Volunteering
Sport England and volunteering
Other volunteering initiatives
We want to encourage everyone to volunteer, be it with a local sports club, leisure centre or at a big sporting event, and whether as a coach, club secretary or a half-time orange-slicer. Sport in this country relies on the dedication of many, many volunteers. There are 5.8 million sports volunteers in England alone and 26% of voluntary activity falls within the categories of sport and exercise. There is great variety in the opportunities available and a whole range of roles for people with different tastes and abilities.
Sport England and volunteering
Sport England recognises the central role volunteering plays in our nation's sporting life. It has supported governing bodies of sport to develop volunteering strategies and provided funding for volunteer managers at a national level, raising the profile of volunteering and encouraging a greater diversity of volunteers into sport. Sport England has also developed the Running Sport programme which provides education and training opportunities for volunteers with the aim of helping them run their clubs as effectively as possible.
Sport England has developed the "Sport's Strategic Partnership for Volunteering", which embraces partners across sport and mainstream volunteering infrastructures, enabling strategic planning for sports volunteering and greater co-operation amongst key stakeholders.
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Other volunteering initiatives
Step into Sport is a leadership and volunteering programme managed by Sport England, and partnering the Youth Sports Trust and Sports Leaders UK. It is a pathway of opportunities and experiences that are aimed at developing sports leadership for young people in their chosen area of sport, developing opportunities for them to learn about being officials, coaching, management and administration in sports volunteering.
Sports Leaders UK works to provide two generic leadership awards for young people that are gained in sports volunteering – the Junior Sports Leadership Award for the 14 – 16 year old age range and the Community Sports Leadership Award for young people aged 16+.
The Russell Commission was established in 2004 and investigated ways of creating a significant increase in the number of volunteers aged between 16 and 25. The Sports sector has embraced the recommendations of the commission, published in March 2005, and is now exploring ways to implement them.
2005 was the Year of the Volunteer, a year-long celebration of the amazing work volunteers do and a call to action to get more people volunteering. August was Sport Month and saw events held around the country giving people a taste of the volunteering life.
The London Olympic Games in 2012 will be a huge opportunity for thousands of volunteers to be involved in the world's largest sporting event. Our full volunteering programme will be launched in 2006, but you can register your interest now at www.london2012.com.
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