To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any support his Department gives to community groups to recruit volunteers.

My Department supports community groups to recruit volunteers through the Volunteering Infrastructure Support Programme; this funds organisations that encourage volunteering and support the recruitment and placement of volunteers, as well as providing support to organisations that engage volunteers.

My Department provided funding of £727,000 in 2025-26 to support volunteer recruitment, training and development within local communities through seven Volunteer Centres across Northern Ireland.

The Department also provides wider support to communities through ‘People and Place: A Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal’; in 2025-26, this supported community activity and volunteering, including 340,842 volunteer hours with an estimated value of £4.3 million.