A major funding boost has been announced to boost volunteering on the east coast.
London 2012 legacy funder, Spirit of 2012, announced the award of £250,000 to Great Yarmouth Borough Council and East Suffolk Council.
The funding will ensure plans set out in the councils' joint UK City of Culture bid earlier this year will be delivered.
The two-and-a-half year Cultural Connections project aims to harness the momentum generated through the bid to develop local volunteering, using arts, culture and heritage volunteering to improve the wellbeing and life chances of its target groups.
East Suffolk Council leader Steve Gallant said: “Huge amounts of work went into our bid for UK City of Culture last year and, although unsuccessful, that bid has provided other opportunities, such as this funding.
"East Suffolk already benefits from a broad network of volunteer organisations working hard to support local people in a myriad of ways.
"This funding will strengthen that volunteer offer, helping to further improve the lives of all those living and working in the district."
The project will receive £200,000, while additional funding of £50,000 will cover costs that reduce barriers for people taking part.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council leader Carl Smith said “We have some fantastic community groups around the borough and this funding will help us build on that and support local people to make a difference to where they live.
"It will also allow us to really understand what inspires people to volunteer, so we can put in place what is needed to make it easier for people to volunteer and help improve the health and wellbeing of our communities."
Ruth Hollis, CEO at Spirit of 2012 said: “I’m delighted to announce the grant to Great Yarmouth Borough Council and East Suffolk Council and congratulate everyone involved in the application.
"We’ve known for some time now how volunteering delivers benefits for people, communities and places, benefits which have really come to the fore over the last two years of pandemic and lockdown.
"An incredible amount of work, energy and passion goes into preparing City of Culture bids, and whether successful or not, they have the potential to grow and evolve, and give ‘cities’ the opportunity to build on existing provision to create a sustainable local volunteering programme."
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