During the corona lockdown, assistance from volunteers was inadequate for 1/3 of those in need. This has been concluded by Professor Lucas Meijs of Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) Erasmus University and NLvoorelkaar. It is among participants of NLvoorelkaar, the largest volunteer platform in the Netherlands, a corona aid study was carried out. The results of that study show that while vulnerable target groups were kept safe, they suffered from hampered social contact resulting in increased loneliness.
In the article on RSM Discovery we can read that the lack of help was caused by 40% of those in need finding it more difficult to ask for help during the crisis. Reasons include: fear of contamination, the assumption that it’s not allowed to help, family and professionals being too busy or absent, fragmentation of places where help can be sought and inflexible guidelines of organizations. From the other side there were issues found as well, because various professionals also indicated that the care provision was limited by inflexible, unclear or slow regulations within the organization and the fear of a fine.
Jeroen de Punder, director of NLvoorelkaar says: ''Volunteers should be able to help even more easily – now 35% of the capacity remained unused – and we can help those in need by recruiting for their specific needs now. That’s why we are already starting a campaign against loneliness. We call on each other this summer to look more closely at each other and at a local level we connect people who are looking for contact.'' To wich Professor Meijs adds: ''Additionally, we can support professionals in reducing demand shyness. Give them the space to deal flexibly and creatively with the rules during a crisis through a well-prepared plan of action and clear regulations regarding voluntary work in crisis situations.''