Opportunities for Volunteering (Legacy Report)

Thursday 10th November 2011 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)]

The Government have today announced the publication of the final Opportunities for Volunteering report. “Opportunities for Volunteering—the legacy report” has been placed in the Library. Copies are available for hon. Members from the Vote Office and to noble Lords from the Printed Paper Office.

The Government recognise that volunteers play an important role in building resilient communities. In the context of health, public health and social care, they contribute to the delivery of high quality health, care and support services; improving health and well-being; and helping to reduce health and social inequality. They frequently offer support to people at the most vulnerable points in their lives.

The Department supports the focus during this month on health and care by the European year of volunteering and believes this report demonstrates a long standing commitment to encourage volunteering in that context stretching back three decades.

This Opportunities for Volunteering legacy report sets out not only the Government’s recognition and appreciation of the scheme’s achievements since its launch in 1982. It also—primarily—sets out the reflections on the scheme from the Opportunities for Volunteering national agents who have delivered it on behalf of the Department. Achievements of the scheme, from the perspective of national agents, include:

developing the volunteer infrastructure;

improving volunteer management practice;

fostering an environment for projects to seek out new alliances;

helping small and emerging organisations to recruit volunteers and involve service users; and

empowering service users to become volunteers themselves.

The noble and proud tradition of volunteering across the full range of health and care settings, that Opportunities for Volunteering has embodied with distinction for so long, is being continued through the Department’s health and social care volunteering fund that was launched in December 2009 as the successor. This new fund is closely aligned with the four priorities of the new strategic vision for volunteering for health and care. “Social action for health and well-being: building co-operative communities”, the Department’s new strategic vision for volunteering, was launched in October this year.