What is the Volunteering Futures Fund?

Improving access to volunteering has emerged as a key part of the government’s vision for society post COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, it launched the Volunteering Futures Fund, which aims to boost volunteering across a raft of sectors and tap into a growing interest from the public amid the health crisis to support good causes.

A particular focus is on improving access to volunteering for disadvantaged and marginalised groups of people, who previously have felt locked out of volunteering.

Here we examine the details of the Fund, including how it is being funded and how charities

are getting involved.

The basics of the Volunteering Futures Fund

The £7m Volunteering Futures Fund was launched by the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in November 2021 to provide more opportunities for people to volunteer across charities, arts, culture, sports, youth and heritage.

The DCMS has committed £6 million to the Fund, with £1.15 million provided by the Pears Foundation and NHS Charities Together.

Ethical volunteering, of breaking down barriers to accessing opportunities faced by marginalised groups of people is a strong focus. This includes those impacted by loneliness, with disabilities, from ethnic minority backgrounds and young people.

The Fund emphasises the mental health and career benefits for people in giving up their time for good causes and the opportunities to access training.

Also involved in the Fund is the Arts Council England, which is distributing £4.7 million of grants.

In launching the Fund, Charities Minister Nigel Huddleston says: “There are so many benefits to volunteering such as improving mental health, learning new skills, and becoming part of a community.”

NHS Charities Together chief executive Ellie Orton adds: “Volunteering is the lifeblood of our communities and has really important personal benefits too, from meeting new people to improving your mental health.

“This fund offers a much-needed boost to help young people from all backgrounds access life-changing volunteering opportunities, and we’re excited to be part of it.”

Volunteering champions

To improve take-up of volunteering opportunities, Olympics legacy funder the Spirit of 2012 is calling on the government to replicate the volunteering ethos of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games, especially ahead of the event’s 10th anniversary in 2022.

It details how 70,000 ‘games maker’ volunteers were crucial to the running of the Games.

For 2022 it wants to see 100 ‘volunteering champion’ roles created to promote volunteering opportunities. These should be from a range of different professions and backgrounds, including education, business, religious organisations, and the Royal Family.

“Each champion would serve a fixed term and be tasked with making the case for volunteering with their peers and in their local communities,” says Spirit of 2012’s report.

It adds: “As a society, we need to make a stronger case for volunteering and give people more information about what it involves and the benefits to them and their communities.”

The findings of a Spirit of 2012 survey of the public underlines the value of champions to promote volunteering. This found that almost half of people (44%) who did not volunteer said they would be more likely to give up their time if they knew about opportunities that would interest them.

In addition, 36% of non-volunteers would be more likely to give up their time if they had more information about what volunteering involves.

How are charities getting involved?

The first wave of funding applications is now underway. This is for grants for £100,001 or above and is through the £4.7 million worth of funding being distributed by Arts Council England.

Applications are being welcomed from national and local organisations, including charities, looking for funding for training and support “to deliver high quality volunteering projects”.

Developing technology partnerships in the arts, museum, and cultural sectors, as well as creating volunteering opportunities around significant national anniversaries are among key aims of the Fund, says the Arts Council.

Of particular interest are bids that can use new technologies “to develop new forms of arts and cultural content and ways of reaching new audiences”.

The Arts Council has given several examples of typical volunteering projects it is looking to fund, including:

• Creating national initiatives to promote opportunities for young people to volunteer in parks, museums and theatres
• Regional campaigns to signpost opportunities that widen “community participation and engagement in culture, sport and beyond”
• Local volunteering projects “focusing on a particular notable event or theme to increase civic pride”. This could involve partnerships of local charities, sports clubs and councils

Expressions of interested in Arts Council funding closed in December 2021 and full applications will be invited for submission by 24 January 2022. Successful applicants will be informed by the end of March 2022.

Arts Council England Chair Sir Nicholas Serota added: “Volunteers are at the core of the cultural sector and help to make possible many of the creative and cultural events beloved by people all over the country.

“We know that volunteering can also have huge benefits for physical, mental and emotional health.”