Vinspired (stylized: vInspired) was an independent British
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
that helped young people volunteer in their local communities. Its projects aimed to engage under-represented groups in
volunteering
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group wikt:gratis, freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. O ...
such as
minority groups
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
and those
not in education, employment, or training (NEET).
History
Established in May 2004 by the then
Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
, David Blunkett, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, The Russell Commission set out to develop a new national framework for youth action and engagement.
Headed by Ian Russell, the CEO of
Scottish Power
Scottish Power is a vertically integrated energy company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of Spanish utility firm Iberdrola.
ScottishPower is the distribution network operator for Central and Southern Scotland, Merseyside, North ...
, the Commission aimed to deliver a step change in the diversity, quality and quantity of volunteering opportunities available to young people aged 16 to 25 in the UK. With help from its youth advisory board, the YABsters, the Commission engaged a wide range of
stakeholders, including young people, the voluntary sector, business and the media, receiving over 700 responses from voluntary and community sector organisations, and a further 6,000 responses from young people.
The Commission’s headline recommendation was the creation of a dedicated
implementation
Implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy.
Industry-specific definitions
Computer science
In computer science, an implementation is a realiza ...
body, to take the lead in delivering the new framework in England – which was launched as v in May 2006, and changed its name to vinspired in January 2011.
It was announced in November 2018 that vinspired was to close with the loss of 20 jobs.
Projects
vinspired worked with over 500 voluntary sector organisations and over 150 private sector partners to create innovative youth volunteering opportunities.
The organisation also ran the following grants programmes:
*the
match fund
*vinvolved
*vTalent
The vinvolved Team Network
Launched in April 2008, vinvolved, the national youth volunteering programme, aims to get half a million more young people positively involved in their communities.*
vinspired's England-wide network of 107 vinvolved teams ensured that young people and voluntary organisations could access expert advice and help.
As of March 2011, all vinvolved teams came to an end due to cut in government funding.
References
{{Reflist
Volunteering in the United Kingdom
Charities based in England
Youth organisations based in the United Kingdom