§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made following the announcement in January 2001 of a package to develop volunteering; and if he will make a statement. [36382]
§ Angela EagleAs part of the 2000 spending review settlement, the Government announced an extra £300 million for volunteering initiatives over three years, 2001–02 to 2003–04. £60 million was available to other Government Departments for match funding in supporting the use of volunteers in public sector services. The funding is worth a total of £120 million over three years when matched. 24 proposals were approved and are currently on course to involve an additional 290,000 volunteers in public service delivery by the end of March 2004.
Proposals for a second round of funding will be taken forward shortly.
A Mentoring Programme has been established which is providing: funding to develop the mentoring infrastructure; more money for mentoring already going on in local communities; and seven one-stop-shops for mentoring to be known as Mentor Points.
In addition, the Experience Corps Company has been established which, with funding of some £20 million, has started the roll-out (in November 2001) of an initiative aimed at encouraging a quarter of a million people aged 50 and over to become or remain active in their communities.