Project notes: BTCV Millennium Volunteers East Midlands

What it is: BTCV Millennium Volunteers East Midlands Goal: To get young people aged 16 to 24 doing voluntary work Funding: 185,000 a year from the Department for Education and Skills channelled through the Government Office for the East Midlands

The name Millennium Volunteers may be sounding a bit out of date now, but the scheme is still very much alive and well. In Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the scheme is run by conservation charity BTCV and each year it lines up more than 200 young people from these counties with volunteering opportunities.

The opportunities offered by the project are vast, covering areas as diverse as hospital visits, running Scout groups and conservation work. And the programme is still growing. The summer saw the launch of its Step Into Sports programme, which gives young people the chance to help out at local sports clubs and train as instructors. The variety of organisations BTCV works with enables it to offer a wide spectrum of activities.