Volunteer Skilled volunteers in/around Plymouth

What will you be doing?

We are the UK’s largest network of community groups supporting half a million young people to overcome barriers to reach their full potential. Sported members are led by an incredible group of passionate and dedicated people who do amazing work in their communities, transforming the lives of young people in neighbourhoods across the UK. Where they often lack support or the time is around their organisation’s development and it’s here where you can make a difference.  You'll use your professional skills and lived experience to help groups overcome operational challenges, become better equipped for the future, and tackle inequality in sport.  Most of our roles are quite flexible and work around your schedule. We do our best to only share opportunities we think are relevant to you. With most of our volunteering support being delivered digitally, it’s even easier to get started supporting members across our network. Travel expenses in line with our policy are covered in the instances in-person meetings occur. Our roles include:

Short term placements - Focused on one topic area or specific challenge, placements usually last about 6 sessions. Long term placements - Placements span a series of months and encompass multiple topics, or a single complex subject. One off support - Kickstarts are semi-structured, informal chats to learn more about a group’s strengths and challenges, and recommend a course of action. Specific project work - Facilitating/delivering webinars and training, or supporting Sported itself plus much more!

What are we looking for?

Who are we looking for? If you have 3 or more years’ professional and/or lived experience in Planning (Business / Strategic) and/or Governance, or experience in any of the below core support topics, we'd love to hear from you:

Evaluation and Impact

Facilities

Governance

Organisational Structure

Fundraising & Income Generation

Grant applications

Inclusion

Marketing/PR

Project Planning

Volunteer & Staff Management

Additionally, as we support groups through the Cost of Living challenges, groups especially need support to enhance their resilience at such a challenging period. Our volunteers aren't required to love, or even like, sport but should have a passion for local groups making a difference to their communities and to young people's lives.  We know representation matters, which is why we want our volunteers to reflect the diversity of the community groups we work with. We are actively encouraging applicants from ethnically diverse backgrounds, other minoritised groups and females to apply as we are currently under-represented in this space.

What difference will you make?

You will get to meet the inspirational faces of community groups across the UK and immerse yourself in their work; use your existing skills in a rewarding fashion whilst developing new ones; guide members to become more inclusive; network with other like-minded individuals helping grassroots sports groups survive; and so much more. Our volunteers say that making a positive difference to our members is what they most enjoy about volunteering at Sported.