East Midlands Regional Volunteering Conference 9 th September

							      East Midlands Regional
      Volunteering Conference
                   9th September 2009

Sarah Benioff, Deputy Director, Office of the Third Sector,
                     Cabinet Office
          Contents

   About OTS
   Our Work in East Midlands
   Government and Volunteering
   Where next for volunteering?
   Where next for OTS?
What is the Office of the Third
Sector?
Set up in May 2006, based in the Cabinet Office.


Vision - A thriving third sector, enabling people to change society.
Aims
    Enable campaigning and empowerment, particularly for those at
     risk of social exclusion.

    Strengthen communities, drawing together people from different
     sections of society through community participation.

    Transform public services, through delivery, design, innovation and
     campaigning.

    Enable social enterprise growth and development, combining
     business and social goals.
Our work in the East Midlands
     v – has put £7.3million into the region. For example the Artemis
      project develops volunteering opportunities in Mansfield for young
      offenders and ex-offenders. The project develops opportunities that
      tap into young people's passions and interests, and help re-vitalise
      areas of the local community affected by vandalism or neglect.
     Grassroots Grants –In the East Midlands; small grants distributed
      totalled £1,8m in ’08-’09 and endowment donations raised reached
      almost £400K. In ‘09-’10 a further £1.9m is available to be distributed
      in small grants and up to £1.7m to match fund local donations.
     Futurebuilders – has offered over £3 million to 22 third sector
      organisations in the East Midlands to help them build their capacity
      to win public services contracts.
Our Work in the East Midlands - Continued


   Community Assets Programme – This programme has funded the
    renovation and refurbishment of two run-down community centres in
    the East Midlands, which will be transferred from local authority to
    third sector ownership. Grants awarded are for £1.27 million.
   Targeted Support Fund – In the East Midlands, a total of 32
    organisations have been awarded grants of between £10,000 to
    £40,000, enabling them to provide recession-focused support to their
    communities this year. The grants are worth £778,883 in total.
   CapacityBuilders Modernisation Fund – 81 bursaries worth £1k
    have been offered to organisations in the East Midlands. The
    bursaries buy advice on collaboration or merger. The second phase
    of funding will be opening shortly.
    Why does the Government
     support volunteering?
   Community benefits.
      Cohesion- bringing people together

      Reducing isolation



   Individual benefits.
      Increased self confidence

      Improving skills

      Route into training or employment



   Benefits to public services.
      Helping services relate to service users needs

      Reaching those that can be ‘hard to reach’
OTS aims for volunteering

    To improve the experience of volunteers.

    To reward and recognise volunteers.

    To create new opportunities for people to volunteer.

    To increase the number of volunteers.

    To reduce the institutional/ policy barriers to volunteer
     involvement.
Volunteering is important across
          Government
   Department for Work and Pensions - volunteer brokerage
    programme.

   Department for Health - consultation on volunteering strategy.

   Department for International Development – platform2 for
    overseas volunteering.

   Department for Children, Schools and Families - peer
    mentoring.

   Home Office – review of volunteering in the Criminal Justice
    System by Baroness Neuberger.

   Department for Culture, Media and Sport- the 2012 Games.
        Gaps to address
   Still a significant gap in participation levels, particularly
    amongst disabled people and people without formal
    qualifications.

   Need for robust evidence of the impact of volunteering
    on communities and individuals.

   ‘Not having the time’ is still the major barrier to
    volunteering. How do we address this?

   Getting the balance between the supply of volunteers
    and the demand for volunteering opportunities right.
     Future focus of OTS
     Volunteering Policy
   Evidence of the impact of volunteering.

   The role of volunteering at a time of tight public
    spending.

   Youth volunteering.

   The 2012 Games’ legacy.

   The European Year of Volunteering.
    New Volunteering
      Programmes
   Access to Volunteering, focusing on removing
    barriers to disabled people volunteering.
   Intergenerational Volunteering: Generations
    Together
   Volunteer Managers programme, continuing the
    focus on best practice.
   DWP programme: volunteering brokerage for
    unemployed
   Continuing to tackle barriers and confusion with
    guidance on the new Vetting and Barring
    Scheme
What happens next in OTS?

     Challenges:
        The economic downturn

        Improving the evidence base to prove the value

         of the Third Sector.
        Challenges of contracting culture, particularly for

         smaller organisations.
     What are we doing to support you?
        Economic Downturn Action Plan: Real Help for

         Communities
        National Indicators on Third Sector involvement

        Research Centre to build the evidence base
For more information:


   www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/thirds
    ector
   Sarah Benioff, Deputy Director,
    Office of the Third Sector
   Sarah.Benioff@cabinet-
    office.x.gsi.gov.uk