By Lucy Phillips | 1 June 2011
The government has today pledged £6m towards Big Society projects in the health service.
The Department of Health Volunteering Fund will be divided between 13 charities over three years. The organisations were awarded the cash based on their ability to give patients choice over their care, reduce health inequalities and improve health outcomes.
Care services minister Paul Burstow said: ‘The idea of the Big Society isn’t new, what is new is this government making it easier for people to do more: giving people power to improve public services, putting communities in control and supporting people to help others.’
YMCA England, Diabetes UK and Action for Blind People were among the charities chosen for the pot of money. Respectively, their projects involve: mentoring young people; raising awareness of diabetes among Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities; and therapy for those facing sight loss.
Yearly instalments ranged from £27,673 to £238,624 for each organisation.
The government has promised to invest more than £40m in volunteering and social action over the next two years as part of its Big Society push. The commitments were set out in a Givingwhite paper last week.
