteering in the HIE area and to establish future trends in demand for and supply of volunteers.

The need for the research arose out of requests made to HIE by the voluntary sector to help address difficulties in the recruitment of volunteers.

HIE wanted to establish whether there was a shortage of volunteers  - and to know more about the nature of any shortage and the extent to which it might curtail the growth or development of the voluntary sector.

The project commenced in November 2006 and was completed in March 2007.

The study shows that the Highlands and Islands has a higher level of volunteering than Scotland as a whole.

Orkney fares particularly well for helpers, with one in three of those in Orkney between the ages of 16 and 34 volunteering, compared to one in five across Scotland.

Females represent a higher proportion of volunteers in the Highlands and Islands, with over a third helping out, compared to a quarter in all of Scotland.

The survey also found that the average age of a volunteer is increasing, with an overwhelming majority (97%) of volunteers over the age of 25

The full report, in Adobe Acrobat pdf format, is available to download here, right.