# Government launches £7m volunteering fund

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/11/23/government-launches-7m-volunteering-fund/
- Published: 2021-11-23T08:00:00+00:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Launched with Arts Council England, Pears Foundation and NHS Charities Together,
the Volunteering Futures Fund aims to help people access more volunteering opportunities
across a range of sectors including the arts and sport.**

Of the £7m, almost £6 million comes directly from the Government, and £1.15 million
from Pears Foundation and NHS Charities Together.

In recognition of the barriers some people face to volunteering, the [Volunteering Futures Fund](https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/blog/volunteering-futures)
will have a strong focus on young people, and those experiencing loneliness, with
disabilities and from ethnic minority backgrounds.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

Organisations that run projects across the arts, heritage, museums, libraries, sport,
civil society and youth sectors can apply. These could be nationwide projects to
create placements for young people, in addition to more regional and local projects,
such as those working with a particular football club to provide volunteering opportunities.

Arts Council England will be distributing £4.7 million of the fund provided by the
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and Expressions of Interest
for £100,001 or above can now be submitted. Arts Council England will award grants
by the end of March 2022, kicking off two years of activities.

In addition to the £4.7 million of grants that ACE will administer, DCMS has awarded
Pears Foundation and NHS Charities Together with £1.15 million. The two grant makers
are also adding to the total themselves with a further £1.15 million, bringing the
combined fund to £7 million.

Ellie Orton OBE, Chief Executive at NHS Charities Together, said:

> “This fund offers a much-needed boost to help young people from all backgrounds
> access life-changing volunteering opportunities.
>  
> “We support a network of 240 NHS Charities across the UK – many of which have 
> unparalleled expertise in delivering youth volunteering schemes – and we look 
> forward to working with them to get these funds to where they are needed most,
> and can have the greatest impact. This includes increased support for our NHS 
> workforce, as they face their most challenging winter ever.”

Sir Trevor Pears CMG, Executive Chair, Pears Foundation, added:

> “For so many civil society organisations, volunteers are the backbone of their
> work; the extraordinary volunteer response to Covid-19 has only served to emphasise
> this. Now, as we look forward, it’s crucial that we support these organisations
> to build on that response, remove remaining barriers to recruitment, and further
> develop the infrastructure to support and invest in their volunteers.
>  
> “We are delighted to be working in partnership again with DCMS to support some
> of our long-term partners in this work, delivering projects to develop volunteering
> opportunities for, and for the benefit of, people with disabilities and young 
> people.”