Category Archives: Find a volunteer

Can we really deliver an Olympic Sporting Legacy?

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If you want to have a go at athletics or hockey – or your kids want to take up cycling, rugby or football you will probably go to your local club. But this club will almost certainly be run by volunteers and will quite likely be close to reaching capacity. So, if we want to deliver a real sporting legacy of more children and adults taking up new sports, we need to find ways of building capacity.

I am proposing that we need a much more effective system for attracting and training volunteers to deliver entry-level sport.

Here is my idea: we don’t need senior (Level 3) coaches to deliver introductory sessions to newcomers – what we need are suitably trained volunteers that can inspire beginners and give them a positive and correct introduction to the sport. We should be putting much more emphasis in recruiting and training club helpers and new coaches to cope with Olympic-generated demand and free up the experienced coaches to concentrate on coaching elite club members. A good example of an effective training programme is England Athletics’ one-day “Leadership in running fitness” course.

Inspiration

The Olympic Games Makers have done wonders for the image of volunteering. If we can’t get sport volunteers to step forward now we never will. We need to build on the enthusiasm that we have from the Olympics to inspire volunteers to get involved and provide a pathway for them to do this. We should be making it easy for a dad to help at a cycling club or a university student to train as an athletics coach.

Recruitment

Clubs need coaches and team managers – and they also need volunteers to put out equipment, look after kit, manage membership systems and do a range of small jobs that you might not think of. If you are a club – how do you advertise these vacancies beyond your membership? If you are a potential volunteer, would you know where to look to get involved?

Welcome and preparation

Volunteers need to be nurtured. If they offer to help a club they should be welcomed with open arms and they need to know exactly what their job involves. Newcomers to coaching need to be trained by attending an Introductory or a Level 1 coaching course. As a minimum for certain roles they need to have safeguarding training. There is helpful Information on coaching courses here: http://sportscoachuk.org/

A fair relationship

Volunteers are entitled to enter into a fair relationship with the organisation they are supporting. The club needs a commitment from the volunteer to turn up at the agreed times and deliver. In turn, the volunteer needs to be properly managed and looked after. If we are to retain good volunteers they need:

  • affordable training – it’s right that volunteers make some investment in their own training, but £150 for a Level 1 Coaching course is a deterrent for many
  • a schedule that is workable for them and the club – volunteers have limited time available and fear of being asked to do too much is one of the major factors that puts people off volunteering. One idea: could a new helper be paired with another volunteer to job-share?
  • to be supervised and mentored – new coaches and other helpers need a contact they can turn to for ideas and advice
  • to be kept informed of how the part they are playing fits into what the club is doing as a whole

Clubs have needs too

In turn, the clubs are also going to need practical support to find and look after new volunteers. There is information on http://www.clubmark.org.uk/ about managing volunteers including an outline job description for a volunteer coordinator. This is a key post and one that needs to be filled by an enthusiastic and capable leader.

There is hope

Sport England has set up Sport Makers: http://www.sportmakers.co.uk/  as the official London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sports legacy. They are aiming to recruit 40,000 volunteers to help make sport happen. If you are looking to volunteer in sport then go to this website today!

The last word

Much of sport in the UK is currently delivered through clubs. These clubs need more volunteers to increase capacity for new participants.  I sincerely hope that we can harness the inspiration and deliver volunteers to the sports clubs to make sure we really do make the most of the buzz we are experiencing after an amazingly successful Olympic Games.

“Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.”  Let’s make our Olympic Sporting Legacy happen.

Please leave a comment with your legacy thoughts and ideas.

 

5 ways to keep your volunteers happy

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1. Keep them informed

Make sure your volunteers understand what their role involves and how it fits into the overall project or event. The need just enough detail to see the big picture – they don’t want to read a telephone directory-sized handbook! It is likely that different volunteers will need different levels of detail. Friendly, timely, informed communication is key.

2. Keep them busy

Volunteers will have made sacrifices – given up free time or taken leave from work – and will fee undervalued if there is not enough to do. Plan carefully to ensure they are actively engaged in a productive activity, or at least entertained if there is a temporary lull. You will need to monitor activity and encourage the workforce to be flexible so they can be redeployed if fewer numbers are required on certain tasks as the project evolves. Bored and frustrated people will vote with their feet. If they don’t have enough to do today, don’t expect to see them again tomorrow, next week or next time.

3. Keep them fed and watered

This should be obvious – but while volunteers are working for you they reasonably expect to be fed and definitely need to be kept hydrated. What you give them will depend on their shift, remoteness and your resources. A packed lunch or a meal voucher is common. For smaller roles, just a small snack and a drink is a good way to say thank you. Can your sponsors help by providing supplies?

4. Help them be properly equipped

Don’t forget to tell them what they need to bring. Mobile phone? Pen and notebook? A folding chair? Let them know if they will be inside or outside and advise them on suitable clothing. I’ve seen cold, wet road-junction marshals wearing suits and ties at a cycling event. I’ve turned up to a winter sports fixture dressed in thermals for sub-zero temperatures only to be given a job inside. Make sure you give them information to help them help themselves by arriving with the right kit.

5. Give them them opportunity to communicate

Have you ever been sent information from a “no-reply@…….” e-mail address. And then searched the Frequently Asked Questions page on the website in vain for the information you need? This way of doing business may be OK for big companies avoiding time wasters. But if your volunteer really needs to find out some information, they need a way of contacting the right person who can answer their question. If not they will get so frustrated that they will probably let you down. And how will they tell you they are not coming!

The volunteering phenomenon of the decade

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Every Saturday, about 12,000 people take part in 5km timed runs all over the UK. These events are completely free and are organised by volunteers. Yes, completely organised by volunteers! The events are called parkrun, and are the brainchild of an inspiring philanthropist who believes that it is everyone’s right to get up on a Saturday and run in a 5km timed event without paying for the pleasure.

Paul Sinton-Hewitt founded the Bushy Park run, in Teddington, with just 13 runners in 2004. In 2009 he won a Runner’s World Heroes award. This week’s Bushy Park parkrun attracted a record 1000 runners and the organisation is within sprinting distance of their millionth run. On current turnout it’s predicted to happen next weekend.

Even if you don’t run and aren’t at all interested in sport, parkruns are a shining example of what can be achieved when a group of motivated people are facilitated to make something happen. There has always been a pool of potential volunteers -runners – who collectively stood to gain from free runs. But parkrun’s runaway (!) success shows what can be achieved when a leader brings together the vision, the volunteers and a practical system that enables it to all happen. And it all happens every Saturday when armies of unskilled volunteers organise parkrun events all over the world.

Have you run in a parkrun?

What motivates a volunteer?

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All volunteers are unique and have their own set of reasons for volunteering. Here are 5 of the common reasons that make them step forward:

1 To support a team leader or friend that they respect

Don’t underestimate the strength of personal connections.

2 To meet useful people and increase their network

They are looking to see how your volunteering role could benefit them – so sell your ideas so they appeal to the “what’s in it for me” side of potential volunteers.

3 To socialise and take part in an interesting activity

Promote the social side of your opportunities and make sure your teams get along well – and that you have some well-planned activities lined up for them.

4 To support a cause that they believe in

If you are a charity, a children’s school, or local community are you inspiring your own followers and supporters?

5 To be nosy and get some inside info on an organisation

How does a publisher function? What’s it like back stage? Could you be promoting your organisation to appeal to this type of volunteer?

Organisations seeking volunteers are also very different. Do you relate to any of these motives. Do you think your organisation could use one or two of these motives to promote your opportunities?

Please leave a comment and let me know.

 

 

6 Tips for recruiting volunteers (and getting them to come back again!)

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1. Recruit them for a finite and achievable activity

Would you sign a blank cheque for your time? No, I doubt it! Neither will the person you are looking for. It’s much better to offer a specific task with a manageable time-scale. Volunteers like a project that they can complete and then get on with their lives.

2. Tell them exactly what the role is

Keep it easy to understand. Use plain English, avoid technical jargon or you will annoy people. Paradoxically, if you make the job sound grand and high-powered this will only put people off.

3.  Find out a little bit about your volunteer

If you take the time to get to know them just a little then you can try and give them a role that is satisfying and appropriate to their experience and physical ability. They will be happier and they will do a better job for you.

4. Give them enough training to enable them to do the role effectively

Make sure you show your volunteers what they need to do, or team them up with someone with experience. And giving them a written brief/map/instructions/crib sheet/contact list really helps. It can be scary being a new volunteer – if you are bombarded with important information at the start its easy to forget a vital detail.

5. Acknowledge them on the day

It is surprisingly easy to be blind to your helpers during the actual event or project because it is so hectic for you. Make an effort to know who they are and say hello.

6. Say thank you afterwards

It’s all over! You collapse with exhaustion and feel waves of relief wash over you. It might sound old-fashioned but a phone call, e-mail or letter gives your volunteers a nice warm wanted feeling. Prompt and personalized but not patronizing and ending with “See you again next time”.
Q Have you volunteered in the last 6 months? What did you do and what inspired you to do it?