Volunteering and communities

Volunteers play an increasingly bigger part, and according to Director of the Tuborg Foundation Anne Marie Skov, this is just the beginning. She believes that we will experience new forms of volunteering blossom in the coming years.

"Volunteering plays a major role in society of today. Both in areas, where you traditionally have a lot of volunteers - in culture, sports and social areas. Volunteers also handle many important tasks in a public sector under pressure, with demands of savings, an increase in elderly and less hands to carry the weight," says Anne Marie Skov.   

As Director of the Tuborg Foundation she is involved in the donation of 2.7 million DKK for the development of the Aarhus 2017 Volunteer Programme. The money is earmarked for "strengthening and working to continue the development of the volunteer area - also in the years after 2017."

"So much is happening right now; volunteering is undergoing a very exciting development. And a major project such as Aarhus 2017 is a good example of a project, we wish to be involved in and collect important knowledge and experience from," says Anne Marie Skov. 

Volunteer strategy
She is also the woman behind the Tuborg Foundation's new strategy "A part of the Community". Here, the vision is that the Tuborg Foundation will continue to support the diverse group of associations and volunteer initiatives that the foundation has traditionally been funding. However, the foundation will also be involved as an active partner in creating a sustainable development in the volunteer area. 

"The Tuborg Foundation wants to give people the opportunity to be a part of engaging communities. Both within traditional areas such as culture, music and sports. But we also want to play a much more active role in relation to the public communities and the many initiatives in society that are a result of the concept of volunteering," says Anne Marie Skov. She believes that there are numerous possibilities in the volunteer work that are yet to be discovered.

"Take for instance 'Venligboerne'. This is a movement that was created spontanously as answer to an acute problem in society and is based on volunteer work.

New perspectives
The collaboration between the business sector and the volunteer area is a new field, which is full of exciting perspectives according to Anne Marie Skov. 

"We have only seen a small fraction of the many possibilities and new initiatives so far: mentorships, socio-economic businesses. The whole collaboration, where we can use each others competencies. I believe that when it comes to volunteering, so much more is still to come."