A ten-year campaign set up by a raft of charity sector groups to boost volunteering opportunities has received £600,000 in Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) funding.

The funding will be used to help the Vision for Volunteering campaign develop its next 18-month stage, which aims to raise awareness of the campaign, provide training, collect evidence of success, and share examples of good practice.

It will also support the creation of a dedicated team for the project, to be hosted by NCVO, one of the campaign’s partners.

Recruitment is underway and closes on 4 January 2023, for a project lead, network and engagement officer and learning and storytelling officer.

Other campaign partners are NAVCA, Volunteering Matters, Association of Volunteer Managers and Sport England.

“We’re thrilled to receive government investment in the next phase of the Vision for Volunteering,” said the campaign in a statement.

“Through the Vision we are seeking to bring about change in how volunteering looks, feels, and runs in England - make it brilliant for everyone, everywhere.

“Volunteers are embedded in how our society operates, whether delivering emergency services, making our communities engaging, thriving places to live, or taking action on issues important to the community. Our country would cease to function without them.

“Yet not everyone can volunteer and not everyone has a positive experience volunteering. We want to harness the positive changes we have seen in the volunteering landscape through the pandemic and deliberately move away from practices that are holding volunteering back.

“We are delighted that DCMS have recognised the importance of this and are supporting the journey to achieve this change. It sends a vital signal about the importance of volunteering in England that the government has committed to support this project. “

Vision for Volunteering launched in May and unveiled research which detailed how people from disadvantaged backgrounds, young people, those with disabilities and from ethnic minorities were among groups least likely to volunteer.

It warned that many feel excluded from volunteering roles due to “racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, classism, and other forms of discrimination”

A DCMS commissioned report published by the Institute for Community Studies in September found that volunteering opportunities for young people were patchy UK wide and particularly challenging in rural areas.

Charities minister Stuart Andrew said the volunteering campaign “will boost the power of this crucial public role over the coming decade and promote its positive social benefits”.

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