Volunteer Development
Volunteering in sport is a fantastic way to gain experience and learn more about the work our department is involved in, especially if you would like a career in sport.
Oldham Sport Development provide voluntary opportunities for all members of the Oldham community. We have a team of officers who will meet and be mentors for volunteers and will identify any training they may need to access and also provide them opportunities to work at Sport Development sessions such as our community evening sessions or holidays programmes.
We also provide opportunities and recognition for those people who are already involved as volunteers for their local sports groups or clubs.
- We recognise individual volunteers and their achievements at our annual Oldham Sports awards.
- We provide training and development opportunities and subsidised courses for volunteers to attend.
We have 2 schemes at Oldham Sport Development, which volunteers can sign up to, which recognises their achievements and the number of voluntary hours they have undertaken.
These schemes are ;
- YAVA - Young Active Volunteers Award - this project is aimed at young people aged 14-16 and has three level of awards, which are bronze - 50hrs, silver 75hrs and 100 + gold award.
- AVA - Active Volunteers Awards - this is in conjunction with the V award formerly known as the Millennium volunteers award. Again volunteers can gain three levels of recognition, 50hrs, 100 and 200 hrs.
For both awards volunteers need to sign up to the scheme, identify a mentor at school or local club (Oldham Sport Development can assist with this), and keep a track of their volunteering hours.
Sports Leadership Training
We provide sports leader trainings at a variety of levels and age groups.
- Young Leaders award; this is available for young people aged 9-14. Oldham Sport Development deliver the award and offer training for teachers to provide them with the necessary skills to deliver it in their own schools.
- Junior Sports Leadership Award for young people aged 14-16 is delivered by all secondary schools in Oldham with support from Oldham Sport Development.
- Community Sport Leader award, is aimed at people aged 16 and over. Oldham Sport development delivers these courses in partnership with other organizations. This course develops skills to lead safe and structured sports sessions and requires volunteers to do 10 hours voluntary leadership to achieve the award. On completion of this award, participants can look employment opportunities in sport development.
To find out more about these courses or express your interest in attending the Community Sport Leadership award in the future please contact our volunteer officer on 0161 770 3050.