21 March 2007
For immediate release
Volunteering England, the national development agency for volunteering, responds to the Chancellor’s Budget: Supporting Charities and the Third Sector.
Christopher Spence CBE, Chief Executive of Volunteering England, said:
"Volunteering England (VE) welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment in the 2007 Budget to increasing the quality and quantity of opportunities, and increasing awareness of the benefits of volunteering to a diverse range of groups.
However, we are concerned about the proposals to encourage students to volunteer by receiving a discount on their tuition fees.
While efforts to increase community participation amongst young people should be lauded, such activity should not be described as volunteering. Volunteering is – in the government’s own definition – unpaid and freely entered into.
VE believes that, as well as being contrary to the spirit of volunteering, offering incentives sets a potentially dangerous precedent which other voluntary organisations may feel pressurised to follow, leaving them open to severe legal problems and destroying the nature of volunteering itself.”
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Notes to Editors
- For more information on Volunteering England, call Cat Dean on 020 7520 8932 oremail cat.dean@volunteeringengland.org.For out of hours press enquiries, contact Sonya Roberts on 07952 128057.
