Volunteering & Volunteer Students

Opportunities for Volunteering is an annual grants scheme using money from the Department of Health. Grants are for health and social care projects that focus on greater involvement of volunteers in their work.

It is a slightly complicated programme to explain because grants are available through 16 different organisations, known as national agents. 15 of these organisations offer funding in one specific area or specialism within health and social care. The 16th is the General Fund, which is run by Volunteering England and has just opened for applications.

The General Fund has £500,000 available and offers grants of between £10,000 and £40,000 per year over three years. Voluntary and community organisations are eligible to apply - you don't need to be a registered charity.

Projects should be new or a significant development for your organisation. Your application must show how your project will have a positive impact on the health and well-being of both service users and volunteers (e.g. improving physical or mental health, reducing health inequalities or supporting and improving access for people excluded from mainstream health and social care services).

For this year's round of funding, Volunteering England are particularly interested in the following types of health and social care activities:

• Health promotion
• Health advocacy
• Supported volunteering
• Support for people with specific health conditions not covered by other National Agents
• Befriending and support for people with specific health and social care needs
• Projects that demonstrate a link between volunteering in health and social care activities and employment

The deadline for applications in 29 August 2008 for projects running from April 2009 to March 2012. Competition is always high for this grants scheme. Each year, they receive over 400 preliminary applications; only between 14 and 17 of them get funding.

More information on the General Fund is available from the Opportunities for Volunteering webpage

As I mentioned above, there are 15 other national agents also offering grants through Opportunities for Volunteering. If you are interested in applying, you are supposed to check through all of the national agents to choose the most appropriate one to apply to. Some of these agents have open grants programmes; others are open only to members and affiliates of their own organisation, or have committed money a long way in advance. Here's a quick summary of the other 15 national agents:

• Age Concern – projects working specifically with older people. Deadline is 29 August 2008. The maximum grant will be £35,000 per year, for up to 3 years.
• Attend – projects working with leagues of hospitals and working for the needs of patients, former patients both in hospital and in the community. Applications are accepted only from Attend affiliated Friends Groups.
• Barnardo’s – projects working with young people. Applications are only accepted from existing Barnardo’s services.
• Bassac – projects working to develop multi-purpose, community based organisations in local neighbourhoods. Grants are only available to bassac members. More information about joining is available on the bassac website. The next application process starts in autumn 2008.
• Churches Together in England – projects managed entirely or primarily by churches, local ‘churches together’ groups or other Christian organisations. The maximum grant is £20,000 per year. Deadline: 31 October 2008
• Crisis – projects focused on supporting the physical and mental well being of homeless people. Check the Crisis website for updates.
• CSV - aims to promote neighbourhood volunteering in health and social service settings. CSV accept applications from partner projects routed through regional CSV contacts.
• Mencap – projects focused on children, young people and or adults with a learning disability. Mencap awards grants to its affiliated clubs and societies, and other groups, for projects which are designed to be of help to people with a learning disability. The closing date for applications is 30 September each year.
• Mind – projects working with people with mental health problems. Mind accepts and will prioritise applications from its own affiliated local associations and from other community mental health projects. The application process for new projects is due to open in early July 2008. Grants are generally for up to £25,000 per year. The deadline is 30 September 2008
• NACRO – project working to make society safer by finding practical solutions to reducing crime. Applications are accepted only from within Nacro services.
• RADAR – projects that support the disability lobby and create an environment in which disability organisations can effectively campaign for change. RADAR only supports member organisations - it is currently funding 14 of these. It may re-open for new applicants in 2009-2010
• RNIB – supports projects managed by local societies and other local organisations of and for blind and partially sighted people. The closing date for applications will be 30 November
• Scope – projects designed to meet the needs of disabled people, particularly projects involving disabled volunteers and parents/carers. SCOPE are due to start accepting applications in September 2008.
• The Children’s Society – projects that change the lives of children and young people whose circumstances make them vulnerable. The Children’s Society only awards grants to Children’s Society projects. Currently, all of their funding is committed
• UK Council on Deafness – projects meeting the needs of deaf, deaf/blind or hard of hearing people. First step application forms for 2009-2012 will be available from October 2008. The maximum grants are likely to be in the region of £15,000 per year.

Some of these national agents have a lot of information; for others, it's a bit more sketchy. I'll keep you posted on updates to the national agents as they happen.

This might be the final year of the Opportunities for Volunteering programme. The Department of Health is reviewing its grant-making activities through Section 64 and this programme. The future of these programmes will depend on the recommendations of the Third Sector Strategic Funding and Investment Review, which will be published later in the year.