Cardiff Council’s sports development team has formed a successful partnership with the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) to encourage students to volunteer.
An officer from Sport.Cardiff’s coaching and workforce team gave a presentation to over 70 second year students about the importance of volunteering and the skills and experience that they can gain from giving up their free time to work with others.
The lecture focused on the different types of volunteering opportunities available and offered advice about how to get involved. Each current sports undergraduate can now opt to complete a volunteering module and assist on various Sport.Cardiff programmes, including the 5X60 school sports programme as part of their degree course.
The aim of the module is to increase the student’s profile for future employability and also offers extra support to the school sports scheme.
All students are required to spend a minimum of 40 hours volunteering, which gives an opportunity to develop their skills and abilities whilst making a valuable contribution to Sport.Cardiff.
The programme is a Welsh Assembly Government initiative whereby pupils are encouraged to take part in 60 minutes of physical activity five times a week.
Twenty new recruits from UWIC have recently been chosen as volunteers to assist with sports in local high schools across the city, as well working on other projects with Sport.Cardiff. Some will be assisting with sessions and those who are qualified will also be taking the lead in their relevant sports.
All of the student volunteers have completed the registration process to become Sport Cardiff accredited volunteers.
One student has also been selected for a one year placement with the Sport.Cardiff team. Their primary role will be to assist with the Coaching & Workforce Development project, ensuring that all recruited volunteers go through the Sport.Cardiff Accreditation scheme. The placement student will also support the young Ambassador scheme and the coach Accreditation scheme.
Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells, said: “The partnership we have with UWIC enables sport students to get hands on experience in supporting children and young people in sport as well as ensuring the continued success of clubs.
“Sport.Cardiff relies on the commitment of coaches and volunteers who give their time and energy to provide sporting opportunities across Cardiff and I encourage people to get involved in this worthwhile project”.
Sport.Cardiff focuses on the improvement of grassroots sport development in schools, clubs and communities across the city.
The team aims to enrich the lives of the people of Cardiff through clubs, coaching and competition with a focus on children and young people.
Sport.Cardiff operates a Coach and Volunteer Accreditation scheme for those working on our activities to ensure the highest standards of coaching and volunteering exist across Cardiff.
Sports volunteering can cover a range of activities from coaching, player development, running training sessions through to club administration, fundraising and the organisation of events, competitions and leagues.
For more information please visit: www.sport-cardiff.com
