VOLUNTEER groups in the region have received a cash boost from the Government.

A number of groups shared grants from a £4m handout delivered by the Home Office's Volunteer Recruitment Fund.

They included Student Community Action Newcastle University, which received £72,000. It helps to engage students with local communities through volunteer work.

Hearing Concern, which provides elderly people in Gateshead and Newcastle with peer group support, received £75,000.

North Tyneside Age Concern was given £69,000 to help the elderly play a more active role in their community.

Elsewhere, the Whitby Network, which covers Whitby and the Esk Valley area in North Yorkshire, received £49,000 to employ a dedicated officer to recruit volunteers to help people with tasks such as shopping, gardening and DIY.

Darlington Association on Disability (Dad) received £85,000 to increase opportunities for disabled people to become volunteers.

Jacki Hiles, deputy manager Dad, said: "As an organisation committed to increasing independence and choice we welcome an opportunity to challenge the traditional view that disabled people are recipients rather than providers of services."