v aims to inspire a new generation of volunteers (aged 16-25) in England. We do this by funding voluntary organisations all over England to create inspiring, diverse opportunities and by helping to overcome barriers that stop people from taking action to improve lives, communities and the planet. Our aim is to create a culture where volunteering comes naturally – and where the benefits of volunteering are understood and celebrated.
To do this we have two major streams of activity: as a volunteering funder; and as a central point of contact for all 16-25s.
- v works in partnership with over 500 voluntary, community and public sector organizations
- More than 311,000 young people aged 16-25 years have taken part in volunteering funded by v - a figure that is set to grow to more than a million with 875,000 opportunities already commissioned by v
- v has attracted investments of over £40m from the private sector to create new and innovative youth volunteering activities
- www.vinspired.com is our consumer facing brand and a place where young people can search for local volunteering opportunities and share experiences using online tools including blogging and video. The site is constantly evolving and strives to challenge the traditional perceptions of volunteering trough its look, feel, language and usability.
- v has also provided a national framework to deliver a local service, by introducing 107 vinvolved teams (one in each local authority area across England) to act as central hubs within the community for potential volunteers, businesses, charities and other local networks.
v is an independent charity launched in May 2006 as a result of the Russell Commission report, ‘A National Framework for Youth Action and Engagement.’
See www.vinspired.com for more information on what we do and how we do it.
Case studies
Chris Ashley
Youth Anti Binge Drinking Campaign
Stockport, Cheshire
It was recently found in Stockport, Greater Manchester, that young people in the area were drinking twice the national average amount of alcohol each week. A lot of this was in the form of binge drinking and is associated with a range of problems including assaults, unsafe sex and car accidents.
I decided to apply to vcashpoint to carry out a project called ‘The Youths Against Binge Drinking Campaign’ which aims to tackle the problem and dangers of binge drinking.
The project started in September 2008 with a large group of young people from schools, colleges, and theatre groups. We discussed the problem, had talks with health professionals and then came up with the idea to produce a short film highlighting the dangers. Auditions were held and filming started in the beginning of 2009.
The film follows a group of young people drinking in their local park and an alcohol-fuel assault between two school friends.
It was also decided that a peer-to-peer education approach was needed as young people are more likely to understand the issue better is it delivered from someone they can associate with.
To achieve this, trained Health Ambassadors will show the film in local Stockport schools, colleges, youth groups and other youth volunteering organisations. Health Ambassadors are young people trained in delivering the presentation and they will answer questions and tell people where to go if they need help.
Other media sources were used to promote the campaign including radio, local newspapers and websites. Local councillors from all the main political parties also backed the campaign.
The campaign recently won the Change It Award Popular Vote. The event held in April 2009 took place in London and was attend by some of the actors in the film. The awards supported by Deutsche Bank and Common Purpose aims to promote the positive actions of young people in our community. All the young people involved in this project thoroughly deserved to win for their hard work!
Everyone involved in the campaign really enjoyed talking part and learnt lot of different skills particularly how to produce a film. They also learnt about teamwork, planning and commitment to a project. For those involved, that weren’t high achievers at school, the project provided an alternative learning environment to learn life skills and helped to reduce the levels of binge drinking in young people.
http://www.changeit.org.uk/index.php/performance-awards/2009-performance-winners/
Georgina Hurcombe
Bridging the Gap
Bournemouth
‘Bridging the Gap’ is an exciting innovative Film project that aims to educate young people on this isolation and to help them explore what they can do to "bridge the gap" between the old and the young.
The project was created by Georgina Hurcombe who received a grant form vcashpoint to carry out the project. Georgina has engaged and taught 63 young volunteers in the project and they are currently editing and filming their short documentaries.
‘Bridging the Gap’ consists of a documentary called "I Won't go" which was shown to the volunteers. Seminars were held to teach the young people camera skills and to discuss and debate the issues raised by the documentary. The aspiring filmmakers were then encouraged to go out and film 15 three minute short films that explore the relationships between the elderly and the youth of today.
The social issues raised included; age discrimination, the isolation of the elderly, the disconnection between the young and the elderly, and the sense that today's elderly lack respect and facilities.
The project has enabled Georgina and the volunteers to show that the British youth have lots to offer and want to lead valid and productive lives despite their bad press.
'Quote'
' With the vcashpoint money I have been able to run an exceptional documentary film making and have engaged a vast amount of young people. The 63 members of Bridging the Gap group have been really inspirational and passionate about the project, In fact initially the project was only meant to engage 15 young people but demand was so high for the project that I had 63 young film makers engaged!
They have been having a wonderful time filming with the elderly and the elderly have had a fabulous time working with them. The films they are creating are full of really insightful and emotional footage and I feel really privileged to be working with such a great group of young people. Not only are we making great community documentaries and Bridging the Gaps between the generations, we are also making new friendships and hopefully challenging negative press about young people in the community. I cant thank vcashpoint enough for giving me the chance to run such a great project!’
Kathy Marshall
Herbs and Dragonflies
Pudsey, West Yorkshire
I first got the idea to set up the Herbs And Dragonflies project in January 2008. I’d found out about vcashpoint from an advert on the hotmail site (the only time I’ve ever seen a useful advert on the internet!) and decided straight away I wanted to do a gardening project.
We wanted to do something to get children interested in plants and the environment so we decided we’d have a stall at Pudsey Carnival where children would be able to plant a herb into a pot of peat-free compost and take it home with them. We also decided to show children how to make a model of a dragonfly, to encourage them to take an interest in wildlife rather than being scared of it! The grant enabled me to buy all of the equipment and plants that I would need to carry out the project successfully.
I found my application to vcashpoint had been successful in March 08. I’d already asked some friends and family members to help out and my brother, Andy, delivered posters to libraries and schools etc to recruit more volunteers. I think there were 9 of us doing the project in total.
We also decided to set up a blog www.HerbsAndDragonflies.blogspot.com and Flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/herbsanddragonflies/ with more ideas which meant that people who enjoyed the activities at the carnival would be able to find out more ideas for things to make or plants to grow. We wrote articles and took photos for the blog.
In preparation for the carnival, we had to buy 300 plants and we chose different varieties of thyme because they are easy to grow, attract wildlife and smell lovely.
We also needed 300 pots for the children to plant them in and that was our only trauma! We ordered some, and they didn’t arrive. The supplier told us they’d definitely have them for us for the day before the carnival but they didn’t. So my Mum and I had to drive around Leeds, Bradford and Batley all day trying to find 300 suitable pots. We managed it though!
The day of the carnival was brilliant. The children all loved the activities and their parents were amazed it was free. The volunteers all enjoyed it too; some had never done any volunteering before and hadn’t been sure if they’d enjoy it.
We had some plants left at the end of the day so we found another event to go to. A few weeks later some of us went to a fun day at Bramley Baths and showed children there how to plant herbs too.
Once we had completed the project, we decided that we wanted to keep the group going and do more projects in the future so we decided to apply to other organisations for more grants to enable us to do this.
In the meantime, loads of amazing stuff happened. In July 08, Andy and I were invited to a reception with the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street and then in September, another of our volunteers, Ryan won the title for Leeds Young Gardener Of The Year for his work.
The group as a whole also won some awards. We were in the top 5 of the Makin’ It Real Awards, the Youth Action Network’s national awards for groups of volunteers age 25 or under. We were runner up in the Engaging Under 18s category at the Community And City Pride Awards, which are for groups who make Leeds cleaner and greener. Ryan was also runner up in the individual under 18 category and I was runner up in the over 18 category.
We were contacted by a publisher who had seen our blog and wanted to include some of our ideas in their book too so Jack and I now both have an article in print.
Then in March this year I got famous! Well, kinda. The Alan Titchmarsh Show were running a competition called The People’s Gardener and I appeared on TV in one of the heats. Being on TV was pretty scary.
We did manage to receive more grants eventually, so we have been able to continue our work! This year we have shown people how to make dragonflies at Pudsey Flower show and a fun day and we went to Pudsey Carnival again. We took about 140 plants this year, including some alpine strawberries we’d grown ourselves.
We’ve also had a bird box making day at an allotment site and run a pavement art competition. We got a place on a BOOM! film-making workshop and have received a video camera for making short films about our community. In July we’ll be going to Bramley Carnival too, showing people how to plant herbs or make a model dragonfly.
Later in the year we’ll be leading tree-planting walks, and we’re also doing a project to grow native orchids from seeds. We’re doing loads this year.
I’ve also received another vcashpoint grant since to carry out a project teaching people about geology.
Loads of awards and opportunities have come from this project, I still can’t believe it.
