The Volunteering Fund will provide two distinct grant funding schemes:
- a local grant scheme aimed at supporting volunteering in health and social care. Awards will be made subject to applicants being connected at local level to commissioners.
- a national portfolio scheme - National organisations will be able to apply for more substantial awards to deliver more strategic or developmental volunteering programmes.
The Volunteering Fund has been designed so that projects can contribute positively towards:
- The Department of Health's strategic objectives
- Enhancing capacity and ability of the third sector in the health and social care field, contributing to PSA targets such as 18 (promoting choice) and 21 (sustainable funding)
- Improved volunteer experience through better management and use of volunteers
- Alignment with commissioning in health and social care.
Through a mixture of grant funding and business support, the Volunteering Fund will enable third-sector organisations in the health and social care field to sustain and grow their provision, including becoming more effective in the way they manage their fundraising activities.
In addition to the grant investment, successfully selected organisations will also receive the support of the Volunteering Fund managing body, to build organisations' best practice and financial sustainability beyond the end of the grant.
The Volunteering Fund managing body will deliver support linked to grant funding to enable third-sector organisations to achieve their objectives for long term sustainability. Third-sector organisations selected to receive a Volunteering Fund grant will need to commit to working closely with the Volunteering Fund Managing Body and should have adequate capacity available within their organisation to receive and embed support.
