Access to Volunteering Grants

An Access to Volunteering Grants Pilot has been established by the Office of the Third Sector at the behest of the Commission of the Future of Volunteering. The plan is to distribute £2 million of grants across three test regions - Greater London , West Midlands & North West) – to increase the capacity of recipient organisations to support and/or improve the engagement of disabled people within their volunteering initiatives. The grants are intended for projects seeking to address barriers ranging from general lack of awareness to the need for specialist equipment. The usual funders’ interests apply – value for money, use of new technology to meet existing needs and creating opportunities for wider outcomes like employability, social inclusion & well being.

The programme will run from the Autumn of 2009 through to early 2011. The pilot is only concerned with initiatives aimed at improving access to volunteering for disabled people who are 9% less likely to volunteer. Should the scheme prove successful then the OTS will consider expanding the effort to include other socially excluded groups facing barriers to volunteering.

Organisations do not need to be a registered charity to apply but they do need to have charitable aims and, of course, involve volunteers. New or existing projects are encouraged and grants will range from £250 – £5,000 with the average award expected to be around £2,000. Organisations will normally have six months to spend the funds.

There will be 5 rounds of funding:

Access to Volunteering Timetable

Schedule of Deadline & Decision dates.

More information can be found at the Access to Volunteering website – just register with the site and download the application pack.

One Response to “Access to Volunteering Grants”

1. Tweets that mention Access to Volunteering Grants | chances4volunteering.org -- Topsy.com says:

   3 December 2009 at 17:22

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Chances4Volunteering and i-volunteer.org.uk, Vol Centre S Derbys. Vol Centre S Derbys said: RT @ivolunteeruk: Access to Volunteering Grants – Pilot programme for supported volunteeing taking off http://bit.ly/808onD [...]