Details of how £30m worth of government funding to boost volunteering opportunities is being spent have been revealed.

Opportunities are being created across 167 charities, libraries, and museums through the funding, which is being allocated through Arts Council England, UK Community Foundations (UKCF) and Historic England.

The money is being handed out through the £30m Know Your Community Fund, which launched in March to support communities in 27 areas of disadvantage.

This includes more than £10m being allocated by UKCF to create thousands of “high quality volunteering opportunities”, as well as help tackle loneliness.

Arts Council England, with Libraries Connected, Creative Lives and Association of Independent Museums, are distributing £3m to create 1,000 volunteering opportunities as well as support more than 4,000 people experiencing, or at risk of, loneliness.

These are focused within libraries, museums and voluntary arts groups, with activities including ‘reading for wellbeing’ groups, musical performances and artist-led workshops.

Meanwhile, Historic England has been handed £500,000 to support local cultural activity volunteering programmes in 11 targeted areas, including Blackpool, Stoke, Burnley and Ramsgate. This is supporting 350 volunteers in activities “that will help people feel proud of where they live and connected to their local community” through history-based volunteering.

Also, £4.1m is being awarded to entrepreneurs looking to start social enterprises that support their local community. This is targeting areas including County Durham, Sandwell and Thanet.

Among those handed a Know Your Community Fund grant is Middlesbrough charity North East Opera. It is using its £20,000 award for its My Great Folk community project to involve local people in creating a 30-minute opera.

Elsewhere All Saints Action Network in Wolverhampton has been awarded £99,000 to support its woodworking classes, therapy for volunteers and to hire a community involvement office to organise outreach programmes.

“From urban high streets to rural hamlets, local grassroots organisations remain a valued asset at the heart of community life,” said UKCF chief executive Rosemary Macdonald.

“We are excited about what we can learn and share through the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund to increase volunteering in the future in a sustainable way that brings communities closer together.”

Charities minister Stuart Andrew said that volunteering is important to tackle loneliness as it helps “people connect, as well as improving mental wellbeing and helping people develop new skills”.

He added: “This funding will mean those in some of the most disadvantaged areas across the country are able to volunteer in an area that interests them. From arts groups to skills development workshops, there are thousands of ways for people to get involved, meet new people and try new things.”

Voluntary sector recruitment crisis

The funding has been allocated amid a volunteering crisis in the charity sector, with the smallest organisations being hardest hit, according to this month’s latest update the VCSE Sector Barometer.

This found that six in ten small charities and just over a quarter of medium sized organisations say volunteer recruitment is their main concern.

The Barometer’s previous report, released in June, found that two in five charities had been unable to meet their objectives over the last year due to a lack of volunteers.

Research released by Pilotlight earlier this month found that an estimated 100,000 skilled climate change volunteers are needed by environmental charities in the UK.

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