Generations Together - £5.5 million fund to help close the widening generation gap through volunteering
The programme, Generations Together, will fund 12 projects across the country where young and older people can engage with each other on equal terms, break down barriers and challenge negative stereotypes.
The programme is designed to:
- Generate wider interest in and thinking about intergenerational work
- Increase the number of volunteers working on intergenerational activity by 20,000 by the end of the programme
- Provide robust evidence of the effectiveness of intergenerational initiatives.
The programme brings together funding from the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, announced by Liam Byrne in December 2008 and funding from the Department of Health, Department for Children Schools and Families and Department for Work and Pensions.
Kevin Brennan, Minister for the Third Sector, said
“Generations Together is a really exciting initiative that has great potential to help young and old people value each other more. Being part of a community where people care is something that we all want young and old alike. Volunteering is a very important part of all strong communities as it makes people feel valued and cared for. It's particularly important that people do what they can to help others during challenging times. Already British society has shown great compassion, generosity and determination to help those less fortunate and so I am confident that Generations Together will be a great success.”
The programme is seeking bids from all English local authorities. Importantly these bids must involve third sector organisations and the bidding document makes clear that at least 50% of the funding must be deployed within the third sector. Third sector organisations should contact their local authority to ascertain the potential for bidding, but should be aware that their local authority may not be considering bidding for the fund.
The programme will run during 2009/10 and 2010/11. The closing date for applications is 10 June 2009.
The prospectus for the fund, the application form (for completion by Local Authorities) and a question and answer document can be found below.
