£600,000 available for local groups

Organisations can now apply for grants of between £200 and £1,500 to help recruit and support volunteers. A total of £600,000 is available.

Mr McCausland said: “Last year we saw a tremendous response to our call for grant applications with some 600 organisations receiving funding – double the number we had anticipated. Given this response to the call for applications, I was able to raise the original budget for this programme from £600,000 to just under £1million.”

The overall aim of the scheme is to increase diversity within volunteering in Northern Ireland. There are four key objectives: to increase volunteer activity by groups under-represented in the volunteering population, including people not in paid work; to increase numbers of new volunteers; to promote innovative methods of recruiting new volunteers; to promote innovative methods of engaging with and supporting both new and existing volunteers.

To be eligible, organisations must be constituted and must not have an annual income exceeding £100,000 per year.

He said: “As well as day to day running costs, the grants can be used towards volunteers’ expenses increasing the chances of both recruiting and retaining volunteers during these difficult financial times.”

For more details on the Small Grants scheme and to download an application pack go to www.aivcni.co.uk