This new fund has been launched as part of the £10 million Volunteering for Health programme designed to help deliver the recommendations of the NHS Volunteering Taskforce.

The programme will enable local partnerships to develop and test ideas that will realise the potential of volunteering to improve the experience and outcomes of people using our health and care systems. Through this they will demonstrate the amazing impact volunteers can have on the NHS, and improving patient and staff experience, when they are genuinely integrated into health care planning and delivery.

It is being delivered by NHS England, NHS Charities Together and CW+, the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and will award around 15 grants to new and more established partnerships of organisations to work together to build volunteering capacity and capability.

Each grant award will be a mix of tailored support and funding of up to £550,000 each over three years.

They are looking for applications that will:

• Develop robust volunteering infrastructure
• Test new ways of working that help break down barriers to volunteering
• Test or develop new volunteering models.

Applications are particularly encouraged from areas that might not have worked in this way before, and those that are ready to pioneer new ideas.

The programme will be evaluated, and learning will be shared. The findings will be used to raise the profile of volunteering and to influence policy, ultimately, to ensure volunteering is a more prominent and better supported element of healthcare nationally and locally.

Two online information sessions are being held on 10 January and 16 January 2024. If you cannot attend one of these, a recording will be available at the link here.

The application portal opened on 4 January and the deadline for phase 1 submissions is 5pm on Friday 23 February 2024.

Grant decisions will be communicated in May 2024.

Find full guidance and more information about the application process on the Volunteering for Health webpage.

If you have any queries or require additional information, email volunteeringforhealth@cwplus.org.uk.