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Today amateurism is clearly alive and well in Britain. Demos reckon that about 25% of the population “see themselves as a Pro-Am”. There are Pro-Am magistrates (26,000), Pro-Am archeologists (4,500), Pro-Am wildlife enthusiasts (1m). We even have a Pro-Am army in the Territorials.

It all sounds like a wonderful mix of private passion and public service. And in an age that has become increasingly suspicious of experts and large organisations it’s tempting to get all sentimental about the return of the nerds. But in fact the largest Pro-Am activity in this country is gardening (30%), followed by DIY (20%). And most Pro-Ams are white, affluent middle-class men. And why — just because you can grow a large marrow or put in your own patio — should you be celebrated as a “social hybrid” at the forefront of a “social revolution”? I spoke to Charles Leadbeater, co-author of the study, and asked him to clarify who qualifies as a Pro-Am. Could a birdwatcher or a stamp collector be one? “I don’t think you can be a professional birdwatcher or stamp collector,” says Leadbeater. “Pro-Ams are distinguished by the amount of time they devote to their hobby and the level of skill they acquire.”

So bad luck twitchers and stamp collectors — you’re out. But the most important contribution of the Pro-Ams is to scientific knowledge. It’s always said we live in a specialised age that is beyond the understanding of non-specialists.

Wrong, says Leadbeater. He admits it is “not possible for amateurs to come up with new theories of the universe or make advances in biology and physics. But as knowledge of astronomy has expanded so has technology, so they can do things that only professionals used to do, like studying the stars”.

Graham Shirville is the perfect Pro-Am. He has spent his working life as a door-handle salesman. But his greatest passion for the past 30 years is for amateur television broadcasting. Shirville, who is based near Woburn in Bedfordshire, belongs to a network of about 50 people who like to build studios and transmit their own programmes.

“I’m passionate about communication,” says Shirville. “That may sound odd to a young generation who can pick up a mobile phone and send pictures across the world — but they have no understanding of how the technology works. That’s the great turn-on for us.”

And it’s not just a selfish passion. Shirville is adamant that his group helps society at large by “creating a new form of transmission equipment for digital pictures that will cost only a few hundred pounds” and that his group is talking to Nasa about putting a digital television transmitter on the space station. “This would mean we’d have live digital pictures of the Earth at night and show live pictures of pollution.”

The Demos report claims that most Pro-Ams have no interest in being successful professionals. Ray Grover, 58, has been an amateur photographer for 10 years. In 2000 he won amateur photographer of the year. Does he ever want to do it for a living? “No, you’d destroy your hobby by turning it into a job. Then you’d be worried about making money and it would lose the creativity,” says Grover.

What I don’t understand is how Pro-Ams who spend all their free time with their hobbies find time for their wives.

“That can be difficult,” says Chris Holm, 30. By day Holm is an IT consultant for a company in Cambridge. But by night he is a kickboxer who has competed at European club level. He trains four times a week. “You have to have an understanding girlfriend. Fortunately mine has got into kickboxing as well.”

But what sort of impact will the Pro-Ams have on British society? Leadbeater points to the “way the music industry is being transformed by Pro-Ams sharing musical files” as a taste of the future and the effect that Pro-Ams can have on business.

But will this help the rest of us? “We all will benefit by having a society full of enthusiasts in it,” says Leadbeater. “The more Pro-Ams you have in a society the stronger it is likely to be. It’s from these people that a lot of ideas and innovation will come.”

Or as Bill Gates — billionaire creator of Microsoft and hero to a generation of geeks — is said to have told a bunch of schoolchildren: “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.”

So if you want me, I’ll be in my shed.