Maude announces civil service volunteering drive

Fundraising | Niki May Young | 18 Feb 2011

Civil servants have pledged 30,000 volunteering days a year as part of a new initiative which will provide charities with the opportunity to ask for volunteering help when necessary.

Frances Maude, minister for the Cabinet Office, made the announcement of the first ever civil service sector-wide volunteering agreement yesterday. Private companies BT and KPMG have officially pledged their support.

BT has already delivered over 37,000 volunteering days this financial year and KPMG delivered 41,000 hours of volunteer time last year.

Maude welcomed the support: "It’s a huge boost for our vision for a Big Society that BT and KPMG have backed this plan," he said. "These businesses are saying very clearly that they want to do more for our communities and this should be celebrated. I hope many more businesses will reach out to support voluntary and community organisations."

Under the initiative there will be an "expectation" of senior civil servants to encourage staff to volunteer at least one day a year. But a spokesman for the Cabinet Office advised that civil servants will also be required to report their volunteering activities to their permanent secretary in order to monitor progress of the pledge.

The Cabinet Office will invite charities to request volunteering assistance in March, and will release further details how the initiative will work then.

Earlier this year the Cabinet Office announced it would be offering a series of grants and contracts to organisations encouraging volunteering as part of the European Year of Volunteering.

Directory: BT | KPMG LLP

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