Four Bassetlaw services among new partnership to receive £220,000 grant to support volunteering opportunities

Bassetlaw Community and Voluntary Service (CVS), Bassetlaw Action Centre, Inspire, and Centre Place are among a new partnership of nine services in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire that are set to benefit from a share of the Volunteering Futures Fund.

The £220,000 grant comes from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports, delivered by Arts Council England, which aims to create 7,800 new volunteering opportunities nationally for young people and those held back from volunteering over the next two years.

Led by Bassetlaw CVS, a total of nine services have formed a partnership in a project called Point of View (POV) Volunteer Voices which will put the voices of young people at the centre of all POV activities and create five pilot projects alongside over 100 new volunteering opportunities.

Andria Birch, chief executive at Bassetlaw CVS, said: “We are very pleased to be awarded funding for the Point of View (POV) Volunteer Voices project.

“Nine fantastic VCS and Arts organisations will work together with young people to create new opportunities across Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Doncaster and Mansfield.

“We know this work is needed now more than ever.

“If you are or know a local young person who would like to get involved in shaping the voluntary, community and arts organisations of the future please get in touch.”

More opportunities will see organisations across the arts, culture, sport, youth and heritage sectors continue their valuable work, whilst allowing volunteers to enjoy the personal benefits of making a difference.

Lynn Tupling, chief executive at Bassetlaw Action Centre, added: “We are absolutely delighted that we have been successful in this application thanks to the support of Andria and her team at BCVS.

“We are particularly looking forward to working with a range of new partners to fulfil the ambitions of this project.”

Georgia Crossland, service manager at Centre Place, said: “We are really excited to be part of this project.

"As an organisation we have been supporting young people for over 25 years and are extremely passionate about ensuring young people have their voices heard.

"It is fantastic to see organisations working together to create new opportunities within the arts and we can't wait to see what opportunities arise.”

The nine services in the POV Volunteer Voices project include:

- Bassetlaw Community and Voluntary Service

- Bassetlaw Action Centre

- Centre Place

- Inspire

- Junction Arts

- Mansfield CVS

- Rhubarb Farm

- South Yorkshire’s Community Foundation

- Voluntary Action Doncaster