Community organisations across Victoria have been encouraged to make the most of a new funding opportunity to increase and strengthen their connections with volunteers.
Administered by Volunteering Victoria on behalf of the federal government, the Supplementary Volunteer Grants Program has been announced as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Volunteering Victoria CEO Scott Miller recently spoke to Vision Australia Radio and said COVID-19 has caused a significant decline in volunteering across Victoria, which has a serious social, economic, cultural and environmental impact for the state.
“Victorians are a really generous bunch of people, about 1.5 million Victorians usually participate in a formal setting, which is when they volunteer for another organisation,” Scott said.
“The decline in volunteering has been around 65% which is incredible when we think about how many places and spaces that volunteers have sustained and supported, that have now had to lock [them] out… which is really devastating to both the volunteer and the beneficiary,” he said.
Below: Listen to the podcast interview between Jason and Scott.
Under the Supplementary Volunteer Grants Program, community organisations can apply for grants of $1,000 to $5,000 to support the efforts of their volunteers. The grants can be used for a range of purposes, such as buying small equipment for volunteers or for the reimbursement of volunteer fuel, transport or training costs.
Applications for the Supplementary Volunteer Grants Program close at 11.59pm AEST Sunday, September 20. For more information or to apply, visit www.volunteeringvictoria.org.au.
