Volunteering England welcomes White Paper on Giving

Monday, 23 May 2011

Responding to the White Paper on Giving published today, Volunteering England Chief Executive Justin Davis Smith said:

“The White Paper deserves to be warmly welcomed by the volunteering movement. It promises to make a positive advance in how people volunteer in our society and in how organisations support them.

“The White Paper meets a key objective put forward by the volunteering sector for central government to give practical support to local infrastructure.

“It establishes a trajectory for volunteering which manages to be both inspirational and pragmatic. It challenges volunteer involving organisations to think creatively, whilst offering practical support drawing on current innovations and on the lessons of experience.“

Infrastructure fund

The White Paper proposes an Infrastructure Fund to support front-line local volunteering organisations.

“I am very pleased we can now see the Government’s serious and practical commitment to local infrastructure,” says Justin Davis Smith. “Sustaining and developing local support services for volunteering is crucial for the Government’s policy agenda and for the volunteering movement as a whole.

“We look to the new fund to encourage more effective and sustainable networks of Volunteer Centres, work on which the networks and ourselves in Volunteering England have made progress during the past decade.

“The fund will prompt fresh approaches and will strengthen the ways Volunteer Centres and existing infrastructure bodies are successful in developing and brokering voluntary action in their communities. It will need to support best practice in the variety of local situations.

“The proposals for coordination and collaboration in local infrastructure, for stronger partnerships with local businesses and local public services as well as among local civil society organisations will be seen as realistic and helpful in shaping sustainable futures.

“The inclusion in the Infrastructure Fund of support for training volunteer managers will be a useful contribution to strengthening the profession. We know that the quality of volunteers’ experience and the development of new opportunities are founded on the quality of volunteer management. “

Social action fund

The White Paper proposes a Social Action Fund which will respond to proposals on key opportunities.

“The £10 million in the Social Action Fund will generate huge interest as it touches on numerous pressure points for volunteering organisations. I am delighted it builds on the excitement generated by the London 2012 Games to encourage people inspired by the Games to take up other volunteering opportunities and to create a lasting legacy.“

Next steps

“We now will be consulting with our members and examining the White Paper’s proposals in fine detail.

“We look forward to the proposed summit and to dialogue with the Office for Civil Society to consider the operational criteria for the funds and the processes of review and evaluation.

“We join with the Government in wanting to make sure the proposals achieve their good intentions. As the Ministers say in the Foreword (p5), the White Paper ‘marks the beginning of a process of engagement, not the end of one.’ “

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23 May 2011

- Download the Giving White Paper (PDF)

- Read Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech given at the launch of the White Paper