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E-bulletin – December 2005
Welcome to our December e-bulletin, which is designed to
provide an update on Russell Commission implementation in
England. As usual, if you have any questions or comments,
please email info@russellcommission.gsi.gov.uk
- Russell Commission charity announces Founding
Partners
Major corporate sponsors - T-Mobile, ITV, KPMG, MTV, Tesco,
Sky and The Hunter Foundation - today announced their support
for the new Russell Commission charity, which aims to engage
and inspire a new generation of young people to take part
in volunteering and community activities. The new Founding
Partners have together pledged a total of £3.5m to
develop new volunteering opportunities for 16-25 year olds.
Ian Russell, interim Chair of the new charity, expressed
his gratitude for the support he has received from private
sector investors: “I am delighted to be joined by
seven exceptional Founding Partners, who believe in the
enormous power of volunteering, and are committed to harnessing
the energy, skills and enthusiasm of young people to make
a real difference in communities across England.”
Further details about our Founding Partners are available
at www.russellcommission.org
- New Youth Advisory Board appointed to revolutionise
youth volunteering
Twenty young people have been selected to join the new charity’s
Youth Advisory Board. Representing the views of young people
across England, the Youth Advisory Board will advise and
support the Chief Executive, Chair and main Board, helping
to transform the ways that young people get involved in
volunteering. Four Youth Advisory Board members will also
take up positions on the main Board, ensuring that young
people have a key role in the governance of the new charity.
Newly appointed Youth Advisory Board member Nidal Al-Juzi,
(18 yrs) said: “I’m proud to be representing
young people’s views on the Youth Advisory Board and
impressed by the new charity’s commitment to involve
us in shaping the future of youth volunteering. There are
thousands of young people like me who want to share their
skills and talents, and this is a great opportunity to prove
that we can make a difference.”
- Ian Russell announces his successor
Rod Aldridge was today appointed as Chairman of the new
charity responsible for implementing the recommendations
of the Russell Commission. Expressing his excitement about
his new role Rod Aldridge said: “This is an enormous
but hugely exciting challenge; but I am confident that with
the support of voluntary organisations, our private sector
partners and our fantastic Youth Advisory Board, the new
charity will be ready to respond to this challenge.”
Rod, who is also Executive Chairman of The Capita Group
Plc, will take up his appointment in Spring 2006. The charity’s
CEO and Board will soon be appointed.
- Small Grants Round receives over 300 applications
The Russell Commission Small Grants round has received over
300 applications from organisations across England who are
keen to play their part in creating a step-change in youth
volunteering in England. The grants are designed to enable
organisations to develop youth volunteering strategies and
to collate examples of good practice in engaging young volunteers.
The grants round closed on Friday 2nd December at 12.30pm.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their bids
by 22nd December 2005.
- Capacity building tenders issued
On Friday 24th November the Home Office approached 15 organisations
to tender for contracts to deliver capacity building activities
for the new Russell Commission charity. The focus of this
work will be on providing development support to volunteering
organisations, particularly local grass roots organisations.
Due to the demands of this work, a short list of organisations
was approached to tender for contracts to deliver capacity
building activity. The organisations were selected because
of their capacity to support and work with a large number
and range of voluntary and community sector organisations,
as well as their existing expertise in delivering training
and support to voluntary sector organisations across England.
Further details on the organisations approached to bid are
available at www.russellcommission.org
For more information on any of the news updates contained
in this e-bulletin, email info@russellcommission.gsi.gov.uk
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