With the financial support of Imagine Canada, a branch of the Knowledge Development Centre of Canada, Falls Brook Centre undertook a social history study of volunteerism in the towns of Glassville, Knowlesville, Juniper and Argyle.  The study examined the changing reality of community volunteer groups in the area over the last 20 years, identified causes of declining participation in community groups and suggested recommendations for their revitalization. 

Case Study of Volunteerism in the Parish of Aberdeen

RESEARCH SUMMARY

Rural communities in New Brunswick have traditionally relied on volunteer organizations as the support mechanisms necessary for rural living.  With limited services from the government, volunteer organizations and women’s groups have filled many niches, from fire safety, to youth recreation, to fundraising for infrastructure.  These traditional groups are volunteer-based and, at one time, had good attendance.  In current times, many are experiencing an aging membership with ever decreasing numbers of participants.
 
Recent concern over the decline of volunteerism in the Parish of Aberdeen was sparked by the first winter closure of the local volunteer-run Glassville Recreation Centre. Further investigation revealed that aging volunteers and a decline in participation was not only a problem in Glassville, but was also pervasive among the local communities of Knowlesville, Juniper and Argyle.  Dialogue with some community members suggested that within their lifetime, the community groups have gone from being very active to barely maintaining their infrastructure.
 
The study focused specifically on the changing rural community, and how rural service groups and volunteerism reflect those changes.  While aging volunteers are a reality for many service groups in urban and rural areas, the importance of these groups to the basic level of operation in a rural community is high.  Without the capacity of municipal governments to deliver programs and services, rural communities have relied upon their service groups’ work as the backbone to basic survival.  If these groups are facing issues strong enough to extinguish the delivery of these basic community needs, this may result in major structural changes in rural communities and further pressure on residents to migrate to urban areas.
 
On the basis of these observations, we decided to conduct a research study examining the changes that have occurred within these communities and their volunteer organizations over the past twenty five years.  Our research objectives were:

• To identify and document the social history of six volunteer groups in the Parish of Aberdeen over the last twenty-five years;
• To ascertain if those volunteer groups have undergone any degree of decline in their recent history;
• To identify the causes, if any, of declining rural volunteerism;
• To offer specific recommendations to those volunteer groups to improve the likelihood of their future viability; and
• To offer general recommendations to rural volunteer groups to improve the likelihood of their future viability.

To read more, download the full report "Bridging the Gap in Rural Volunteerism: A Case Study of the Parish of Aberdeen". The 38 page report offers concrete examples of the evolution and decline of local groups for the benefit of the volunteers themselves as well as parties interested in rural sociology and volunteerism.