Roger Black's Olympic Challenge Radio 4 : 26th, 27th and 28th February 2007 at 11am
YOUR CHANCE TO VOLUNTEER: Volunteer to help school sport in your local area.
In association with TimeBank, The Youth Sport Trust, SportScotland and Sports Councils of NI and Wales.
Roger’s term at Hurlingham and Chelsea has shown that adults can do more to help schools deliver high quality sport. If you have some time to spare then why not help young people in your local area…you really can make a difference.
Steve Grainger, Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust : “ As a nation we have a big job to do to get more young people participating in school sport. One of the biggest challenges is a shortage in the number of adults that are able to help out by coaching, officiating and administrating. We are delighted to be working with the BBC on this exciting initiative to be seeking out more volunteers to support school sport. We have made significant progress in the last few years but there is still a long way to go to achieve our ambition, that by 2012, all young people will be participating for 4-5 hours a week. By volunteering you will be part of achieving this ambition.”
By volunteering you can really make a difference in helping young people. You’ll be helping them to…
improve their health
improve their self esteem and confidence
create opportunities to develop sporting potential
leading playground activities in primary school
supporting school teams as a coach or official
helping out with sport at an after school club
What you can do There are a wide range of opportunities available depending on your interests, your area of expertise and the amount of time you have available.
You may decide to volunteer on a regular weekly basis.
If you don’t have time to help on a regular basis you may be able to offer a day or a few days where you could support sports days or local festivals of sport.
Your skills are needed! As Roger found out another adult working alongside the PE teacher makes a tremendous difference.
PE teacher Laura Lewis, Hurlingham and Chelsea School says: ‘It’s always really helpful to have a volunteer working with me, especially if we go off-site as we must have one adult for every 12 children. It’s brilliant too if they are experienced in a sport to pass on their skills and knowledge. The girls particularly need good sporting role models and it’s great for them to meet women who take part in a variety of different sports and not just team games like hockey and netball.’
Volunteer NOW
Register your details with Timebank here. Timebank will match your details with your local School Sports Partnership (in England), SportScotland, Sports Council in NI and Sports Council in Wales and you will be contacted within ten days by a local school sport representative who will discuss opportunities available in your area and organise CRB checks and accreditation (by law you must be CRB checked to work with children).
CASE STUDY:
Jo Lee (pictured) from Horton in Northamptonshire began volunteering to help in her daughter’s primary school and has now given up her job in business to become a freelance Community Sports Coach. Her local school sports partnership helped her take a range of courses to develop her skills.
Your company can join in too by getting involved in your local Education Business Partnership.
Volunteer Piers Skinner who featured in the programmes says: I’m a business development manager at Coca Cola and I’ve volunteered to come down to Hurlingham and Chelsea school every Friday morning for a couple of hours to help out with Year 8 PE classes. I used to play a lot of sport myself but now with two young children of my own I don’t have time for it. So it’s great to be able to get out of the office, put on a tracksuit and run around with the school kids. I’m helping out with rugby coaching this term. The school only have one male PE teacher to take around forty-five boys. But with an extra pair of hands we’re able to go to the park and play some proper rugby rather than being stuck in the school gym. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but it’s great fun. The class is full of characters and they’re quick learners. I think there’s some real talent here and if, by making use of local volunteers, the school can take the children off-site to decent sports facilities, I think we’ll see that talent shine.
To find out more about Education Business Partnerships – go to www.nebpn.org
