Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to increase volunteering opportunities for people resident in areas of high deprivation.

The Government is committed to enabling people of all backgrounds to contribute their time and talents to their communities through volunteering and social action. The Government supports a number of programmes which enable volunteering opportunities. Examples include the £40m #iwill Fund, which aims to create more opportunities for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to volunteer, and the £2.7m Connected Communities Innovation Fund, which aims to tackle barriers to volunteering and mobilise more people to volunteer and support people and places to thrive.