Step Up To Serve

The leaders of the three main political parties gathered with youth charity leaders at Buckingham Palace on 21 November as Prince Charles launched Step Up To Serve, a new volunteering campaign that aims to get half of all young people involved in social action by 2020.

Step Up To Serve is funded with a £6million pot from the Cabinet Office, which will be distributed via grants of between £300,000 and £500,000 to youth and volunteering charities. The deadline for applications to the Youth Social Acton Journey Fund closed in mid-November.

According to the Step Up To Serve website, the goal is to almost double the number of young people participating in social action from 29 percent to over 50 percent by 2020 - an additional 1.7 million young people engaging in social action for the first time.

To meet this goal they aim to increase activity across the country, by engaging both existing organisations and new ones.

The site contains pledges to support the campaign from 26 youth and volunteering charities and umbrella bodies, including the British Youth Council, NCVO, Girlguiding, vInspired and the Canal and River Trust.

Visit www.stepuptoserve.org.uk for further information.