An organisation that has supported Swindon volunteers for decades has been forced to close its doors for good. 

Volunteer Centre Swindon was part of a national network of Volunteering Development Agencies and worked with individuals, groups and organisations in the voluntary sector to promote, support and develop volunteering in the community. 

But not long after it celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021, the organisation has announced that a complete drop in funding has led to it formally being wound up on March 31. 

A spokesperson for the charity said: "As there has been no recent local or national government funding we have had to increasingly rely on grants and donations in order to continue delivering our services.

"In past years it has become evident that there is no other long-term core funding for local volunteering infrastructure.

"The demand for funding from grant-making bodies has increased over recent years and has become ever more competitive. Without long-term core funding, we would be continually fundraising to maintain a Volunteer Centre, making it extremely difficult to grow, develop and adapt our work to support the Swindon community."

The retirement of Swindon Volunteer Centre's longstanding chief executive officer of 16 years, Sue Dunmore, has also compounded the issue, according to the organisation, by making it "extremely difficult to safeguard the Volunteer Centre’s future".

Volunteer Centre Swindon was officially established as a charity in 1999 as an independent charity, to support volunteering in Swindon and the surrounding area.

Since its inception, it has worked to deliver many successful volunteering projects including work with Building Bridges, with corporate partners through Involve Swindon, V and Millennium Volunteers, supporting individuals with extra support needs into volunteering, along with managing Volunteer Centres across Wiltshire.

Moving forward, anyone with an interest in volunteering, or registering their organisation for volunteering opportunities, in Swindon should email Voluntary Action Swindon at volunteeringswindon@vas-swindon.org.

"Finally, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank again all of the individuals, communities and organisations who we have collaborated with, been supported by or had the opportunity to help over the past 24 years," the spokesperson added.