Helping grassroots sport raise the funds to change lives
By Sported | 03 June 2025
Sported Volunteer Consultants support a network of 5,000 grassroots sports organisations, using their expertise to empower and release group leaders to impact lives in their communities.
Wales’ Ravi Vedi is one such volunteer who has worked with clubs in Sported’s network, giving them her time and guidance in fundraising.
“My background is in community work, so from grassroots community work to community capacity building through providing funding, governance and planning,” Vedi says.
“I heard Richard [Sported National Manager for Wales] speak at a community meeting and I decided that Sported would be a good organisation to volunteer for. Doing something positive with my knowledge and experience of communities.
“I’ve found the volunteering support really, really excellent. Which is why I’ve stayed on. And I love the variety of organisations that I work with.”
Sported Volunteer Consultants support a network of 5,000 grassroots sports organisations, using their expertise to empower and release group leaders to impact lives in their communities.
Vedi has been supporting the Sported network for ten years, connecting with a wide range of groups who are all in need of that extra bit of advice and guidance.
“It’s a fantastic way to meet fantastic people,” she continues. “It’s meeting incredible people who don’t have to do what they’re doing.
“They’re doing the hardest bit in running an organisation, developing it, sustaining it. So that’s what it’s really about. I think the privilege is mine to be honest, to work with these people.”
Funding is a topic that is consistently the highest concern among Sported’s network, with 82% of leaders saying that it was their priority for the next six months in Sported’s November 2024 Community Pulse Survey.
One of the groups that Vedi has been working with recently is the Community Urban Sports Project (CUSP) in Swansea, South Wales.
“They [CUSP] pretty much had it in hand,” Vedi adds. “You just help them reflect and you help them slot things into place because these are incredibly busy people and they rarely get time to think.
“So I think people like me, hopefully, provide that space for them to think, and CUSP has done fantastically well.
“It’s not about your capability, it’s just having that extra person to talk to and to reflect with, and I think that’s what I’m doing with CUSP.”
For anyone interested in lending their time, skills, knowledge and expertise, you can register to become a Sported Volunteer Consultant and join the over 200 currently volunteering on the Sported website.
The skillset within the Volunteer Consultant group is broad, however there is a greater need for volunteers with experience and a background in fundraising to support the demand of the network.
“It’s really rewarding. Absolutely do it. The support is fantastic,” Vedi says to anyone thinking about volunteering with Sported. “I think just in terms of all round opportunities, it’s great. The sheer variety of organisations.
“I just think Sported have pretty much got volunteering and volunteer support nailed because they’ve been doing it for so long, and you can see it’s about best practice.”
To register to give your time and knowledge to help local heroes impact their community, visit the volunteering section of the Sported website: https://sported.org.uk/volunteers.