SportNav Volunteering in Sport - Sport Across Staffordshire

What volunteering
organisations need
to know about sport
Why should Volunteer Centres
get involved with sport?
• For these potential benefits:
Local sports clubs are part of the
community so by reaching these
groups Volunteer Centres can
connect with new audiences.
• Working with sport increases the
range of opportunities available on
the Volunteer Centre database.
• Getting in touch with the County Sports
Partnerships and Community Sports
Networks enables Volunteer Centres to:
• identify the best-placed sport clubs
to work with on volunteering
• build on Local Strategic Partnership
and Local Area Agreement targets
• develop a wider voluntary
sector infrastructure.
What is a sport volunteer?
Someone who gives their time to help
with a sports club, organisation or event
in any support role, whether generic or
sport-related.
Volunteers can fill a wide range of roles
in sports.
Why?
• Many roles do not require knowledge
of the sport.
• Most roles are found in any community
organisation - transferable skills.
• You don't need to be sporty!
Sport needs volunteers to help with
many things, such as:
• looking after the finances
• creating publicity
• attracting sponsorship
• web site design and management
• making lunches and teas
or
• just being on hand to give support
at events.
Go to www.skillsactive.com/careers/
for lots of examples of roles in sport
volunteering and the skills they require.
What the volunteers
say about finding sport
volunteering through
Volunteer Centres:
“
I originally came into the
Volunteer Centre as I had
recently been made
redundant from a job I
really enjoyed. I realised
that I wanted to put my
knowledge from my sports
science degree to some
use in a job but I didn’t
have any relevant
experience, as I had not
worked in the field. What
I expected from the service
was that a sports club or
organisation would have
a vacancy which they
needed filling and I would
go along and help out.
What I found was that the
service was much more
tailored to MY needs and
what I wanted to get out
of the experience.
”
Volunteer from Nottingham
6 Sport England