Youth volunteering

The Unite general union has attacked the government for implementing cuts from next month to youth volunteering organisations and predicts that at least 400,000 young people will be unable to continue their volunteering once funding ends.

The union’s members say they are facing a 75% funding cut for youth volunteering. And organisations, such as Youth Action Network which supports volunteering among young people, will see their funding from central government disappear completely as of next month.

Doug Nicholls, national officer for the community and youth sector, said: “These short-sighted cuts reveal the government’s ‘Big Society’ to be no more than empty words. The government says it wants more people to volunteer in their communities, but as these organisations are forced to shut, volunteering levels will drop.”