Over 160 community organisations to receive share of £4.6 million volunteering fund
Melanie May | 19 April 2022 | News
More than 160 community organisations are to receive a share of £4.6 million from the government’s Volunteering Futures Fund.
The funding, the government says, will enable these organisations to support 7,800 new volunteering opportunities over the next two years.
The fund was launched last year with this tranche distributed by Arts Council England (ACE). It aims to break down barriers to volunteering and enable organisations across the arts, culture, sport, civil society, youth and heritage sectors to continue their work within local communities.
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ACE has awarded funding to organisations including colleges, local councils, schools, health and wellbeing organisations supporting a range of beneficiaries including people experiencing loneliness or social isolation, young people in the LGBTQ community, and people with learning difficulties and complex needs.
These include:
The Bureau Centre for the Arts in Blackburn and Darwen, which will be able to roll out a new two-year programme to engage hundreds of local young people in culture, sport and heritage volunteering. It will result in a digital portfolio toolkit that can be replicated in other towns. The centre will work with Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, Blackburn Museum, Blackburn with Darwen Library Service, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Blackburn Festival of Light, Blackburn Youth Zone with 11 other partners.
The Festival of Thrift in Redcar will deliver a collaborative volunteer recruitment, training and development programme covering music, visual arts and performance. It will enable greater volunteering capacity across the Tees Valley in a safe, supported way, providing opportunities for progression and a shared experience. It will work with BloominArt, Curious Arts, Hartlepool Waterfront Festival, Stellar Projects and eight other partners.
Barnsley Museums will establish new partnerships between local stakeholders in Barnsley to offer new, high quality volunteer opportunities. It will develop skills and address loneliness and isolation and prioritise those most in need who face barriers to participation. Barnsley Museums will work with Feels Like Home, Barnsley College and Inclusion in Action among other partners.
Lynn Dunning, Head of Barnsley Museums, said:
“Volunteering is vital to the cultural sector and offers huge advantages to both the individual and the organisation. This funding will allow us to establish high quality volunteering opportunities that will offer personal and lifelong benefits to those taking part.
“They will develop new skills, offer avenues into work, support health and wellbeing and boost confidence. Doing so in collaboration with a range of community partners and lived experience.
“We really want to showcase the impacts that volunteering can have and also how culture can really add value to lives and communities.”
Other beneficiaries include museums in Cumbria, Birmingham and Tyne and Wear. The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games festival and cultural festivals in Brighton and Cleveland will also benefit, as will local authorities in Bassetlaw, Hertfordshire and the Midlands.
Grants of £100,000 or more have been awarded following an ACE competitive process launched in November 2021. There are 19 lead organisations that will work with more than 160 partner organisations to deliver volunteering opportunities at a local level across England.
An additional £2.2 million is being distributed by Pears Foundation and NHS Charities Together.
Darren Henley, CEO of Arts Council England said:
“There’s an abundance of evidence to show that volunteering can be a key factor in helping people lead happier lives.
“This new investment will enrich villages, towns and cities across England, increasing health and wellbeing and decreasing loneliness and isolation.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.