v - the youth volunteering charity

Youth volunteering charity v has committed £1.48m of match funding to the Lifetracks project, enabling YouthNet and its partners to inspire over four thousand young volunteers.

v exists to champion youth volunteering in England and inspire a new generation of young volunteers aged 16-25.  In July 2008, the Lifetracks consortium (Foyer Federation, Rathbone, Skill and YouthNet) was awarded a grant of £1.48m from the v Match Fund for a three-year programme of work.

v and The Vodafone Foundation have enabled the Lifetracks consortium to bring together a truly diverse range of volunteering opportunities

Thanks to v and co-funder The Vodafone Foundation, Lifetracks will recruit and support over 4000 young volunteers over the next three years, who will inspire a network of peers across England to (re)engage with employment, education and training. Young volunteers will have the opportunity to choose from a range of roles, including:

• Peer mentors – who will support young people who are offending or at risk of offending through Rathbone's Engagement Teams;
• Ambassadors – who will use their experiences of homelessness to mentor and coach young people across the Foyer Federation network;
• Virtual Volunteers – who will create audio, video and written advice for the Lifetracks website;
• Community Champions – who will campaign for change in support services offered in their local area.

The programme also focuses on removing barriers to volunteering for young people; Skill will support and empower disabled young people to volunteer by working directly with 100 volunteer-involving organisations.

v and The Vodafone Foundation have enabled the Lifetracks consortium to bring together a truly diverse range of volunteering opportunities. The programme will engage young people from a range of backgrounds and give them the opportunity to use new technology, mentoring, campaigning and advocacy to support their peers.

"v is delighted to be able to provide financial support to Lifetracks through our Match Fund programme for this project which will inspire young people to volunteer across England." Terry Ryall, Chief Executive, v

v is an independent charity using an innovative new model which allows funds raised from the private sector to be matched by the Government. Up to £50 million has been allocated by the Government for this purpose. v wants to enable a lasting change in the quality, quantity and diversity of youth volunteering.