teaching citizenship in schools – it became part of the National Curriculum in England in 2002. Projects include RSVP, Active Volunteering, Choices, Sporting Chance, Sex Matters Too, Lifelines, Grandmentors for volunteers over 50 years of age, Volunteers Supporting Families as well as befriending projects to assist older, young and disabled people. They also have a journalist network through which journalists can volunteer their skills to non-profit organisations who need promotional help. Additionally, Volunteering Matters Action Desks work in partnership with the BBC at 36 BBC local radio stations. They broadcast appeals for volunteers, run awareness campaigns and promote Lifelong Learning. Employee volunteering In 1995, what was then CSV began providing volunteering opportunities for the staff of UK companies. The programme has continued and now involves fifty UK-based companies participating in activities that include one-off team building days through to long-term partnerships with local charities and schools. Full-time volunteering Volunteering Matters runs full-time volunteer projects across the UK, where volunteers are provided with accommodation and a weekly food and essentials budget. A full-time placement can last between 6 and 12 months, although it is sometimes possible to extend a placement after this date. Part-time volunteering Each year Volunteering Matters involves thousands of part-time volunteers throughout the UK. Institute for Advanced Volunteer Management (IAVM) The IAVM was a training event held each year from 1998 to 2012 by Volunteering Matter's predecessor CSV. A three-day residential training event, it was focused on raising the standard of volunteering management. The IAVM had an international faculty drawn from Australia, Canada, the UK and USA. Core faculty included Arlene Schindler, Susan J Ellis, Rick Lynch, Steve McCurley and later Linda Graff and Martin J Cowling. Guest faculty included Andy Fryar, Fraser Dyer and Jayne Cravens. The IAVM was seen as significant by the sector for the impact it made on volunteering managers across the UK. It also served as a model for other similar training intensives including IAVMs in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA in 2000 and 2001 and the Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management conducted in Australia and New Zealand from 2005 to 2013. Awards and honours Volunteering Matters was named charity of the year in September, 2015 at the European Diversity Awards (EDAs). References External links Charity Commission registry entry (number 291222) Charities based in the United Kingdom 1962 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1962