You’ll see in this section several references to “runningsports” which is an organisation funded by Sport England and set up to help every volunteer in Sport.

So what does runningsports do?  The answer is they spend time helping volunteers make the most of theirs.

If you’re reading this you’ll know that the life of a sports volunteer is far from easy. And that’s what runningsports exists to fix. Created and funded by Sport England, they support sports volunteers and the people who manage them, and do everything in their power to make sure clubs not only survive, but also grow and thrive.

Whatever sport you’re involved in, whichever level you work at, they have a huge number of resources that can help you save time, access funding, attract more members…you name it we can make life easier. What’s more, much of the help we can give you is FREE.

So, how do you take advantage of all this help? All you have to do is join either as a:

    * Network Member - if you’re involved in running a club, team or an event
    * Official Partner - if you’re responsible for supporting a number of clubs in your area or sport

To join their website and get access to a great deal of information and a regular newsletter simply go to http://www.runningsports.org/ and register.

You certainly won’t regret it!

As we all know, the life of a sports volunteer is far from easy and in cricket especially so.

And that’s what ‘running sports’ is here to fix. Created and funded by Sport England they support sports volunteers and the people who manage them, and do everything in their power to make sure clubs not only survive, but also grow and thrive.

If you’re reading this then it’s almost certain you’re involved with cricket, though it applies to any sport, whichever level you work at. Running sports have a huge number of resources that can help you save time, access funding, attract more members … you name it and they can make life easier. What’s more, much of the help they can give you is FREE.

So, how do you take advantage of all this help? All you have to do is join either as a:

• Network Member - if you’re involved in running a club, team or an event
• Official Partner - if you’re responsible for supporting a number of clubs in your area or sport

You can sign up for regular emails which are always worth reading and their website is a treasure trove of information and facts that concern volunteers.

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. In this month’s newsletter: Are you new to sports volunteering or looking to recruit new volunteers? runningsports film now available online Focus on… runningsports Senior Tutor Judo club secures £9,000 – with help from runningsports Network Members’ Update Issue 9 welcome to the network members’ update Welcome to the July edition of the runningsports e-newsletter, letting you know all about the world of volunteering. The last month has been an exciting one for runningsports, with the launch of our new website. You will have received personal notification of this but please make sure you visit the new site regularly so you do not miss the latest news. Read on for details of runningsports’ volunteer role outlines, news on how runningsports has helped a judo club, a focus on a runningsports Senior Tutor and an opportunity to download an inspirational film from the new runningsports website. Are you new to sports volunteering or looking to recruit new volunteers? Access advice and support free of charge The most popular free downloads on the runningsports website are the role outline templates. (Over 6,500 were downloaded last year.) If you’re responsible for co-ordinating the volunteers in your sports club, you’ll already know that there are many tasks to be undertaken, from looking after the finances and seeking sponsorship to arranging fixtures for all the teams and providing support at matches. And that’s before you consider the Chairperson, Secretary and other committee members. You will appreciate that when volunteers know exactly what is involved in their role (and what isn’t) and know what is expected of them they are more likely to enjoy their volunteering and be effective. Structured roles benefit everyone and help to ensure everyone works together for the benefit of the club. The runningsports role outlines include all the key points they need to understand their role. Providing a template suggesting who the volunteer should be responsible to, the skills required to fulfil the role and the main duties of the role - the role outlines are a useful resource for all club volunteers. There are role outline templates for the following positions: Chairperson Coach Fixtures secretary Fundraiser Officials PR assistant Secretary Social secretary Treasurer Volunteer co-ordinator Do you fulfil one of these roles at your club or are you about to ask someone in the club to take on one of these roles? If so why not take a look at the runningsports website to read and download the role outlines. If you want to, you can personalise the outlines by cutting and pasting the wording onto your own letterhead and then add any other tasks that are relevant to your club. runningsports film now available online As a volunteer you probably know that you are one of thousands of skilled enthusiastic people up and down the country that keep community sport thriving throughout the year. runningsports has been out and about filming people like you and has compiled a short inspirational film that encapsulates all that is great about volunteers in English sport. The good news is that the film is now available on the new runningsports website in the Network Members’ area. You can view it and also download it to share with other people in your club. Be sure to take a look at the newly designed runningsports website, packed full of useful resources for you to download for free. Click on the ‘More’ link below to go straight to the log-in page. MORE… Focus on… a runningsports Senior Tutor This is the first in a series of articles, where we talk to people in various roles who contribute to the success of runningsports. First under the spotlight is Senior Tutor Simon Kirkland, who has been involved with runningsports since its early days in the 1990s. He became a runningsports tutor because, having a lifelong passion for sport (which includes being an Aston Villa season ticket holder and coaching basketball), he enjoys finding out what is happening “at the heart of sport”. This includes finding out about volunteers’ experiences in community sports clubs and helping them to succeed. Simon says ”the most rewarding parts of the job are first of all knowing that every workshop I run is going to be different and secondly the interaction with and between workshop attendees, where the learning really happens.” Four years ago Simon became one of runningsports’ select group of Senior Tutors, which means he is responsible for supporting new tutors. He will run a workshop alongside a prospective tutor, guiding and assessing them, and also undertaking their final assessments, - the last step for a tutor before they are allowed to tutor workshops on their own. He enjoys working with the tutors, and seeing them start out equipped with everything they need to ensure runningsports’ reputation for high quality tutoring is maintained. He points out that in the past most tutors were ex teachers or lecturers, whereas now they are from a variety of different backgrounds (including sports development officers) and believes that this enhances runningsports’ tutor workforce. The only aspect he doesn’t enjoy is people assuming he knows everything about tutoring, as he feels he is still learning, gaining useful insights from new tutors as well as the more experienced ones. Simon tutors the full range of runningsports workshops and gets a real buzz from catching up with people and finding out how they have used their new knowledge and learning to develop their club and volunteers. “Trying to convince someone to invest three hours in their own learning can be difficult, but the benefits far outweigh this investment”, he says.  Having played sport himself, mainly cricket, Simon sometimes finds that he has played against someone who comes to one of his workshops, and has to hope that he didn’t upset them on the pitch! To read more about Simon’s work with and thoughts on runningsports and also on the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, click on the ‘More’ link below. MORE… Judo club secures £9,000 – with help from runningsports Windsor Judo Club, founded in 1950, serves an underprivileged area of West Windsor in Berkshire. The local population is very diverse and has experienced racial tension in the recent past. The club is proud that it offers a sporting opportunity to everyone in the local community. “Once you’re in your judo suit and belt, your background doesn’t matter,” states Head Coach and Treasurer Nick Fletcher, “Judo welcomes everyone.” However, it hasn’t always been plain sailing. Just a few years ago the club was stagnating and had no real focus. Then Nick and a small number of other volunteers decided to work towards Clubmark and, assisted by the runningsports workshop A Club for All, they achieved their Clubmark accreditation in 2006. Next on the to-do list for the club was improve its facilities. The clubhouse, which the club rents, was looking run-down. The lighting and cooling systems were over 25 years old and the judo mats – the most important piece of kit for judo players – had not been replaced for many years. The club decided to apply for a grant from the Lottery grants scheme Awards for All, but needed guidance about how to go about it and how to get their formal application right. Being aware that many applications are turned down because applicants have requested funding for something the scheme does not support or simply haven’t filled out the application form correctly, the club knew that getting it right first time was a must. They already knew how helpful runningsports workshops could be, so turned to runningsports again, and the Awards for All workshop to help them make a success of their application. Nick saw a direct result from attending the Awards for All workshop. “During the workshop we were told what we could realistically apply for and were helped to complete the application form,” he says. “We tailored our grant application accordingly and were successful in our bid. Awards for All gave us a fantastic £9364!” To find out what the Club did with the money and to read the whole case study, click on the ‘More’ link below. MORE… You have received this email because you opted in to receive emails from us when you registered. Unsubscribe bob.patterson.lbh@gmail.com from this list. Our mailing address is: runningsports PO Box 35 Leeds, West Yorkshire LS12 4XY Our telephone: 0800 363373 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2008 runningsports All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend Update your profile

ECB have launched a new initiative for the recruitment of volunteers – there are a number of resources that are available – most notably posters / designed material that can be downloaded by clubs.

They cover a number of areas which are:

• General Volunteering
• Coaching
• Grounds and Facilities
• Building Partnerships between clubs and schools

There is a poster for each area which can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format so you can enter your club’s details electronically, or as a PDF for you to print off and enter the details by hand.  These are the links for the Word documents - we’ve added the KCB’s website details for you:

Coaching 1
Coaching 2
Groundwork
Scoring

(The titles are for identification only!  The posters are each just a little different.)

There are also double-sided postcards for each of the four areas which are only available as a PDF and finally a concertina leaflet which is a fold out of all four posters in an A5 size with information on each area.

Please use these however you see fit to invite more volunteers to ‘Be Involved’ in your club, especially if you are in the process of organising your NatWest CricketForce 2008 event!

A very interesting document has arrived from Volunteering England.  It’s very much worth reading and we are sure will be of great interest to all Clubs.

You can find it by clicking here though you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to see it.

Do you want to know how to become a volunteer? This link may help you.

Do you need to find volunteers for your organisation? This link will help.

We all need to manage our organisation’s volunteers better. Here’s some information that will help.

Here’s how to get hold of all of ECB’s volunteer resources.

If you want to liaise with all the necessary organisations in the volunteer and cricket world this link will certainly help.

If you’ve got a question about volunteering, here’s where to ask. We’ll do our best to answer you.

Read and suggest additions to our volunteer case studies and useful ideas here.

The Alan Albury Awards were instituted to honour those who give their time and effort to recreational cricket over many years. 2006 was the third year of the awards and we continue to be amazed at the loyalty and hard work so many people show to their clubs and to grass roots cricket as a whole. 

The 2006 awards were presented by Derek Underwood during the lunch interval on Thursday 7th September during the Kent v. Sussex game at Canterbury. After the ceremony the winners had lunch and enjoyed the exciting conclusion to the game.

The 2006  winners were  (in alphabetical order):
Jack Harris of Old Gravsendians C.C.    Jack has been Club Secretary since 1956.

Gordon Jarman, Northdown C.C.   A club member since 1954, Gordon has been Captain, Secretary, Fixture Secretary and also, with his wife, has run the Thanet Emergency Fixture Bureau since 1973. 

Pam Jarman also of Northdown C.C.  Apart from her work with the club, she has been Assistant Secretary AKCC 1984-2001 and as such has run many of our competitions prior to the arrival of KCB.  Especially, she has run the County Indoor Cricket Competition.

John Knock of Leigh C.C.   Club Secretary for 37 years and involved in every aspect of the club.

Bill Lacey of Tenterden C.C.   For over 30 years, Bill has been the club’s Groundsman. He was due to be given an award last year but was helping as part of the groundmen’s team at the Trent Bridge Test.

Wally Laker, Elham Valley C.C.   A club member for over 60 years, Wally now coaches young players, is the Shepway District Development Officer and Treasurer of the Shepway Cricket Partnership.

Peter Lawrence, City of London C.C.   Over the years Peter has served the club in every possible way. He has been Secretary, Treasurer and Fixture Secretary and also Groundsman, Umpire and Scorer.

Hilda Matthews from Stone C.C.  Hilda has been the club’s Tea Lady for 47 years. She has only missed one match in all that time and that was when her husband had a heart attack.

Len Morris of Horton Kirby C.C.   His work for his club has included 30 year’s service as Colts Coach and Manager.  He has also run the Kent Over 50’s side for many years.

John Thirkell from Linton Park C.C.  John joined the club in the 1930’s and was Groundsman for over 30 years. He has been Club Captain and Secretary and is still Fixture Secretary.

Fred Wilson of Deal Victoria and Barnes C.C.   A founder member of the club in 1950, he has been Club Secretary for the past 46 years and is largely responsible for the club having progressed from a park side to a club with 3 Saturday and 2 Sunday sides and a Colts Section.

Without the like of these people there would be no cricket.

The world of cricket relies heavily on the hard work, commitment and dedication of its volunteers.

In this volunteers section we have provided some information which may help you:

OSCAs 2006

  

Who was nominated for the NatWest Outstanding Services to Cricket Awards - the OSCAs - in 2006? Full details of all the nominees can be found by clicking here

Find out everything there is to know about the 2006 NatWest OSCAs by