The government has announced a £300 million plan to involve more volunteers involved in public service.

On Thursday, chancellor, Gordon Brown hailed the initiative as "the start of a unique transformation in relationships between the state and the voluntary sector". He said that the government aimed to recruit an extra 1 million people to the voluntary sector.

Over the next four years £60 million is to be used to develop mentoring and modernise infrastructure in voluntary and community organisations, with another £27 million to go to university student volunteering schemes to be spent over three years in England. A further £70 million will go to the Children's Fund and £50 million will be given to community groups in deprived areas.

Around £120 million will be spent on funding volunteering in public services and establishing a new National Experience Corp. The government says the aim of the "Dads' Army" for the 21st Century is for over 50's to pass on skills and experience such as passing on parenting skills to young families or helping out with sport in schools. Cabinet office minister, Lord Falconer and Home Office minister, Paul Boateng are to head up the new Active Communities Unit.

The government has rejected claims that the scheme uses the voluntary sector to carry out the work of local and central governments.

The chancellor said: "The next five years will witness the biggest transformation in the relationships between the state and voluntary action for a century. Just as the era of 'no such thing as society' is at an end, so too the era of centralising Government and 'Whitehall knows best' is over, and a new era - an age of active citizenship and an enabling state - is within our grasp.

He added: "The next five years will see the role of Government shift even more from the old 'directing and controlling' to enabling and empowering voluntary action. Increasingly the voluntary sector will be empowered to play a critical role ranging from under-five provision and preventative health, to adult learning and the war against unemployment and poverty."