History
In 2000, the Tudor Trust awarded a grant to Ben Cairns and Professor Margaret Harris to set up The Centre for Voluntary Action Research (CVAR) at Aston Business School. The founding aim of CVAR was to ‘support the development and sustainability of voluntary and community organisations’. CVAR became ACVAR (the Aston Centre for Voluntary Action Research) in 2004.
Following a successful six-year incubation period within Aston Business School, the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) was established in 2006 as a new, independent charity with core funding from the Tudor Trust, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and LankellyChase Foundation.
IVAR is now based in London, working in partnership with Birkbeck, University of London.