2.1 General context
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Historical Developments
According to a Study on Volunteering in the European Union, the practice of organised volunteering in Greece began in 1913, when the Guides were created in the country. During World War I, the Institution for Disabled Children (ΠΙΚΠA) was formed to support children's needs. However, the legacy of volunteering in Greece may be traced back even further, to the country's initial founders in 1821. A history of estates, primarily for cultural and educational efforts, began in the early nineteenth century in the Greek area of Epirus, the birthplace of many notable Greek philanthropists.
However, volunteering in Greece is not a widely practiced concept in the Greek community. Historically, Greek civil society was characterised by: a) strong state and Orthodox Church action in the provision of social services; b) weak government support for non-governmental organisations (NGOs); and c) an individualist society based on strong family ties.
The most important practice of volunteering in Greece to this day was during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The 2004 Athens Olympic Games were an important turning point in Greece's commitment to volunteerism, showing the critical role that young volunteers play in the success of large-scale international events. The Athens Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC) recognised the importance of a large volunteer workforce to ensure that the Games ran smoothly. ATHOC established an ambitious goal of recruiting 60,000 volunteers for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with an additional 10,000 volunteers designated for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
The response to this call was very beneficial, with nearly 160,000 young people applying to volunteer, showing a particularly enthusiastic response from the Greek people. This increase was significant, especially considering that Greece's usual pool of volunteers before to the Games was roughly 30,000.
The volunteers contributed significantly to a variety of operational areas, including press operations, technology, medical services, sports management, guest hospitality, security, transportation, and Olympic Village services. To properly help the different foreign participants, volunteers needed to be fluent in Greek and speak one or more additional languages.
There is limited existing information on the current situation of the volunteering activities in Greece. One trustful source we can refer to, is a research by the European Union. According to the Eurobarometer which estimated the volunteering in the Sports sector (engagement in voluntary work that supports sporting activities) the degree of volunteering in Greece is considerably low (approximately 3 %). The same report mentioned that the majority of Greek volunteers in Sports (55%), contribute to volunteering activities only occasionally, at individual events. There are no official national sources of statistical information about volunteering in Greece, which prevents someone from summarising the evidence and identifying trends about the current status of the volunteers.
Main concepts
In 2020, the National Institute of Labour and Human Resources, a public agency supervised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, published the report “Volunteering in Greece: existing situation and proposals”. The report discusses the status of voluntary activities in Greece. According to the report, the reasons why individuals participate in volunteering vary, but there is also a basic framework of motivation, which seems to apply in all cases. Therefore, the incentives to participate in voluntary actions vary to some extent, depending on age and gender.
The definition of volunteering was mentioned in the content of the law 4662/2020: ‘The voluntary commitment of the volunteer to offer work and services for the benefit of society as a whole without remuneration or other material consideration’. This law concerns the upgrading of the civil protection volunteering system and refers to the legislation governing the status of young volunteers.
Moreover, the Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection/General Secretariat for Civil Protection (GSCP) (Law 4662/2020) includes several useful definitions.
1. Civil Protection Volunteer: The person-member of a voluntary civil protection organisation, constituting part of the Civil Protection staff, who provides, in cooperation with Local Government and other organisations, unpaid and non-profit service for the benefit of the society as a whole.
2. Voluntary Civil Protection Organisation: Legal entities or associations or groups of persons, constituting part of the Civil Protection staff, who, in cooperation with Local Government and other organisations, are active in providing non-profit services for the benefit of society as a whole.