Matthew Pritchard is Wales Fieldwork Manager for StreetGames and describes the huge potential and life-changing benefits that volunteering is having on young people across the country.
Volunteering opportunities are hugely important to developing more robust, flexible doorstep sport clubs and, at StreetGames, we have supported a number of volunteer doorstep sport projects, each looking different and tailored by the local organisation with local intelligence to suit local needs.
The volunteer programmes are vibrant and engaging, in some cases they are informal - some more formal than others - with each having a positive impact on the life journey of the young person. That’s what it is about, adding life changing opportunities - having a positive impact on their life journey. There are many real life examples of this across the network, too many to mention, but here are some incredible stories to highlight this:
Lucy Thomas – Caerphilly
“I never saw myself doing what I am doing now I didn’t know a job like this was out there and at the time didn’t know where and how to look, and cannot believe how much more confident I am now.”
In 2015 Lucy was 19 and dropped out of two colleges and was not in either education or employment. At this time Lucy was extremely confused, she was not academic and she didn’t have the confidence and motivation to look for opportunities outside of the area she comes from. All in all she felt there weren’t many options.
An offer from StreetGames came up, taken on by the local Communities First Project Lead who took up the full-time volunteer placement offer.
This provided Lucy the opportunity to go on a StreetGames induction day, Training Academy workshops and courses, as well as attending an employability day at Admiral Insurance to support her to plan and deliver her own project impacting on doorstep sport and young people in her community.
The Project Lead provided key support and guidance along the way including hands on experience of delivering StreetGames in the area.
Since then, Lucy took her own initiative and started up 3 new sessions within the community when she identified a need for provision. Lucy coaches, recruits volunteers and is a mentor to participants and fellow volunteers. She even arranged a residential for the BIG Sisters Us Girls volunteers.
It is hard work. It isn’t all sunshine and lollypops and Lucy will tell you herself she has turned up at sessions and people not much younger than her kicking footballs at her head. But she has earned every bit of respect from the participants in the upper Rhymney Valley, building great relationship at the sessions with the young people, parents, caretakers and a host of other people. It has been clear that since she has taken over these sites numbers have increased significantly.
Lucy goes above and beyond to make sure the young people have a voice and are listened to. She coaches in a young person-led, fun way. Lucy has attended up to 6 StreetGames Activator courses and the Doorstep Sport 1st 4 Sport Level 2 Qualification. Along with being part of the Young Advisors Group for Wales she has volunteered on a national level with the StreetGames Multi Sport Event and Young People’s Conferences. She takes this knowledge and puts it into practice for the young people on a local level.
Lucy now has a job working as a Teaching Assistant and has recently been given the opportunity to work and support young people who struggle with the conventional education system.
Deepak Singh – Canton Cardiff
“The support has been amazing in getting me to where I am today; the volunteering has given me the chance to meet new people and take part in some great experiences, as well as gaining skills and knowledge from the workshops along the way. My confidence has increased massively and I feel I’m a part of something big at Canton -it’s like a second home and I love doing the work I do with the young people."
Deepak Singh has lived in Canton his whole life and started participating in doorstep sport at the centre at 9 years of age. He has come on leaps and bounds and is very much part of the team at Canton and a huge part of the Junior Activity Programme.
For the last 5 years he has attended sessions at Canton Community Hall – attending 3 sessions every week. Deepak was always relatively quiet when attending sessions; he always took part and enjoyed the sessions but was quite reserved.
Around a year ago, after turning 14, he became more interested in a volunteer role rather than that of a participant. The local project leader asked him to volunteer straight on a football session once a week, which soon turned into five doorstep sport sessions a week. Staff at the centre saw Deepak grow in confidence and noticed how much more chatty and smiley he was. The young people instantly took to Deepak as a volunteer and have built up massive respect for him.
To support his development, the local project lead John Wheadon linked Deepak with the StreetGames Training Academy Activator workshops and he volunteered in various small events. Since taking part he has used the experience and knowledge gained and taken it back into his local community providing more opportunities for the young people.
He has become a great role model for the young people who want to follow in his footsteps and volunteer at Canton. Highlights for Deepak this year have included taking a group of young people to the StreetGames Multi Sport Festival, Cardiff and taking a group of young people to meet Mo Farah.
Deepak’s plans for the future are to attend more StreetGames Training Academy workshops and introduce these new activities at Canton.
Where is Deepak Now?
Deepak has completed 200 hours of volunteering, and will hopefully get employment at the Centre to do some paid coaching for them when he turns 16.
Carwyn Williams – Conwy
“If it wasn’t for Conwy Youth Service I would be sitting at home doing nothing. I am very thankful that they have been able to give me the opportunity to fulfil my potential.”
‘Helping others, making a difference in your community, turning your life around’; these points all apply to local hero, Carwyn Williams, aged 19. At a young age Carwyn struggled with the conventional education system and was excluded from school aged 16. He transferred, but still found that education wasn’t for him. From leaving education with no qualifications, to working with young people and giving up hundreds of hours of his time volunteering, Carwyn’s transformation has been rapid.
Through the support of local Youth Service officers Chris Gledhill and Sharon Campbell, Carwyn has been provided with life changing opportunities such as attending StreetGames Youth Residential, conferences, training workshops, pop-up clubs and further training opportunities and events through Conwy Youth Service.
This highlights that by working in partnership, a young person can be provided with a variety of vibrant offers to help with their development and life journey.
Carwyn became an avid volunteer on the Healthy Image Project, where he helps promote healthy lifestyles and physical activity to other young people. It doesn’t stop there, he also assists in the delivery of a variety of different sports sessions, including new and innovative sports such as futsal and handball.
Chris Gledhill, Healthy Image Project worker for Conwy Youth Service is full of praise saying: “Carwyn has been a credit to Conwy Youth Service and his local community over the past three years. He is an invaluable asset to the project and is able to work as part of a team or under his own initiative. He is reliable, motivated, patient and extremely committed to what he does, and through the likes of Carwyn, we see a growth in young people wanting to be young Volunteers. Volunteering gives Carwyn a great sense of satisfaction by being able to help others. We regularly receive ‘thank you’ messages for the work that Carwyn does.”
Where is Carwyn Now?
Won StreetGames Volunteer Award for Wales in 2015, recently won the St. David’s Young Person Award for his commitment to volunteering and now has a full time job.
“If it wasn’t for Conwy Youth Service I would be sitting at home doing nothing. I am very thankful that they have been able to give me the opportunity to fulfil my potential.”
‘Helping others, making a difference in your community, turning your life around’; these points all apply to local hero, Carwyn Williams, aged 19. At a young age Carwyn struggled with the conventional education system and was excluded from school aged 16. He transferred, but still found that education wasn’t for him. From leaving education with no qualifications, to working with young people and giving up hundreds of hours of his time volunteering, Carwyn’s transformation has been rapid.
Through the support of local Youth Service officers Chris Gledhill and Sharon Campbell, Carwyn has been provided with life changing opportunities such as attending StreetGames Youth Residential, conferences, training workshops, pop-up clubs and further training opportunities and events through Conwy Youth Service.
This highlights that by working in partnership, a young person can be provided with a variety of vibrant offers to help with their development and life journey.
Carwyn became an avid volunteer on the Healthy Image Project, where he helps promote healthy lifestyles and physical activity to other young people. It doesn’t stop there, he also assists in the delivery of a variety of different sports sessions, including new and innovative sports such as futsal and handball.
Chris Gledhill, Healthy Image Project worker for Conwy Youth Service is full of praise saying: “Carwyn has been a credit to Conwy Youth Service and his local community over the past three years. He is an invaluable asset to the project and is able to work as part of a team or under his own initiative. He is reliable, motivated, patient and extremely committed to what he does, and through the likes of Carwyn, we see a growth in young people wanting to be young Volunteers. Volunteering gives Carwyn a great sense of satisfaction by being able to help others. We regularly receive ‘thank you’ messages for the work that Carwyn does.”
Where is Carwyn Now?
Won StreetGames Volunteer Award for Wales in 2015, recently won the St. David’s Young Person Award for his commitment to volunteering and now has a full time job.
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