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| £6.25m BOOST FOR VOLUNTARY SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE SCHEME |
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| Release date: 11 Dec 2003 |
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Community and voluntary organisations across England are to get a £6.25 million Government cash boost to help them work together, communicate better and have a stronger voice in policy-making, Home Office Minister Fiona Mactaggart announced today. The money will be used by organisations that help the voluntary and community sector (VCS) make its voice heard in policy-making, and help VCS organisations work together and communicate with each other.
The programme is the first part of the Government's £80 million investment in the country's voluntary and community organisations, to enable them gear up to help shape and deliver high quality public services.
The money allocated today is to support two themes:
Development work, to improve capacity and communications in areas with very little or no voluntary and community sector infrastructure.
'Exemplar'work, both nationally and locally, to develop ideas and proposals on building and sharing good practice, delivering support services in new and innovative ways, and redesigning the way services are delivered to improve sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness.
Fiona Mactaggart said:
'To be full partners in shaping and delivering public services, voluntary and community organisations need to have a strong voice on policy-making and communicate well with each other. They need to have the capacity to meet the challenges they face. These qualities should be supported by a high quality, sustainable infrastructure. The Government is keen to see this developed - and these funds will help to get the ball rolling.
'These new funds will break new ground, promote new ideas and create partnerships - benefiting voluntary and community organisations in every region. Government Offices will work in partnership with the voluntary and community sector and other key players to commission local projects. They will also ensure that funds are allocated fairly.'
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Minister Alun Michael said:
'The Home Office and Defra will be working together to ensure that rural communities throughout England have infrastructure support as strong as that available in towns and cities.'
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| reference: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/n_story.asp?item_id=734 |
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| Article Id: | 83562 | | Release date: | 11 Dec 2003 |
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Copyright EMBRACE West Midlands 2010
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