[cma-l] Government announces £6m volunteer funding

[CMA-L]

The Government has announced £6m of funding for volunteering in
response to Manifesto for Change, the report by the Commission on the
Future of Volunteering.

Phil Hope, the Minister for the Third Sector, said he accepted the
vast majority of the report's recommendations and the Government had
provided more funding than it had been asked for in some areas.

However, two of the report's key recommendations were rejected. The
Government said there would be no £5m annual fund to support
partnerships between charities and councils because money was already
being invested in this area through existing organisations. It also
said there would be no cabinet minister with responsibility for
volunteering.

The Government will instead invest £4m in new training programmes for
volunteers and volunteer managers and £2m to create a fund that will
help disabled people access volunteering.

It will also produce guidance to help avoid unnecessary criminal
records checks being carried out.

"The Government is committed to opening up volunteering opportunities
for people in all parts of society, because it gives so much to the
community and so much to the volunteer," said Hope.

Justin Davis Smith, chief executive of Volunteering England, welcomed
the investment and said he looked forward to a more joined-up approach
to volunteering across government departments.

"We are, however, disappointed that they have ignored the commission's
call for a £5m matched fund for the strategic development and
modernisation of volunteering infrastructure," he said.

"We have campaigned for sustainable funding for volunteer centres and
other volunteering development agencies for many years, and we would
welcome further clarification from government as to why they are
consistently neglecting this key area."

http://www.volcomm.org.uk/