Welcome

Tuesday, 02, Dec 2008 08:27

Welcome to v!

v is the national youth volunteering charity, established in 2006 to bring about a step-change in the quality, quantity and diversity of volunteering opportunities for 16-25 year-olds.

v was created as a result of the Russell Commission, set up by Gordon Brown and David Blunkett in 2004 to look at youth action and engagement. Following extensive consultation with the third sector and with over 6000 young people, the Commission made a series of recommendations and proposed that a new and independent youth-led organisation should be established to develop and implement a new framework for youth volunteering in England.

Supported by the Office of the Third Sector, we are getting on with the business of delivering this framework, working with our youth advisory board, v20, and investing in voluntary and community groups, of all shapes and sizes, who want to involve young volunteers in their work. We have already created over 700,000 new opportunities, working in partnership with established volunteering organisations but also with others that are completely new to youth volunteering. We are also building successful partnerships with business, and through our Match Fund, we are able to double the impact of private sector funding.

v offers support to young people who want to find out about volunteering and through the national youth volunteering programme vinvolved we have established a network of teams, covering every local authority area in the country, who will support smaller organisations in developing youth volunteering opportunities and also broker young people into suitable volunteering opportunities that match their passions and interests. Each of the 107 vinvolved teams will recruit a Youth Action Team, made up of young volunteers who will help to develop, influence and support their activities. Young people who prefer to get their information on-line can also find out about what’s on offer by going to www.vinspired.com and our youth

campaigns and events are rapidly raising awareness of the website.

We passionately believe that when you give young people responsibility, they will not let you down, and we want to work with Government and with the third sector to encourage and celebrate the positive contribution that young people make to their communities.

Ultimately, we want to inspire a new generation of volunteers, break down barriers and change the image of volunteering so that it becomes a ‘must-have’ for all young people.