Impact of Council funding decisions
Information for service users, members, partners and stakeholders
As many of you know, Volunteer Glasgow currently receives significant grant support from Glasgow City Council for many of its Befriending, Mentoring and Volunteering support services.
The current grant funding ends on 30th September 2020 and (at the time of writing) decisions on grant awards under the Council’s new Communities Fund programme are still to be made. Like many other third sector organisations in the city, we are expecting delayed decisions from the Council on Thursday 3rd September.
Our application to the Fund represents a reduction to 76% of our existing grant award budgets in order to comply with the new Fund’s eligibility criteria and guidance.
Given the short notice remaining and the multiple budget scenarios for which we need to continue planning until we receive a decision from the Council, we wanted to provide an update to you on the possible implications for our existing 65,000 or more service users and beneficiaries, partners and stakeholders.
Befriending and Mentoring Services
These will not be affected by Council decisions and all services will continue uninterrupted with the exception of the North East Glasgow Young Persons Befriending Service (YPBS) which has confirmed grant funding in place from the National Lottery Communities Fund and BBC Children in Need until 22nd January 2021. We are working to secure further support for North East YPBS and hope to have an update very soon.
Although the Council currently provides £105,986 p.a. in grant support for some of these services until 30th September, we have successfully secured alternative grants and put in place additional savings measures and fundraising plans from October to make sure we can carry on providing these community-based support services.
We would like to thank everyone involved in helping to put alternative funds in place: it has been a tremendous effort, enabling our volunteer and staff teams to contribute to “getting it right for every child” across the city and to sustain our services for older adults in Drumchapel.
If you have any queries about our Befriending and Mentoring Services, please email jean.inglis@volunteerglasgow.org or call 0141 226 2571
Volunteering Services
Current grant funding from the Council provides 68% of the budget for us to serve the whole of Glasgow with a number of volunteering support and development services which help make the city more inclusive, fairer, and healthier.
We understand that the Council may make partial awards and consequently we are planning for multiple budget scenarios and seeking your views.
Although we have been working to secure cost savings and additional income, if our grant application is unsuccessful or we receive a partial award, reductions in some or all of the following services and programmes are almost certain:
- Direct support to over 2,000 people each year enabling them to get involved in volunteering opportunities. This includes much-needed assistance to overcome barriers to participation, like:
- Our supported volunteering programmes offering group taster sessions and/or SQA Employability Awards.
- Telephone, email and face-to-face guidance to help people identify suitable opportunities.
- Partnership work locally and nationally with equalities organisations, policy-makers and others to make volunteering more inclusive.
- Support to over 40 public and third sector organisations each year to achieve the Glasgow Volunteering Charter and/or the Volunteer Friendly Award.
- Training, networking and peer support opportunities for over 120 volunteer managers each year.
- Work with the Council’s Education Services to further develop and enhance volunteering opportunities for young people, parents and others.
Much of our remaining budget is provided by the Scottish Government through its grant support for the city’s Third Sector Interface partners. As a result, we will be able to continue providing and developing:
- Digital services that help more than 65,000 users to (a) advertise volunteering opportunities on behalf of hundreds of public and third sector organisations and groups at no cost to them, (b) connect people interested in those opportunities and (c) provide online information and guidance to both groups and individuals.
- Saltire Awards for 2,000 young people (aged 12-25) each year in recognition of their volunteering.
- Advice and guidance to organisations that signpost, encourage and support people into volunteering to achieve a range of health and employability benefits.
However, these remaining services may still need to be further redesigned and/or reduced to allow for local Glasgow priorities.
As you might expect, the staff team is currently working with Volunteer Glasgow’s Board to minimise or avoid any redundancies should the Council decide to reduce grant support. Up to 18 of our 24 members of staff may be affected.
If you have any questions or views on these proposals, please email david.maxwell@volunteerglasgow.org
If you use and care about the services Volunteer Glasgow provides, a donation can make a big difference. You can help us continue our work by visiting volunteerglasgow.org/donate
