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Tag: Volunteers

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Sported celebrates continued Comic Relief funding for volunteer programme

Sported is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a two-year grant from Comic Relief to continue the funding of its volunteer programme.

 

Sported’s volunteer programme gives people the chance to utilise their professional skills and knowledge to support the growth and sustainability of community sport and youth groups operating in some of the most deprived areas of the UK.

 

Since Comic Relief first funded the programme in 2015, Sported has expanded its volunteer services team and launched a range of flexible new services for the benefit of its members and volunteers alike. It includes Sported’s new short-term ‘Light Touch’ service, to help community groups with their one-off operational challenges. To date, over 150 Sported volunteers have donated their time to the service, to the benefit of over 400 Sported members.

 

The new wave of Comic Relief funding will support the ongoing delivery and expansion of Sported’s volunteer services offer through to 2019. This includes the development of further flexible volunteer options, volunteer recruitment and retention with a focus on women and BAME groups, and creating new training and development opportunities.

 

Sandra Hillyard, Volunteer Services Manager at Sported, said: “A huge thanks to Comic Relief for their continued support of our volunteer services and the wider Sport for Change sector. Sported’s volunteers play a vital role in supporting our members in key operational areas, such as business planning or finance. The new funding will help us to expand our offering and create new opportunities for our members to benefit from our volunteers’ professional expertise and knowledge.”

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Sport and education combine to improve life chances for young people in London

SPORT-to-EDUCATEThe power of sport to inspire and capture the imagination was on show on Friday [8th April 2016], as over 90 young people from across London came together in a unique event that combined innovative educational sessions with sporting activities.

 

The ‘SPORT-to-EDUCATE’ tournament was part of sporteducate – a pioneering sport for development programme in partnership between Deutsche Bank’s Born to Be youth engagement programme and Sported, to improve the life chances of young people from some of the capital’s most deprived areas.

 

Participants were given the opportunity to take part in a series of fun and informal workshops, designed to develop key life skills and educate young people about a range of pertinent issues, using sport as the central theme. A range of partner organisations were invited by Sported and Deutsche Bank to deliver the workshops.

 

Drawing on its vast experience using football to educate young people across Africa about HIV, the charity TackleAfrica delivered a session on sexual health. With 1 in 10 children and young people experiencing diagnosable mental health issues, Mind’s workshop focused on raising awareness and promoting understanding. Other educational sessions included tackling discrimination led by

 

Show Racism the Red Card; personal finance by MyBnk; communication skills by Inneri and raising aspirations by former Olympian and GB track cyclist, Bryan Steele.

 

Complementing the day’s educational activities were a range of sporting activities, which are traditionally difficult to access and not often played by young people living in central London. Among which were golf, rowing, cricket, rugby and netball. All the educational and sport sessions were supported by Deutsche Bank employee volunteers.

 

SPORT-to-EDUCATEThe young people that took part in the ‘SPORT-to-EDUCATE’ tournament all attend one of the 33 community sport clubs on sporteducate, and benefit from regular supplementary educational, employability and mentoring sessions as part of the programme.

 

Nicole Lovett, Head of Corporate Citizenship UK at Deutsche Bank, said: “It was fantastic to see so many young people come together to engage in a day of sport and education. This tournament captured the essence of sporteducate as a holistic programme. It’s about improving the life chances of young people from some of the capital’s most deprived areas, developing the whole person – their well-being, academic achievement as well as key life skills, to help them realise their full potential.”

 

Chris Grant, Chief Executive at Sported said: “The government’s new sport strategy is all about harnessing the power of sport for social good and this is exactly what we’re doing through sporteducate. We’re creating fun, engaging and culturally relevant educational opportunities, so that young people facing disadvantage in London get the life chances they deserve.”

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Winners of the Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award announced!

It gives us great pleasure to announce the first two winners of the Vanessa Brown Volunteer Award as Sue Martin and Derek May.

 

The award was launched this year to celebrate the life of Vanessa Brown – a much loved Sported staff member and friend – who sadly passed away last year.

 

The winners of the inaugural award were announced on Tuesday night by Sir Keith Mills and Baroness Sue Campbell at a special celebratory dinner for the nominated Sported volunteer mentors at the House of Lords.

 

All of Sported’s 250 volunteer mentors deserve a huge amount of credit for their passion and dedication, but special congratulations and thanks to Derek and Sue for their outstanding contribution to Sported’s work.

 

Derek has been a Sported mentor since 2012 and has mentored clubs including Bridgewater Salford ABC, United Estates of Wythenshawe and Wildcard ABC. His ability to articulate and communicate strategic goals and successfully coach those who he works with has delivered huge dividends, as the following testimonial demonstrates.

 

“The contribution of our mentor Derek has been invaluable – he has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is a fantastic motivator. Derek has helped to clarify our plans, open doors that were previously closed to us and made invaluable introductions. Derek has been a God send in more ways than one. He has been our missing piece of the jigsaw, providing clarity to our vision, boosting our morale and strengthening our motivation levels.  Derek has certainly lent us new found energy and direction”

 

Sue has mentored numerous Sported members in the North East. Her experience working in the community sector has made her acutely aware of the sustainability and funding challenges faced by our members and is expertly placed to guide them through them.

 

“I genuinely feel Asian Business Connexions is in a better place all because of Sue. I do not think that paid expertise could have made a better or bigger impact, and the fact that Sue unreservedly took the time to help ABC must be worthy of recognition.  If anyone deserves an award for giving away their valuable time voluntarily, then there is no one more suited than Sue Martin.”             

 

Once again, many congratulations to Derek and Sue for their success at this year’s award, and a special thanks to those who were nominated – Amanda McDonald, Anas Hassan, Clive Barnard, Frank McGlone, John Horton, Maggie Pankhurst, Martin Briggs, Martin Corck, Neil Rutherford and Peter Lodge. Finally, thanks to all of Sported’s mentors who, because of your fantastic work, made the judging and shortlisting process such a difficult, but rewarding process!