Volume 4. Issue 1. 2024.
Editorial Preface
The first issue of the online magazine Volunteer Review was published three years ago. Therefore, the first study of the first issue of the fourth volume is a kind of a review of these three years, as the members of the editorial team have prepared a comprehensive analysis of the crisis-ridden period of the Hungarian voluntary sector based on the studies and case studies published in the journal. The first issue of the fourth volume of Volunteer Review is dedicated to the topic of volunteering in after- school program for disadvantage students ("tanoda"). After- school program for disadvantage students ("tanoda") can be seen as a holistic set of social support services for disadvantaged students (and often their families), tailored to the individual needs of the student. The first study in this context presents the creation, methodology and functioning of schools and the role of volunteers in this context, within a theoretical framework of educational equity. At present, there are nearly three hundred school or school-like institutions in Hungary, mainly run by non-governmental, non-profit organisations. It is therefore only natural that we have devoted a separate study to the analysis of educational nonprofit organisatons and volunteering, filling a gap that has not been filled for almost two decades by a more detailed analysis of this sub-sector. The four case studies provide examples of the different ways in which schools and school-like institutions are run, in terms of their conceptualisation and methodology, and of the complex educational and social policy functions they can play. The case study on the Childcare programme, which was set up to improve children's life chances, reduce child poverty and prevent the re-emergence of poverty, focuses on the examination of student outcomes. Finally, the review presents a niche publication presenting the results of a survey of youth professionals and volunteers.
"Dance in harness" – a snapshot of the Hungarian volunteer sub-sector illustrated in the studies and case studies of the Volunteering Review (2021-2023)
Anna Mária Bartal - László Dorner - Hajnalka Fényes - Réka Nagy - Éva Perpék
The operation of after-school program for disadvantages students ("Tanodas") and their framework of volunteering
Norbert Szűcs – József Balázs Fejes
"There are several indications, however, that at the governmental level, the issue of domestic volunteering has gone from being a "favourite" child to a "stepchild" (...) The organisations that have emerged "winners" from crisis situations are those that have been able to provide a resilient response in terms of service change, online transition, and the employment of episodic volunteers."
Characteristics of nonprofit organisations in education and volunteering in the light of statistics (2010-2022)
István Sebestény – Anna Mária Bartal
"The year 2020 was an absolute crisis year for educational NGOs, from which they were able to bounce back to a level that exceeded previous levels, in terms of the number of organisations, revenue, employees and volunteers. However, the 2022 statistics again show a relative weakening of the sub-sector."
"Having reviewed the topic, it is clear that volunteering is a significant capacity-building element for schools. The work of volunteers helps to compensate for the lack of resources due to the underfunded situation of the schools, and also provides an opportunity to enrich the programme and fill in missing competences. "
The volunteer system in the Motivation after-school programs for disadvantaged students
Norbert Szűcs – József Balázs Fejes – Uszáma Mutier
"The high threshold volunteer programme provides Motivation Schools with prepared and committed volunteers, often with immediately usable expertise, and, if needed, with human resource replenishment."
Volunteering to fight poverty and exclusion of children – 10 years of InDaHouse Hungary
Fruzsina Benkő
"At InDaHouse, volunteers work with the children, and the main task of the professional staff is to frame and support them. For most leaders socialized in the corporate world, it is incredible that by excluding money from the system, you can build a community that is hierarchical, skilled, accountable and responsible."
A complex methodological presentation of the work of "Bagázs" Public Benefit Association supporting roma settlements
Emőke Kinga Both – Áron Máté Szilveszter
"Working together with volunteers is based on training and professional support for volunteers, starting with the acquisition and understanding of a complex approach to the inclusion process."
Improving learning outcomes through activities in complex district childcare programmes
Éva Perpék – Márta Kiss
"Volunteer involvement was usually concentrated on those programme elements that have an indirect and weaker impact on learning outcomes. This includes larger-scale, periodic events such as children's and youth events, weekend and holiday leisure and development programmes."
Volunteering in the Experience Workshop ("Élmény Tár")
Imre Domán – Kata Farkas – Zsófia Tasnádi
"Our case studies include why we think it's important for our volunteers to be involved in a mentoring process (...), how we have built up a recruitment system over the years to eliminate unnecessary, energy-consuming, premature volunteer attrition."
