The research was conducted in a number of phases and involved a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods:

• A review of the literature was conducted, distilling the findings of previous research on volunteering and social exclusion/inclusion, and volunteering among disabled people, people from BME groups, and people with a record of offence.

• In order to identify key issues affecting the three groups understudy, consultation interviews were conducted with key volunteering organisations, organisations representing the groups we were focusing on, and other key stakeholders.

• This initial phase of the research also served to identify the three geographical regions within which the research was based, and to form partnerships with the key volunteer development agencies (VDAs) in the regions – the regions were:

East Devon

A rural area with an average population density of 1.5 persons per hectare in the South West of England. East Devon Volunteer Bureau was the partner organisation.

Haringey

An inner-London Borough is a multi-cultural community of 216,000 people in North London. Haringey is the ninth most deprived borough in England, and almost half of the population comes from ethnic minorities with 9% being refugees and asylum seekers. Voluntary Action Haringey was the partner organisation.

Sheffield

An urban area in the North East of England, is the fourth largest city in Britain with a population of over 500,000. In 1991, 5% of Sheffield’s population were from ethnic minorities. Voluntary Action Sheffield was the partner organisation.

These partnerships were fundamental to the subsequent phases of the research, enabling the research team to draw on the VDAs local knowledge and expertise, as well as their extensive lists of local contacts.

• Three questionnaire surveys were conducted with organisations, volunteers and non-volunteers in Haringey, Devon and Sheffield; 98 organisations, 203 volunteers and 40 non-volunteers responded.

• Detailed case studies of organisations in Devon, Sheffield and Haringey were undertaken. A majority of the organisations were identified through the questionnaire respondents, others were identified by working with local volunteering infrastructure agencies. Each case study involved in-depth interviews with staff and with volunteers from the three target groups. In total 78 interviews were conducted during this phase of the research.

• The final stage of the research involved a series of focus groups with ex-offenders, disabled people and members of BME groups – there were separate focus groups for volunteers and non-volunteers.