£6 million to support Big Society in health and social care

The fund will be divided between thirteen organisations over three years. Each charity was selected for excellence in one of the following criteria:

Patient-Led NHS;
Delivering Better Health Outcomes;
Improving Public Health; or
Improving Health and Social Care.

Giving patients choice over their own care, reducing health inequalities and approving health outcomes are important themes in Volunteering Fund National Awards and reflect the Government’s wider commitment to modernising the NHS.

Minister of State for Care Services Paul Burstow said:

“I am immensely grateful to the thousands of volunteers who already work in the NHS and social care. The idea of a Big Society isn’t new, what is new is that this Government is making it easier for people to do more: giving people power to improve public services, putting communities in control and supporting people to help others.

“Thirteen very different charities have been selected to receive this funding, all united in the compassion of their volunteers and commitment to improving health and well-being. Initiatives range from tackling health inequalities to preventing ill-health and improving health outcomes to spreading information and good health advice.”

The Government will invest over £40m in volunteering and social action over the next two years. New commitments were set out by the Cabinet Office in the Giving White Paper last week:

The Volunteering Match Fund will match private donations to voluntary groups pound-for-pound and will be worth around £10m per year.
The Volunteering Infrastructure programme, worth £42.5m over four years, this programme will provide brokerage and support services to volunteers.
The £10m Social Action Fund will support new incentives for people to give, such as ‘complementary currencies’ that offer people credit for volunteering.
Over the next two years, Youthnet’s national database of volunteering opportunities will get over £1m from the Cabinet Office, Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health.

Jeremy Todd, Chief Executive, Family Lives said:

“We are delighted the Department of Health is to help fund our "Focused on Families" project, through its national DH Volunteering Fund. "Focused on Families” is an innovative, community-led project that takes a preventative approach to improving mental health outcomes through voluntary Family Support Mentors.

“This new funding will help us to work with health and social care professionals to identify vulnerable families at risk of poor mental and physical health outcomes and train Family Support Mentors to help improve the mental and physical health outcomes of vulnerable families.

“Family Lives listens to and empowers families by helping them to identify the solutions that work for them. Our volunteers are trained to support families through a range of challenging situations that can range from crying babies to bullying at school or relationship break ups. No two calls are the same and there are often challenges on every shift but our volunteers have the reward of knowing that their skills have helped someone through a really difficult time.”

Benita Refson 0BE, Chief Executive, The Place2Be said,

“This National grant will enable The Place2Be to extend the reach of our service by skilling-up volunteers from local communities over the next three years; it will also build the charity’s capacity by extending the network of volunteers. The grant is a recognition of the essential work of our volunteers in the field of school-based early intervention and is an investment in our communities, our children and our future.

“The Place2Be works in schools to support vulnerable children and hard to reach families who are living in some of the most economically deprived wards within the UK. 700 clinically trained volunteer counsellors are currently working within 172 Place2Be schools supporting 58,000 children and their families. The value of the volunteers time is £7 million per year. The Place2Be’s early intervention service is an exemplary model of volunteering which works hand in hand with schools and statutory health and social care services. The service is rigorously evaluated and improvements are tangible, evidence shows that children accessing The Place2Be increase their resilience and are better able to concentrate, learn and achieve.“

Mark Goldring, Mencap’s chief executive, said:

“This is a fantastic opportunity to harness the power of volunteering to make a real difference to the health outcomes of patients with a learning disability. People with a learning disability are often treated by doctors and nurses who do not understand their disability and consequently they receive a poorer standard of care. This project will help to make healthcare more focussed on their needs and ensure that they have a say in the treatment they receive.”