Young Suffolk

Youth Volunteering in Suffolk – 2011 and beyond

It was with a deep sense of sadness that earlier this year the funding for Young Suffolk’s vinvolved Youth Volunteering Programme drew to a close. We regrettably waved goodbye to three very talented colleagues Louise Crisp, Sue Woolmer and Janet Perry, each of whom had contributed so much to making significant differences to the lives of young people across the county.

The end of the funding stream also brought down the curtain on 7 continuous years of funding from the government related to the development of youth volunteering initiatives which Young Suffolk had been at the heart of leading across the county - Millennium Volunteers, the ‘One in a Million’ Full Time Volunteering Programme, vschools and vinvolved.

So where next?

Young Suffolk will continue to promote the National Youth Volunteering Charity v and the vnetwork whose national funding has been extended by a year. v will continue to offer vawards and organisations will be able to register an interest in becoming an approved provider. For more information on these schemes see the awards section of the vinspired website.

We will also continue to develop our partnerships with the Association of Suffolk Museums in support of a Heritage Lottery Funded programme targeting young volunteers and Suffolk Cricket in support of the vcricket youth volunteering programme.

Young Suffolk is also committed as a steering group partner to the local roll out of the following volunteering initiatives:

·         The Suffolk 2012 Legacy Project http://www.suffolkvolunteeringlegacy.org.uk/

·         The National Citizenship Service Year 1 Pilots being run by Catch22, The Prince’s Trust and The British Red Cross http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/news/national-citizen-service-pilots-announced

·         Sport England’s Places People Play – Sportivate and Young leaders programmes http://www.sportengland.org/media_centre/press_releases/places_people_play/places.aspx

We will continue to seek out and network with local volunteering initiatives, projects and networks at a strategic level to determine the future of youth volunteering as a succinct strand of infrastructure support.

For more information on Young Suffolk’s work relating to Youth Volunteering contact:

Paul Martin

Youth Volunteering Development Manager

01473 748743

paulmartin@suffolkonline.net