Ref: PR2292
Date: 24/07/2009

Wakefield Council and its partners have again beaten off tough competition to become part of another national programme – this time to pilot “intergenerational” volunteering to bring young and older people together.

The Council and local voluntary sector organisations have won £400,000 in Government funding to become part of a National Demonstrator project for Generations Together – one of just 12 successful bids out of a total of 132 submitted nationally and the only one in Yorkshire and Humber.

The achievement comes just weeks after the Council and its health and voluntary sector partners secured £118,000 to run a National Demonstrator Programme to pilot networks to help people with dementia and their carers to support each other, reducing social isolation and promoting self help.

Cllr Pat Garbutt, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for children and young people and Cllr Maureen Cummings, Cabinet Member for adults and health both welcomed the news of the Government funding for the district’s Generation Xchange project.

Cllr Garbutt said “Younger people have so much to offer older people and bringing the two generations together through the skills exchange volunteering scheme will help young and old share experiences, break down barriers and gain more understanding. I am delighted that we have secured this funding for such a ground-breaking scheme which further strengthens the Council’s “working for you” approach to supporting individuals and families within communities.”

Cllr Cummings said: “Securing this funding so soon after gaining funding for the dementia project is a big boost for the whole district. National Demonstrator projects like the dementia peer group support and Generation Xchange give us the chance to showcase our schemes nationally and set a lead for others to follow. I am looking forward to both schemes being a huge success.”

Wakefield’s funding of £400,000 will be used by the voluntary sector to attract volunteers from opposite ends of the age spectrum and form Generation Xchange – an innovative skills exchange scheme to bridge the gap between young and older people.

The programme will run during 2009-10 and 2010-11 and involve 1,700-plus volunteers on a programme of activities like sports, ICT, literacy and conservation.

The bid, put together by a coalition of the district’s voluntary organisations, including Age Concern, Groundwork, Voluntary Action Wakefield District, and Developing Initiatives, Supporting Communities, has been backed by Wakefield Council and NHS Wakefield District.

Paula Bee, Chief Officer for Age Concern Wakefield District, said: “Winning this bid is great news for the partnership of organisations that have worked so hard so far. It means we can provide many more opportunities for older and younger people to develop new relationships together, to increase understanding, share knowledge and make a real difference to the future of the community.

“We will be able to encourage more local people into volunteering, build on some excellent good practice, such as the 50 lunch clubs for older people that we have in schools, and develop new intergenerational initiatives that address issues of social inclusion and community cohesion.”

Twelve projects across England have been awarded grants as part of a £5.5 million cross-Government scheme to promote intergenerational volunteering and encourage meaningful interaction between young and older generations.

Dunded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, the Department of Health and the Department for Work and Pensions, the scheme which is also supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government invited bids from all English local authorities involving third sector organisations.

The other 11 winning bids were:

• Ealing (London) Northamptonshire (East Midlands)
• Gateshead (North East) Manchester (North West)
• Hammersmith and Fulham (London) Plymouth (South West)
• Luton (East of England) Portsmouth (South East)
• Reading (South East) Somerset (South West)
• Wakefield (Yorkshire and Humber) Worcestershire (West Midlands)

ENDS