Capacitybuilders has released details of a new grants programme to provide support to people who manage volunteers, helping to ensure that volunteers get the best possible experience.

This follows commitments made by the Office of the Third Sector in response to the recommendations of the 2008 Commission on the Future of Volunteering, an independent body established to develop a long-term vision for volunteering in England.

Campbell Robb, director general for the Office of the Third Sector said: “This £3 million fund represents the Government’s ongoing support for volunteering. This is particularly important now, as volunteering organisations are reporting that more people want to volunteer to gain new skills and improve their employability.

"It is vital that our dedicated volunteers are properly managed and developed in their roles, to ensure that they are in the best possible position to take up future opportunities, this fund will also help sustain the future of volunteering.”

In designing the programme the Office of the Third Sector and Capacitybuilders considered inputs from a range of other consultations and debates that have taken place since 2006 and then ‘tested’ initial proposals amongst a group of key stakeholders.

The resulting programme will now be delivered via three inter-connected strands:

Strand A (£1.6 million to March 2011) grants will be targeted to around 25 local volunteering development organisations, to help them provide outreach and other direct support services to people who manage volunteers, particularly those who may not know about or access existing provision. More than 30 local expert partnerships are being invited to develop project proposals by the autumn under this strand.

Strand B grant (£200,000 to March 2011) is directed at the national strategic support of volunteer management. Work will be coordinated via the existing Modernising Volunteering national support service, managed by Volunteering England.
Strand C (approx. £1 million, available from April 2010) is a bursary fund to help support training for people managing volunteers.

Dave Conroy, national programme manager at Capacitybuilders said: ‘We’ve very much appreciated the constructive responses and inputs from key stakeholders over the past few months. It has helped us to develop and refine our proposals within an extremely tight time-frame.

"Over the coming months, we will continue working with stakeholders to develop proposals for the bursary fund ahead of launch in Spring 2010. It’s essential that the fund is cost effective to administer and both accessible and relevant to a wide range of people and organisations.’