“We just have to keep stitching ourselves back into the fabric of the shop”: the lived experiences of older volunteers in the charity retail sector

Kelly, Siobhán

Abstract

Charity shops have long been found to promote sociability, nurture experiences of belonging and act as spaces for community, caring and well-being. Older people remain the demographic most likely to participate in this setting and charity shop volunteering is often associated with events of positive ageing. However, alongside the expansion of the sector, most charities have undergone a series of changes in a quest for professionalism and profit. While research suggests that these operational shifts have significant implications for the practice of charity shop volunteering in later life, there is a limited evidence base regarding volunteerism within the current organisational context of the UK charity shop. This thesis sought to address this by exploring the lived experience of older volunteers working within charity shops in the Northwest of England. Employing an ethnographic methodology, this study was rooted in 268 hours of immersive fieldwork that were undertaken over a 17-month period in 3 charity shops. Ethnographic fieldnotes were accompanied by 17 semi-structured interviews and reflexive journaling. Findings show that whilst charity shops still offer opportunities to meaningfully participate in later life, crucial aspects of this group’s involvement - the way they experience ageing, the work they do, their relationship with caring and their pathways to belong - have undergone disruption. Despite this, older volunteers are not passive observers to such change; they actively resist these shifts and influence and shape processes in unique ways. The project therefore adds nuance to research regarding the nature of volunteering in later life and provides original insight into the complex impact of ‘professionalisation’ on the older person engaging in charity shop work. It is hoped that in a context of ageing societies, where voluntary work is increasingly considered an integral facet of ageing well, this study makes a timely and valuable contribution to knowledge.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jul 8, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2024
• Keywords: Ageing, Age-Friendly, Social Participation; Volunteering; Charity Retail; Professionalisation
• Award Date: Sep 26, 2024