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Secretary David Blunkett has launched a £20m government campaign to recruit
older volunteers.
Research
by the Home Office has found that volunteering reaches a peak by the age of 49 and
then drops away.
In
response, the Government has launched the Experience Corps, a not-for-profit
company which will encourage the over 50s to volunteer.
David
Blunkett said the enterprise would run the largest volunteering recruitment
campaign the UK has ever seen and claimed that many people want to offer their
time but don’t know where to start.
"The
Experience Corps has been granted the largest amount of money the Home Office
has ever given to a new volunteering venture. It has a target of attracting
250,000 volunteers by March 2004," he said.
Blunkett
also warned local authorities not to cut funding to the hundreds of small
voluntary and community organisations around the country.
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