8 October 2007
For immediate release
Volunteering England (VE), the national development agency for volunteering, and the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM), have warned that a new Government initiative to recruit 10,000 new sports coaches may fail to achieve its full potential if there is not adequate investment in volunteer management and infrastructure.
The new initiative aims to strengthen communities by involving young people and adults in local activities, increase sport participation and develop sporting talent. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will invest £5 million over three years in the campaign that will be delivered by Sport England, sports coach UK and other sports national government bodies.
Laura Ferguson, Strategic Development Manager for volunteering in sport at Volunteering England, said:
“While we commend Government’s enthusiasm for recruiting more volunteer coaches we would urge them to work closely with existing volunteering infrastructure organisations to maximise the impact of this initiative. Volunteer Centres have strong links in deprived areas and expertise in placing people of all ages in suitable volunteer roles, including non-traditional sports. Engaging with them and other volunteer development agencies will multiply the effectiveness of the £5 million investment.”
John Ramsey, Chair of the Association of Volunteer Managers said:
“This is a welcome boost for the sporting community, however, we would urge Government to ensure that proper funding and support is given to volunteer management to maximise the effectiveness of this investment. The recent national survey on volunteering revealed that nearly a third of volunteers feel that things could be much better organised, and this is an opportunity for Government to demonstrate that it has listened to the concerns of volunteers.”
- For more information or interviews with Volunteering England, please contact Cat Dean on 020 7520 8932 or email cat.dean@volunteeringengland.org. For out of office press enquiries, please contact Sonya Roberts on 07952 128 057.
- For more information on AVM, visit www.volunteermanagers.org.uk
- Volunteering England aims to improve the quality, quantity, impact and accessibility of volunteering throughout England. For more information please visit www.volunteering.org.uk
- Visit www.volunteering.org.uk/convention for details on Volunteering England’s National Volunteering convention, Transforming Passion into Power, 23-25 April 2008.
