Last Updated on September 27, 2016
£4m of grants have been announced to boost the numbers of older volunteers. With life expectancy in the UK increasing, a valuable opportunity has opened up for greater numbers of older volunteers to share their skills and talents with others in later life - offering a rewarding experience for both sides.
The Office for Civil Society and Nesta, the innovation foundation, have announced three new grant funds totalling £4m to explore how more charities and public services can better tap into the skills and experience of volunteers over 50 for the benefit of all society. The three grant funds are the first to be funded by government through the second phase of the Centre for Social Action and will be managed by Nesta.
Older volunteers already make an important contribution in supporting hospitals, schools and local councils, and in roles such as magistrates, first aiders and youth club leaders. As people live longer and research shows volunteering can contribute to wellbeing in later life, these new funds will explore how more can be encouraged to volunteer and how their talents and experiences can be retained.
The three funds now open to application are:
- The Second Half Fund - Sharing Time and Talents for Life: Will provide grants of up to £250,000 to support the growth of new ways of mobilising the time and talents of people aged over 50 specifically in support of: children and young people, parents and families, ageing well, creating resourceful and resilient local places.
- Join In Stay In: Will award grants of up to £50,000 and significant non-financial support from behavioural science experts for organisations to undertake Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to understand what works best to encourage volunteers to continue to give their time regularly.
- Give More Get More - Exploring Intensive Volunteering: Grants of up to £100,000 to support organisations to trial intensive volunteering placements for people over 50 - approaching or in retirement - that work alongside public services. These might include ‘gap years’, such as those Voluntary Service Overseas offers for experienced volunteers to give their time abroad.
More information is available on the Nesta website. The findings, which will be published in 2017 and 2018, will be shared with policymakers and the public sector to help inform future volunteering programmes and initiatives.
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