Extra 6.6 million pounds to boost volunteering over the next two years

Extra £6.6 million to boost volunteering over the next two years

The Office of the Third Sector is today providing details on three new programmes to boost volunteering.

Between 2009 and 2011 the Office of the Third Sector will be investing £6.6 million in three new volunteering programmes.

The first two programmes follow commitments made in response to the recommendations of the 2008 Commission on the Future of Volunteering. The programmes are:

Access to Volunteering – A £2 million pilot fund to reduce barriers to disabled people volunteering and explore the feasibility of a national Access to Volunteering fund. This week the Office of the Third Sector will be seeking expressions of interest from organisations wishing to manage the programme. Organisations interested in managing the fund should email access.volunteering@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk for more information.
Volunteer Managers training – A £3 million programme that will provide support to volunteer managers to ensure that volunteers are well managed and that they get the best possible experience from volunteering. This programme will be taken forward by the organisation CapacityBuilders.
In addition a third, £1.6 million programme will contribute to building a volunteering legacy for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This will include a new gateway to enable people inspired to volunteer by the Games to find local volunteering opportunities, and a team of development workers to help volunteering organisations across England become involved in creating a volunteering legacy for the Games. This programme will be run by Youthnet and Volunteering England. It will link to a new v programme to galvanize young people to get involved in volunteering using the inspiration of the 2012 Games.

These three programmes build on a significant investment in volunteering between 2008 and 2011. This includes up to £117 million to support youth volunteering through v, £8 million to provide volunteering opportunities for unemployed people and the recently announced £5.5 million Generations Together programme which will boost intergenerational volunteering.

Kevin Brennan, Minister for the Third Sector said

“These programmes represent a significant investment in volunteering. They will help more people to volunteer and will provide vital support to those that manage volunteers. The new programmes are particularly important now as volunteering organisations are reporting that more people want to volunteer to gain new skills and improve their employability.”

For further detials please go to http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector/news/news_stories/090512_volunteering.aspx

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