Rural Volunteer Point launched today

Thursday 21 April 2005

Volunteering England is today launching the start of its £1,000,000 Home Office funded rural Volunteer Point project which will make it easier for people in rural communities to access information about volunteering in their local area and at the same time support an increase the quantity and quality of volunteering.

Volunteer Points will be run by Volunteering England in partnership with Volunteer Centres, do-it.org.uk and local venues. Each Volunteer Point will be located in a publicly accessible space in a local community. Volunteer Points are making the most of the recent developments in information technology to bring current information about volunteering and opportunities to get involved into the heart of rural communities.

Volunteer Points are being launched in West Kent today and in Dorset next week. By March 2006 160 Volunteer Points will be made available across England, the largest national rollout of IT based information kiosks announced this year – which is also the Year of the Volunteer.

Chris Penberthy, Director of Capacity Building and Infrastructure Development at Volunteering England said ‘This project is an exciting opportunity to provide a better service to support volunteering in rural communities where volunteers already substantially enhance the local quality of life and provide local services. We are delighted that the Home Office has funded us to work with some fantastic partners on this piece of developmental work.'

Mandy Wynne, Manager of Volunteer Centre Sevenoaks said ‘We are thrilled to be the first part of the country to have Volunteer Points available to the public. This is recognition by Volunteering England of the work Volunteer Centres in West Kent do to support volunteering, and will enable us to offer a better service to local people'.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Volunteer Points are being launched at Tonbridge Castle in Kent at 12.30 on Thursday 21 st May 2005. The project has been funded by the Active Communities Unit at the Home Office as part of a Volunteering England programme to modernise local support for volunteering.
   
2. Volunteering England is the integrated national volunteer development organisation for England. It works across the voluntary, public and private sectors to raise the profile of volunteering as a powerful force for change.

   Volunteering England was formed in April 2004 following a merger between The Consortium on Opportunities for Volunteering, The National Centre for Volunteering and Volunteer Development England. More details at www.volunteering.org.uk
   

3. Volunteer Centres provide a local service which includes signposting potential volunteers to local opportunities to get involved. Volunteering England quality accredits the work of Volunteer Centres and has recently introduced their new branding.
   
4. The following Volunteer Centres are involved in the first phase of the rural Volunteer Point project

   - Dorchester Contact: Marie Waterman on 01305 269 214
   - Edenbridge Contact: Christine Terry on 01732 866 901
   - Malling Contact: Susan Levett on 01732 843 346
   - Sevenoaks Contact: Mandy Wynne on 01732 454 785
   - Swanley Contact: Jocelyn Wright on 01322 669 292
   - Tonbridge Contact: Barbara Williams on 01732 357 978
   - Tunbridge Wells: Contact: Morrison Cherrie on 01892 540 131
   

5. The launch in Dorchester is on Tuesday 26 th April at The Volunteer Centre, 1 Colliton Walk, Dorchester. Dorset Dt1 1TZ. For more information call 01305 269 214.
   
6. Sevenoaks Town Council and Volunteer Centre Sevenoaks are hosting a Conference on Volunteering on Monday 25 th April at which Christopher Spence MBE, Chief Executive of Volunteering England will be speaking. For further information contact Volunteer Centre Sevenoaks on 01732 454 785.
   
7. do-it.org.uk is the national volunteering database specifically designed to make finding a volunteering opportunity as easy as booking a cinema ticket online. Users can either type in their postcode or search by category. These categories range from animal welfare, working with children, the environment and help with disabilities. do-it.org.uk acts as a recruitment tool for all charities and continually strives to attract new volunteers as well as motivating existing ones. There are currently over 650,000 opportunities to volunteer on the database. For more information visit www.do-it.org.uk
   
8. Kent Volunteers is a partnership between Kent County Council and representatives of the voluntary sector and businesses in Kent. The partnership aim is to promote volunteering for all, across the widest range of activities. The initiative is now in its sixth year and has developed networks to work together on volunteering issues & share good practice. This includes annual Awards for Volunteering Excellence. Employee volunteering is championed also recognising the benefits of volunteering as personal development and to promote independence. For further information contact Carol Kincaid (County Co-ordinator for Volunteering, Kent Volunteers) on Carol.Kincaid@kent.gov.uk
   
9. The Year of the Volunteer 2005 was launched on Monday 10 January at the Home Office's Local Heroes award ceremony.

   Year of the Volunteer 2005 is owned by volunteers, led by a partnership between Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and the Volunteering England Consortium and supported by the Home Office. The Volunteering England Consortium consists of Volunteering England, Timebank, Youthnet UK, The Media Trust, Business in the Community (BitC) and Youth Action Network.

10. To find out more about the rural Volunteer Point project or the locations of Volunteer Points contact Ian Clarke (Information and Communications Technology Officer) on 0121 633 5530 or ian.clarke@volunteeringengland.org