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| VOLUNTEERING
DRIVE HELPED BY MULTI-MILLION POUND INJECTION |
01/04/04 |
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The
government has promised a £5.4m cash boost to help the charity sector get
even more volunteers on board, charities minister Fiona Mactaggart has announced.
The main areas which will benefit from funding are:
- Volunteer recruitment: a total of £4m over two years, for grants to increase
group volunteering and grants to engage people who don't normally volunteer.
- Promoting the involvement of older volunteers: £600,000 over two years
to develop a national co-ordinating body for older volunteers.
- Mentoring and befriending: £800,000 over two years to develop a national
mentoring and befriending infrastructure body.
Fiona Mactaggart says: "We have already increased the number of volunteers
by more than one million, exceeding the challenge set by the Prime Minister
in 2000. We're also on course to exceed the Home Office target of a rise
of five per cent in volunteering and community participation by 2006.
"These grants will help us to go further and draw on the talents of even
more people in our communities - especially people who might not think that
they have something to offer. These grants underline our belief that everyone
can make a contribution and help make a difference to their neighbourhood.
"Encouraging volunteering by older people, especially the over-65s, is high
on our agenda. At the moment, older people are among the least likely to
volunteer, but have vast potential to use their experience to shape their
community.
"Mentoring is particularly important for young people, and effective too.
Enabling life experience to be passed on through the community will have
results both now and in the future. Developing a national body to make that
happen is vital. The grants will also help to galvanise volunteering in
some of our most deprived communities where local people may not have thought
of volunteering before."
Applications are open at www.governmentfunding.org.uk
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