Volunteers contribution to county praised

At present, thousands of volunteers are helping support services and people in the county, according to a report on the voluntary sector set to be discussed by council bosses next week.

Staffordshire County Council funded a consortium of local groups to support and expand the voluntary sector so it can help reduce public demand on local authority services, for example by supporting older people to stay independent and remain in their own homes for longer.

The three groups in the consortium are the Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services, Support Staffordshire and South Staffordshire Community and Voluntary Action.

Speaking of their success, John Tradewell, Staffordshire County Council’s director of strategy, governance and change, said: “The consortium is focusing on the areas of health and care, children and families, young people and backing organisations like community libraries, so that there’s more help and advice for people and support for organisations within the community, rather than people automatically turning to the council for help.

“The consortium’s role is to provide existing groups the support to thrive and expand their services where necessary and give new organisations the practical help they need to get off the ground and work with their communities.”

Figures to be presented to the county council’s Corporate Review scrutiny committee on April 3 show that the consortium has helped voluntary and community groups win £2.6 million of funding since August;

At present, there are 610 volunteers in the county’s 43 libraries; while 21,769 young people are regularly taking part in community-delivered activities such as youth clubs.

7,940 volunteers support those youth activities, including more than 1,500 under-18s.

Phil Pusey, Chief Executive of Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Sservices, said: “Just this month 30 people, whose ages span six decades, attended one of our youth work training days and it was brilliant to see the diversity of input and investment that children and young people are getting from the enthusiastic and dedicated local volunteers running projects and programmes.”

John Tradewell added: “It’s fantastic to realise that thousands of people volunteering their time, energy and a wide variety of expertise to help others day in and day out.

“The three organisations in the consortium all have their roots in Staffordshire and since winning the contract have been out building relationships with voluntary and community groups, as well as borough and district councils, not just to help now, but to understand where they can match a need with a provider and develop the county’s ability to help itself.”