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Youth volunteering - background

The Russell Commission was established in May 2004 to develop a new national framework for youth action and engagement.
Following extensive consultation with young people and the voluntary and community sector, the Commission put forward 16 recommendations, designed to engage more young people in volunteering and community action. The major recommendation was to create a new dedicated implementation body to commission, through a series of contracts, the delivery of the national framework. This implementation body is v.

The Recommendations

The Government is responsible for implementing the four ‘public sector’ Russell Commission recommendations:

1. creating volunteering ethos in schools, colleges and universities
2. opening up volunteering opportunities for young people in public services
3. removing financial barriers to young people volunteering
4. tackling barriers faced by disabled young people who want to volunteer.

The Office of the Third Sector is working with other government departments to implement these recommendations. For example;

• We have partnered with DCLG to joint fund Beacon Councils for Positive Youth Engagement to run a two year pilot project testing and evaluating ways of engaging young people to volunteer within public services.
• We have funded the National Offender Management Service to run a pilot scheme to test the effectiveness of peer mentoring in supporting young offenders. The project will focus on 18-25 year olds in custody who are sentenced to under 12 months imprisonment. Young volunteers, some of whom will be ex offenders, will support young adult offenders in the transition from custody into the community.
• We will also develop an Access to Volunteering fund to enable more people with disabilities to volunteer, and is working with DWP to improve guidance for people that volunteer while on benefits and the guidance that benefits advisers give.

In addition, Baroness Neuberger, the Government’s Volunteering Champion is conducting work on volunteering in public services which will lead to a report to the Prime Minister and recommendations for Government departments.

For further information about this work see our volunteering homepage.