Young volunteers Kelly Wright, 21, from Derby and Jean-Pierre Ferguson, 21, from London, with volunteering charity v ‘s chief executive Terry Ryall at Downing Street yesterday for the launch of the Government’s white paper on social mobility
Volunteering, mentoring and apprenticeship schemes among those to receive share of £25m funding
Third sector organisations will be offered the chance to play a role in the delivery of two new programmes designed to increase the life chances of disadvantaged people, a government white paper has revealed.
New Opportunities, published on 13 January, outlines how two new schemes backed by a total of £25m of government money will harness the support of local authorities, businesses and third sector agencies to improve people's social mobility.
The programmes are part of a range of initiatives designed to help people from disadvantaged backgrounds move up the social ladder.
The first programme, called Inspiring Communities, will receive £10m of investment and is designed to raise children's aspirations by encouraging volunteering and offering mentoring and apprenticeships with professionals from the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.
The programme will target children in 15 disadvantaged communities, which will be announced in August.
The other £15m will be given to the Homes and Communities Agency, the Government's housing and regeneration arm, to build on the work done through programmes such as early years programme Sure Start and the New Deal for Communities, which is designed to improve England's most disadvantaged estates.
The HCA will consult local people on which third sector agencies will be involved in a range of local initiatives. The precise activities will then be decided at local level.
A spokeswoman for the Communities and Local Government department said: "Charities are very well placed to draw out knowledge from local communities and above and beyond that, social enterprise will provide practical support and inspiration.
"We're aiming at a bottom-up rather than top-down approach."
It comes as youth volunteering charity v confirmed that its £10.5m programme to offer 1,000 young people work placements in the public sector will be called vTalent Year (Third Sector Online, 2 December).
