CEV member organisations
United Kingdom: Volunteering England (Full member 
)
Contact information
Volunteering England
Regents Wharf
8 All Saints Street
London N1 9RL
United Kingdom
Regents Wharf
8 All Saints Street
London N1 9RL
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 845 305 6979
Fax: +44 20 7520 8910
Email: volunteering[at]volunteeringengland.org
Website: www.volunteering.org.uk
Member information
Volunteering England is the new national volunteer development agency for England which came into operation on 1 April 2004. The agency was formed as a result of the coming together of The Consortium on Opportunities for Volunteering, The National Centre for Volunteering and Volunteer Development England.
Volunteering England works to promote volunteering as a powerful force for change, both for those who volunteer and for the wider community.
We understand the term volunteering to include formal activity undertaken through public, private and voluntary organisations as well as informal community participation.
There are currently more than 21.8 million adults actively involved in formal volunteering in the UK (through an organisation or agency) with 10 million people volunteering each week.
Volunteering England undertakes a range of activities, including:
Volunteering England works to promote volunteering as a powerful force for change, both for those who volunteer and for the wider community.
We understand the term volunteering to include formal activity undertaken through public, private and voluntary organisations as well as informal community participation.
There are currently more than 21.8 million adults actively involved in formal volunteering in the UK (through an organisation or agency) with 10 million people volunteering each week.
Volunteering England undertakes a range of activities, including:
- Working to secure and support an England-wide network of quality volunteer development agencies, promoting and enabling volunteering and community involvement;
- Undertaking research, policy and development activity;
- Providing grants, support and advice to sustain and develop volunteering.
- Keeping volunteering high on the policy agenda, working with government to promote opportunities for, and remove institutional barriers to, volunteering;
- Providing authoritative, up-to-date research on volunteering issues;
- Supporting volunteering development through:
- Promoting accredited quality frameworks for volunteering management and local volunteer development agencies;
- Convening national events and practitioner networks;
- Mounting awareness campaigns;
- Providing consultancy, education, training, publications, information and web-based services;
- Providing grants and strategic support to the work of volunteers;
- Identifying, disseminating and promoting good practice in the involvement of volunteers.
The Institute for Volunteering Research
The Institute for Volunteering Research is an initiative of Volunteering England in association with the Centre for Institutional Studies at the University of East London. It was founded in 1997 with support from the Lloyds TSB Foundation and was created by Dr. Justin Davis Smith.
The Institute's aims are to:
- Carry out and commission research on different aspects of volunteering at a variety of levels
- Disseminate findings so as to maximise the policy and practice impact
- Act as a focal point for research on volunteering
- Develop links with bodies involved in volunteering
- Research in England, the UK and other countries, with a view to sharing knowledge and exchanging ideas
- Stimulate and contribute to education and training on volunteering
The Institute has been involved in a range of activities including undertaking the National Survey of Volunteering and a number of consultancy assignments with voluntary organisations interested at finding out more about their volunteers, for example Guide Dogs for the Blind. It also conducted an evaluation of UK government initiatives such as the Millennium Volunteers Programme and is also working on cross nation projects including the evaluation of the United Nations International Year of Volunteers (IYV) 2001.
Voluntary Action
Published three times a year, the journal Voluntary Action forms the link between research policy and practice. We particularly welcome articles from practitioners and aim to include one international article per edition.
For more information on the Institute visit www.ivr.org.uk
