Active Stirling delivers sport and physical activity across the Stirling area on behalf of Stirling Council. The responsibility for recruiting, managing and deploying volunteers and sports coaches falls to a wide range of staff within Active Stirling, including Mark Findlay the Employability and Volunteering Manager at Active Stirling. The following case study explores how TeamKinetic has improved the volunteer management process.
Hello Mark, can you please tell us about your role at Active Stirling?
Collectively my team oversees the recruitment of volunteers and coaches for our community programmes such as term-time activities and holiday programmes. As part of our work, we also manage the coach education programme, which is aimed at offering local clubs, coaches and volunteers training opportunities from safeguarding and protecting children, first aid courses and other similar kinds of courses.
Can you tell me about the type of volunteers you manage?
We have a range of volunteers that contribute to the work of Active Stirling, the age really varies from young sports coaches to our walking groups. In terms of the number of volunteers we have if you look at our after schools programmes we have over three hundred volunteers helping to deliver breakfast, lunchtime and after-school clubs.
How did you previously manage volunteers?
Before using TeamKinetic, many of our groups were self-contained and operated independently. Of course, this was great that they were able to support themselves, but it also meant they were isolated. Using TeamKinetic has helped us to integrate these groups, provide a single platform for them to communicate and for volunteers from different cohorts to explore other opportunities.
Why did you start looking for volunteer management software?
We needed a systematic way of recruiting, deploying and managing our volunteers. It was around the same time I visited Glasgow Life, where I had previously worked and they introduced me to the software. I then reached out to Steve and Chris at TeamKinetic and we organised a meeting and demonstration.
How have you found using TeamKinetic’s Volunteer Management Software?
We have found the benefit of the software to be in its ability to be a ‘one-stop shop’. By that I mean it has all the functionality you need from an end user, the volunteer, to the opportunity provider, Active Stirling in our case. It has become much easier for us to signpost our volunteers to finding opportunities.
How many opportunities do you post a month?
Currently, we post between 7 and 10 opportunities each month, but we expect this to rise once have we have the system fully integrated across the company
What makes TeamKinetic a stand out product?
“The system is easy to use and is really accessible for our volunteers 24/7. As many of our volunteers are students, they are able to log on when they want to see what opportunities are available. We can also upload all our training opportunities onto the system which again is great, as it keeps everything in the one place”
Thank you for your time and comments Mark.
With experience in working in Sports, Universities and Local Authorities, TeamKinetic has been leading the volunteer management innovation for the last ten years. Having developed one of the most advanced volunteer management system currently available on the market, with a core volunteer-centric design, it uniquely puts the volunteer’s experience first.
To learn more about the benefits TeamKinetic’s Volunteer Management Software could have in your organisation, please get call or email one of our team:
One of TeamKinetic’s founding Directors, Chris, has joined the School Under the Tree to explore future voluntary opportunities in Awasa, Southern Ethiopia. In his latest blog, Chris shares his experiences and what he has learnt so far.
Over to you Chris…
Hello from afar!
In my last blog, I set the scene and expressed how we wanted to identify opportunities to develop this small and underprivileged town with a sustainable funding model for its school.
So as I reach the halfway point of this amazing experience, I wanted to reflect on what I have seen and learnt as a volunteer. I also want to ask you for your thoughts on how we make our projects more sustainable and resilient.
Day 2 – A Bumpy Arrival
After the 11 hours of flying, and 5 of the scariest hours of my life driving, our guide dropped us at our first hotel. Tired and a little travel sick from the journey we settled in for a few beers before calling it a night.
To welcome us into Awassa was Belay, the founder of The School Under The Tree and its head teacher. It didn’t take long before we started discussing the challenges the school is facing, and how with little funding, time or resources they have been coping.
We quickly got into discussing the many issues the school faced, and much like the English primary schools I’m more used to working with, it had neither the money or time to solve many of the problems. Despite being thousands of miles away, Belay was describing the same fundamental issues of many British Primary School.
It also became clear Belay was wary of the four strangers from England, promising him the world. But once we began sharing our past experience in Schools, mine teaching PE, we started to build a level of trust. One of the most important lessons from this trip has been the building of trust and relationships. If we want to make this project a success, then we need nurture our relationships with the locals. In the evening we said our goodnight to Belay and our guide, settling in for a decent night sleep.
Day 3 – Just a little disruption
I was woken at 5:50 am by the crowing of a Cockerell, which I am convinced was positioned on my window ledge he was that loud! We convened at breakfast to plan our day.We convened at breakfast, making our plans for the day. It was far from the usual two pieces of toast and jam in the UK, but that’s not to say it didn’t do the trick.
There was a mix of nerves and excitement to start our volunteering at the school, we did not know what to expect or how we would be welcomed. But what a welcome it was – excited, giddy, full of smiles and fun. The children were just as curious as those in the UK, and with many of them not having seen an Englishman you can imagine the amusement. Unfortunately, the school facilities were unlike any I had taught before. The school had just one toilet, a description I would use loosely and is without a playground or books. Instead, the school relies on enthusiasm and a desire to learn.
It became clear that we were going to be a bit of a distraction, I suppose if are going to be, you might as well make the most of it. So Wayne, one of my group’s volunteers, began leading a rendition of Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes and so it began.
After lunch we sat down with Belay and picked up where we had left off the night before, discussing the issues he faced. Together we identified the following challenges the small private school faces in delivering an education to the very poorest children in the area:
There are far more children than spaces available in the school.
Property values in Awassa are seeing a significant increase under the pressure of urbanisation making rent very expensive.
The school is fully dependent upon charitable donations.
The local tax regime treats private school as any other business and the corporate tax on income is high and treats charitable donations as part of their income.
Children who graduate from the school can access free government school places at Grade 1 but many don’t seem to do this and right now we don’t know why that is.
I would love to speak to other organisations or individuals who have experience of working in Africa and Ethiopia who might be able to share their experiences with regards to these issues.
Our solution is to develop a volunteer tourism service for students. We want to recruit up to 20 students in 2019 to visit Awassa for two weeks and work at the school and orphanage as teachers and youth workers. We would train and support the students prior to visiting Ethiopia and they would help promote the charity to their friends and family.
I can say this experience has been truly amazing and has altered my perception of Ethiopia and Africa so much. As a relatively cynical 39-year-old businessman, I have found myself moved to tears by some of the wonderful stories I have heard this week. I think anyone who visited this amazing place would go home a more humble person.
This is our first venture into this type of activity and we are driven to succeed, The School Under the Tree deserves to succeed. I would love to hear peoples thoughts on using charity tourism to help fund this project, and your experiences of the dangers and un-foreseen impacts volunteer tourism can create.
Please feel free to reach out to me: chris@teamkinetic.co.uk
A few months ago I wrote a post about the potential impact we can all make and how we as individuals and business owners should try to maximise that impact. It occurred to me that I really needed to live by my own message and I started to look for new personal and business projects to increase my impact.
Through a friend, I was introduced to The School Under The Tree, a Manchester based charity that supports a school project in Ethiopia. The charity name echos its beginnings, a young Ethiopian man teaching local street children under a tree in the town of Awasa in Southern Ethiopia. Supported by people from Manchester, that school of humble beginnings has 13 years later transformed into a provider of primary age education for over 200 students every day.
The challenge
How can we make this small school in Ethiopia, sustainable and maybe even give it the potential to grow, without it being dependant upon donations and funding?
This is a challenge many fundraisers and 3rd sector organisations around the world battle with every day. My goal is to develop a business model that will allow the school to prosper long term, whilst staying true to its goal to provide education for some of the poorest young people in this region.
Over the next few days I’ll blog about my experiences in the school and share ideas on how we might help achieve long-term viability for the School Under The Tree. If you have ideas please comment below or follow us on twitter @schoolundert.
England Athletics is the latest National Governing Body to be using TeamKinetic cloud-based Volunteer Management Software.England Athletics has placed volunteers at the heart of their most recent strategic plan with ‘Strategic Priority One’ being:
“To expand the capacity of the sport by supporting and developing its volunteers and other workforce”.
The recognition that volunteers are at the heart of England Athletics’ strategy has resulted in the demand for an effective volunteer management system.
England Athletics have initially focused on using TeamKinetic to support the 4,500 licensed officials, just one segment of volunteers that support the 149,000 registered athletes at events, competition and clubs.
Nicola English, Officials Development Officer, explains how TeamKinetic arrived on the scene:
“Starting my role in April last year, one of the key priorities was to improve the experience of our current officials and official secretaries. As part of the improvement, we wanted to make it easier for Officials to find competitions in their local area and to reduce the amount of time it takes for officials Secretaries to appoint and manage Officials prior to an event or competition.”
We searched several systems before selecting TeamKinetic for its simplicity and ease of use. Using TeamKinetic will make it simpler for Officials to find and join opportunities as well as reducing the time it takes Officials Secretaries to appoint Officials to competitions and events. We really like how responsive and easy to communicate it is with one of the team, especially if we have any technical queries”
England Athletics is the first National Governing Body to use TeamKinetic to such an extent for the management of Officials at competition and this has posed some interesting challenges for the development team at TeamKinetic. It has provided a fantastic opportunities to test the application in this new context and we look forward to the spring and summer of 2018 where we will get to see these in action for the first time.
Chris Martin, Co-Founder at TeamKinetic comments:
“TeamKinetic began by helping sports organisations to recruit volunteers, but as we have progressed our software now caters for all volunteer-orientated organisation. We are delighted that TeamKinetic continues to attract leading National Governing Bodies and we look forward to working with England Athletics.”
For more information on TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software or to book an online demonstration, please get in touch james@teamkinetic.co.uk or call 0161 914 5757
I wanted to talk a little about how we adhere to the accessibility standards laid out by the W3 web consortium. These are termed Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or WCAG.
The WCAG documents explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Web “content” generally refers to the information in a web page or web application, including:
natural information such as text, images, and sounds
code or markup that defines structure, presentation, etc.
These guidelines help people using assistive technologies, such as screen readers and text-only browsers, to navigate ever more complex websites.
An example of how the correct mark up can help is in navigation elements. We’ve all seen the standard top or side navigation bars in websites, that often have multiple sub-menus and let a user navigate quickly to any area of the website.
For instance, the Amazon navigation bar has over 100 such links hidden away in the navigation bar.
What is not apparent to users that are not using assistive technologies is that this navigation bar appears first in the content flow of the website. As a visual user you can quickly skip over that part and get on with buying a new TV by just averting your eyes. A screen reader however must read over that entire navigation section and read out every link, EVERY time a page is loaded, can you imagine the inconvenience and annoyance that would cause!
To overcome this web designers can use a specific HTML 5 element, plus a few other attributes from the ARIA set, to define a navigation section. This lets assistive technologies know that everything following that declaration is navigation, and the user can skip over them easily if they want to.
So as you might imagine the first thing we do here at TeamKinetic is to make sure all the navigation elements are enclosed in the correct element tags so assistive technologies can render them correctly.
At a minimum, we seek to make sure every public page has no errors when scanned with the WAVE accessibility checker and on each audit we attempt to address any alerts that appear.
This is the list of major conventions we use to help us adhere to the WCAG standards;
All navigation elements are enclosed in an HTML 5 nav element that is given the role=”navigation” so that newer and older assistive technologies will recognise the enclosed section as navigation
All images have a meaningful alt tag so the user gets an idea of what the image means
All anchor or link tags have meaningful text, this is sometimes hidden from the non-assistive browser in the case of icon buttons for instance.
All input form elements have a label tag which describes what data should be inserted into the form element.
The tab order of form elements is logical and follows the on-screen order so that people can tab through a form easily.
ARIA roles and landmarks are used where appropriate.
In our next audit, we are attempting to improve the experience for our dynamic content. This is content which may appear or disappear without a new page being loaded. This means that users of assistive technology may become stuck on an alert or page overlay without knowing that it is there.
There are always ways to improve and if you have any comments or suggestions we would welcome them below.
For the last four years, University of Portsmouth Sports Development Team has been benefiting from TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software. This case study explores the benefits of TeamKinetic as discussed with Zoe Monk, Sports Development Officer at the University of Portsmouth.
Hi Zoe, please can you tell us about your role and responsibilities?
I am a Sports Development Officer, as part of my role I oversee all volunteering opportunities in sports and our community engagement programme. This includes the recruitment and management of volunteers from the university, starting before the academic year through to May when students focus on their exams. I also oversee the training and professional development of our volunteers.
On a day to day basis, I correspond with organisations in our community partnerships, sharing any opportunities they might have on an ad hoc basis. I also manage the sports delivery programme, which includes regular volunteers from Portsmouth University cheerleading and dance clubs delivering coaching in local schools.
I lead the volunteer training that we run for our groups of volunteers and I am seconded to academic lecturing on the side as well, in coaching and event management.
Why did you start using TeamKinetic?
We started using TeamKinetic’s software after realising our existing system, which had been designed in-house, was not really fit for purpose. It didn’t really track some of the essential pieces of information we wanted to report on. It was at that point we decided to find a designed for purpose system and came across TeamKinetic.
How do you use TeamKinetic?
The first way we use TeamKinetic is to support our students in their professional development, gaining valuable experience. For example, we had a PGCSE student needing some practical experience delivering PE to children in school, we then went onto our opportunities available and found one that matched their needs.
The other way we use TeamKinetic is in a community coaching agency. We are approached by the organisations with a need for a coach with a specific skills. We then advertise the role to our students, say if a school needed a basketball coach or referee for a tournament, then we would use TeamKinetic to advertise the opportunity and recruit a volunteer.
Could you give me some more examples of the types of opportunities you advertise?
Yes, of course. The volunteer opportunities are either structured or are ad hoc.
The structure opportunities mainly include our dance and cheer coaching opportunities. This is where we have thirty cheerleaders and fifty dancers delivering coaching in schools each week, so we keep track of that.
We then have a community football club, which is run by twenty or so student volunteers. On top of these, we have student activators that support the running of on sport. That alone is just the structured stuff we offer.
Is there a process for advertising your opportunities?
For new opportunities, either me or one of the approved providers will make sure that it has been formatted in the appropriate way before going live. This ensures there is the right amount of detail, requirements and the opportunity’s expectations are sufficiently outlined.
This authorisation makes sure we maintain a level standardisation across all our opportunities, resulting in our students knowing what to expect when they volunteers.
What role would you say TeamKinetic has played in supporting the success of these opportunities?
TeamKinetic has proved very beneficial in supporting the running of these opportunities. It has helped create an efficient, straightforward and standardised process for opportunities to recruit and recognise volunteers.
From the students’ point of view, they have an intuitive experience of signing up, searching opportunities, joining them, attending, followed by logging their hours and leaving feedback.
How has TeamKinetic helped you to recruit volunteers?
I think TeamKinetic works so well is because of how user-friendly it is. It is efficient and easy for students to sign up, find opportunities and leave feedback on those they have attended. They can keep track of what opportunities they have attended, their hours and their progress, which I think is very helpful.
What makes TeamKinetic stand out?
For us as a Sports Development Team, it is helpful that TeamKinetic is from a sports background. If you look at the products available on the market, there is nothing that really caters in the same way for the needs of sports organisations.
Would you like to add anything else?
I think my only remaining comment, would be that we use it as an agency kind of tool, but I am aware that other universities, such as Northumbria, use the software with a much more stringent approach. I think this is something we are hoping to do more of.
If you would like to find out how TeamKinetic Volunteer Management Software would benefit your University, please get in touch with one of our team.
TeamKinetic’s youngest member, James, participated in the YMCA ‘Sleep Easy’ challenge, raising a total of £250 for the charity. The experience contributed towards TeamKinetic’s wider ambition to support more causes in need of support through the contribution of our time, effort and expertise.
Read about his experience, the challenge of Homelessness and the work of YMCA:
On Friday, 2nd March, I swapped my usual routine of enjoying an evening indoors with my friends or family, for a night of sleeping it ‘rough’. Participating in the YMCA Sleep Easy Challenge, I spent twelve hours setting up my temporary shelter and sleeping out in it.
James’ Shelter Before the Rain
Arriving at Cambridge Rugby Club, I was unsure of what to expect from the night, other than to be cold and at least some rain. I joined a convoy of other stragglers finding our way to the club from the distant car park.
Arriving at the clubhouse we found the all sheltered areas had already been taken and the remaining areas we exposed to the elements. I put my rucksack and sleeping bag down at the end of a row, securing my spot on the edge of shelters. I set around to find the cardboard boxes available and created my temporary shelter, using a life bag to waterproof the roof.
Once completed, I joined the other twenty-five volunteer embracing the YMCA Challenge. Provided with some tummy warming vegetable curry, by Food Cycle Cambridge, we spoke about why homelessness was a cause for concern and how the YMCA is helping to support those vulnerable.
The ‘Rough’ Facts:
Accurate figures of homelessness are hard to capture due to different local authorities having different definitions of ‘homelessness’ and lack accurate methods of keeping track
4,751 homeless people bedded down outside overnight in 2017, up 15% from the previous year
Across the UK it is estimated 3,500 people sleep rough in the UK each night, with one-fifth of these are young people aged between 16 to 24.
The statistics show that 92 local authorities had rough sleeping rates that were worse than the national picture.
Thirty-two authorities, including Barking and Dagenham and Barnsley, claimed to have had zero rough sleepers.
(The Guardian, 2018)
The YMCA:
YMCA is the oldest and largest youth charity in the world
Provides support and advice, accommodation, family support, campaigning, health and wellbeing, training and education.
YMCA has over 58 million members in 119 countries worldwide
supports projects for vulnerable young people in over 20 countries worldwide
Over 800 dedicated volunteers in 2017
(YMCA.org.uk, 2018)
As the evening continued entertainment was provided by Joshua Francis. A talented artist who has an experienced firsthand the support from the YMCA, he bought to life his colourful experiences through a heart touching and brutally honest performance of his own songs.
Following his performance, he spoke to several of us before setting off on his way. As the night quietened down, we turned our attention to the rain that had been pouring down, testing the durability of our shelters. Although slightly damp, the shelter had survived the first bought of rain.
I climbed into my sleeping bag, crawled into my shelters and tried settling into a comfortable position to fall asleep. Eventually, I fell asleep for a couple of hours, only to be woken again by the second set of rain pouring down heavy onto my shelter. It was this bout of rain that reduced my shelter to a collection of piled up cardboard boxes, plastic wrapping and a wet sleeping. It was safe to say, if I ever did this again, I would have to consider how to better equip my shelter for the rain.
Shelter Following the Rain
As I laid in the cold, I comforted myself by counting down the hours I had left. I was fortunate enough to be able to return home, to a comfortable bed in my home once this had finished. For those who are homeless, this luxury is not an option and instead, they are faced with a much more undesirable reality.
Finally, dawn broke and I climbed out from my wet cardboard mush to seek refuge, found in a hot cup of tea to bring warmth to my body. By 6:00 am everyone was awake, packing away their shelters, with a coffee in one hand and a cinnamon roll, again provided by Food Cycle. Everyone was eager to find warmth and retreat to their homes following a rather restless night. Once the site had been cleared of rubbish, the dry cardboard recycled and volunteers thanked everyone, I set off to return home.
It was the journey home that provided the opportunity to reflect on how fortunate I am to have somewhere I can call home, a network to support me and opportunities that offer a safe and secure future.
This experience has given me the smallest taste of the physical conditions they experience. I could go inside to a toilet, for food, warmth and the clubhouse if I needed. I was not subject to experience freezing temperatures, the torrential rains or snow. Nor did I experience the mental and emotional challenges that such vulnerability inflicts. To understand that, I believe you truly have to be in that position yourself.
Participating in the challenge reinforced my sentiment to supporting those affected by homelessness. I want to continue working to raise awareness of the issue, encouraging others to do so too and to raise funds that will directly benefit those affected.
The YMCA Trinity Sleep Easy volunteers collectively raised £12379.52 at the time of writing.
With donations still welcomed: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/jamesandteamkinetic
If you would like to read more about the work of TeamKinetic take a read through our blog or if you would like to learn more about volunteer management software please get in contact with one of the team.
Just before Christmas TeamKinetic announced we were hoping to do something that would raise awareness of Homelessness. Unfortunately, we were delayed due to an overly busy period and our plans were put on hold until a later opportunity.
Still eager to pursue an event that will raise awareness of homelessness and support the thousands of people affected, James, our youngest member of TeamKinetic will be taking on the YMCA Sleep Easy challenge.
Sleep Easy is a national fundraising event which aims to help prevent youth homelessness. By participating in the YMCA Sleep Easy Event at St. Catherine’s College Sports Ground, he will be experiencing one night of sleeping it rough.
Sharing his thoughts, James said:
“I have studied in Cambridge and Manchester and have become increasingly conscious of homelessness. It is hard to even comprehend the reasoning as to why people end up homeless. But the moment you take the time to speak with the, you realise these people are often a victim of unfortunate circumstances and lack a supportive network many of us fortunately have. Of course Sleep Easy does not replicate what it is really like to be homeless, but it is a good way to raise awareness and funds for a deserving cause.” TeamKinetic works to support third sectors organisations in all our operations, sharing a vision to encourage social good. This is just one part of the commitment we made to support more organisation through our time, energy and resources. Can you help TeamKinetic support this worthy cause?
Find out more about the event and the donations page here:
TeamKinetic is delighted to have been recognised as one of the 100 most innovative companies in Greater Manchester, in a report produced by BQ and the Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company.
This new initiative is designed to shine the spotlight on some of Greater Manchester’s most forward-thinking small and medium sized businesses.
Innovation is at the very heart of helping businesses to succeed and grow. It is key to building a sustainable and growing economy, and can be recognised not just in products and services but also across management processes and business operations.
Firms recognised from coming from right across the Greater Manchester region, and represent sectors as diverse as food & drink, manufacturing, healthcare and digital.
Across Greater Manchester alone, Innovate UK has provided funding for over 600 innovation projects since 2004 and the North West is home to a highly innovative business community that are contributing to new discoveries every day.
BQ’s Bryan Hoare said: “We’re delighted to give companies the chance to see some recognition for the hard work they put into innovation in their businesses.
“Innovation is the key to unlocking future growth, job creation and prosperity for the region, and what these businesses are already doing is incredibly impressive in lots of ways.”
Chris Greenhalgh, head of innovation at Business Growth Hub, said: “It’s our aim with Innovation100 to raise the profile of those businesses innovating in different ways, inspiring others to innovate and achieve growth.”
“What the Innovation100 companies underline is that while innovation can often be related to products, it can also apply to developing disruptive business models, applying new processes and delivering new services. Innovation is across many different facets of business, across different sectors and different sizes of companies.”
Chris Martin, Director at TeamKinetic:
“It has made us very proud to be recognised by the Innovation100. TeamKinetic has worked hard to provide leading software solutions for over eight years. We have always tried to incorporate upcoming and leading technologies into our software and provide the best solutions for our clients. To be recognised as one of Manchester leading innovative companies makes that hard work pay off.
We will continue developing our volunteer management software. Making it easier for volunteers to find, join and stay engaged in opportunities. For our clients in the third sector, we want to continue listening to their needs and understanding how we can develop our software to cater to new challenges that may arise. It all boils down to wanting to make TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software the best.”
Following on from one of our recent blog A Waterfall Begins From Only One Drop of Water TeamKinetic wanted to continue sharing inspirational stories. We recently spoke with Denise Larrad, BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award Winner at the Sports Personality of the Year 2017 ceremony. TeamKinetic is excited to announce she will be joining us at our 5th annual conference, with more details to be confirmed. First, we wanted to share her inspirational story:
Who is Denise Larrad?
A mother of two, 56-year-old Denise Larrad was selected to be a torchbearer for the Olympic Torch Relay at the 2012 Games. She was selected for her outstanding contribution to fundraising work by Asda, her employer. After being chosen to carry the Torch for the Games Denise had one sole aim – to get the people of Hinckley, Leicestershire, active.
Despite working night shifts in a warehouse, she finds time to help lead walking, orienteering, running and general fitness classes for children, families and the elderly. With a host of different activities and exercises sessions, Denise motivates and nurtures participants to be more active.
She is a trained walk leader, putting on weekly sessions for the elderly on behalf of the charity Age UK and also organises orienteering courses across the borough in town parks, woodlands and schools.
Tell me a little bit about how you got started as a volunteer?
I can’t tell you how I felt when I got this little red box with a running man in it. It said ”you have been chosen as one of the Olympic torch bearers”. Can you imagine how that makes you feel, you know. It was such a huge honour. Following then, I really wanted to give something back to the people of Hinckley.
How did you end up carrying the Olympic torch?
I’ve always been a runner, I’ve run marathons and climbed up Kilimanjaro with Martina Navratilova and Gail Emms. But usually, it is just me, as there has been no need to involve anybody else. That’s why I got nominated to carry the torch.
I ran the relay with Sebastian Coe through Sheffield on the 25th June, it was brilliant. I thought to myself, I’m not going to miss this opportunity, so asked him for his autograph.
Once I had carried the flame, I came back feeling inspired and motivated by it all, to go do something within my community. I went to the Local Council and told someone there how I wanted to get the people of Hinckley moving. The person I spoke to put me on run leader, walk leader and orienteering explorer training, so she provided me with the training for it all. I have also become a cycle leader.
What do you think is behind your continuing motivation to volunteer within your community?
I think it is what I am passionate most about, the walking, the running and general act of getting people more active. Having achieved everything so far and to receive national recognition, it’s certainly something I want to continue pursuing and hopefully take a little bit field in the future.
Were you a member of a club before you started volunteering?
No, I used to just run by myself. I never went with anybody. Somebody on my Sport Personality video said “she’s like a dynamo, she never stops” that’s me.
What do you think society at large can do to improve people’s outcomes with these things?
This is the difficult one. I think having someone like me helps, you need someone who is passionate and really keen to get people moving, working in the community and willing to facilitate it all. Paid and volunteer working together, a combination of both.
All our groups are welcoming, friendly and bubbly. Once people come, they want to come back again. We have a Facebook page where people can join the 140 members, I get about 50 to 60 participants each week.
Did you/do you have support from any other organisations?
I have support from the council, mainly from the Cultural Services and the Sports Development Team. If I have any questions, concerns or need stuff printing then they provide support. But on a day to day basis it is just me, but thats okay as were pretty much self-promoted.
Did you/do you have support from any other volunteers?
No not really, I’m a one-woman crusade. Just me.
What do you think is the key to building stronger communities and clubs?
The thing for me is the passion. I absolutely love what I do, there is nothing I like better than getting people moving, nothing at all. It’s what gets me up every morning and keeps me going. I’m a very enthusiastic person and optimistic, glass half full. Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same. If they lack the passion, then they are less likely to continue participating or contributing.
Getting other people involved is key, but it bring its own challenges with it. You have to find the right people to share that passion with, nurture and train them, that’s what happened to me. Although the council trained me, it was not something they previously offered out, it was because I asked. We have had others in my group become leaders, but they are yet to do something with it.
What do you think puts people off volunteering?
This is something I recently discussed at another conference, I think it’s time. It is going to take so much of their week away and they haven’t got the time. We said if you can break the volunteering down into manageable chunks, so it is not all just one person doing everything and other people are sharing the load.
What do you think makes volunteers happy, how should you look after and reward them?
It’s sharing their passion. Its sharing and helping people. Getting comments on Facebook, “I could never have done that half marathon Denise, without your help.” Things like that where you know you’ve made a difference.
I don’t think volunteers do volunteering for rewards. I really don’t. Prior to this year, I had never received any awards or anything, and it hasn’t stopped me for wanting to do it. It is not about the rewards it’s just to get people more active, Knowing you have done that and making a difference is the reward that is the bottom line for me.
It doesn’t have to be a free t-shirt or whatever. Unfortunately, sometimes the simplest acts can be the most rewarding or damaging.
On one occasion, I unfortunately had an experienced that made me very close to stopping everything I did. I felt undervalued and hurt during a photo shoot for a local organisation I am a run leader for.
There was myself who has been leading runs for five years and another run leader who has been leading runs for six months, we had both been asked to bring along some people for the shoot. I arrived with nineteen others, whilst the other lady, who happened to be about twenty years younger than me had bought two.
Now the photographer pretty much completely ignored me. This lady was given a run leader vest for the shoot and I never received one. It felt so unfair, it made me feel horrible. I’m 56, no spring chicken and I’m not a super model but I was made to feel completely and utterly unwanted. It made me feel like I was completely worthless, you come away from that type of experience thinking I’m jacking this in. This sort of thing, a lack of recognition, can be more damaging and make volunteers feel worthless. In that 1 hour photo shoot, they could have ruined 5 years of run leading.
The reality is I’m facilitating people, they are the ones who come out doors on a cold wet night and actually do it. I just keep reminding myself about that. They make the decision that they are actually going to come and in return I will continue my commitment to them.
What are your future plans for your voluntary work?
I want to get this message out to as many people as possible, I want to share the joy of volunteering, what you can get out of it. I want to do as much as I can whilst I am the unsung hero this year to get this message across. I’m going to carry on doing what I’ve been doing in Hinckley, I’m not going to stop that.
I’ve got a meeting with the head of the council on Thursday to look how we can take some of this stuff a little bit further and I’m hoping to set up a charity in Hinckley to get some activity evenings in the summer for families and kids, so they can come 5 till 7 in a local park where we can do lots of fun things that involve moving about. If you can get them young as children and involve the family, it sets them up for life.”
This insightful interview with Dennise Larrad, demonstrates the willingness and potential volunteers have with the right spark to ignite their passion. As the unsung hero, Denise represents the positive influence that one person can have in their community. With little support she has helped hundreds of people to become more active, improving their wellbeing and health. She is eager to continue her work and TeamKientic is excited to hear more about her journey in our 5th annual conference.
If you would like to know more about TeamKinetic, volunteer management or anything discussed in this blog, feel free to get in touch.
