Voluntary Action Coventry celebrates after receiving £305,496 of National Lottery funding to help Coventry ‘Get Involved’
Media Release:
Coventry’s volunteer centre, Voluntary Action Coventry (VAC), is today celebrating after being awarded over £300,000 in National Lottery funding to support its work delivering GetInvolvedCoventry for the next three years. GetInvolvedCoventry is a flagship project that is championing the voluntary sector. It helps organisations to find the volunteers they urgently need to run vital services for Coventry to thrive and supports individuals to have confidence to step-up and take part.
Through the funding, GetInvolvedCoventry will provide the Improving Lives project, the Chat Central project and the volunteering brokerage service to ensure that anyone who comes to VAC will get the right support to flourish and contribute to community activity, volunteering or employment.
The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will extend the three activities that VAC already provides. The Improving Lives volunteering course will roll-out to support Coventry people with skills and experiences to support causes they care about, and develop experience to enhance their employment prospects. VAC’s Chat Central project will boost the confidence and wellbeing of isolated individuals, providing support for participants over three years, into meaningful relationships with community organisations where they will take part in community action. And it’s good news for Coventry’s hardworking voluntary sector: the funding will support VAC in continuing to run the city’s volunteering brokerage service. Either by attending face-to-face support or through digital provision, the charity’s engagement officers will guide, support and signpost all potential volunteers towards local causes that need their help.
Sue Ogle, CEO of VAC, says: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. We know there is huge demand in Coventry for volunteers – we know how much voluntary, community and social enterprises rely on the contribution of volunteers to run their organisations and deliver essential services to those in need. We also know that are many individuals who have time and skills to give but face barriers (real or perceived) which are preventing them from fulfilling their potential. Thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to match those who have time and skills to give with those organisations who really need their help. This is important because Coventry has long standing issues of deprivation and poverty, and GetInvolvedCoventry can disrupt the cycle by reaching through at a very local level.”
To get started with GetInvolvedCoventry, all people need to do is:
- Log-on at Get Involved Coventry (www.getinvolvedcoventry.org.uk) and create an account for free or
- Come to one of VACs drop-in volunteering advice sessions on Mondays or Tuesdays (10am until 2pm, VAC, Harp Place, Sandy Lane, Coventry, CV1 4DX) or
- Call VAC on 024 7622 0381 or email: getinvolved@vacoventry.org.uk
-ends-
Notes to Editors:
Contact: Media contacts: Sarah Hill-Daniel (Communications Officer, Voluntary Action Coventry)
s.hill-daniel@vacoventry.org.uk T: 024 7622 0381
Pictures are available upon request.
About Voluntary Action Coventry
We influence change and innovation in systems and services locally, to shape a more fair and equal future and improve people’s lives. We do this by encouraging resilience in communities, supporting people to build their capacity and enabling them to do more for themselves. We’ve been doing this in Coventry for 68 years, enabling thousands of people to make a contribution in the city.
About The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name. We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK. We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.
As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to: 1. Come together 2. Be environmentally sustainable 3. Help children and young people thrive 4. Enable people to live healthier lives.
Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute over £600 million a year through 13,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4 billion of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.
National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £49 billion has been raised and more than 690,000 individual grants have been made across the UK – the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.
