TeamKinetic

On 22nd March 2018

In Case Study, Sport, Volunteer Management

Zoe Monk, Sports Development Officer: “A Simple, Streamlined, Effective System”

123 opportunities posted. 4321 hours completed. 573 Registered Volunteers.

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 Action: YMCA Sleep Easy Challenge

On 14th March 2018

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.

TeamKinetic Case Study: A Volunteer’s Experience

On 6th March 2018

In Case Study

TeamKinetic’s has always understood the importance of a positive volunteer experience. It is this understanding that has driven all of the development to be volunteer-centric, to ensure that both our clients and volunteers are happy.

We recently had the opportunity to discuss the experience of Dimitris Lampropoulos, a Football Coach who volunteers using Manchester Volunteer Inspire Programme (MCRVIP). MCRVIP is a programme which aims to recruit, train and deploy volunteers to support sport and physical activity within Manchester and uses the TeamKinetic system to do this. In the following case study, we share his experience using the system.

First experience with TeamKinetic software

“Having previously volunteered, the process of registration and joining opportunities could be tedious. Every time I wanted to participate in an opportunity, I had to make a call to the organisation, see if they had any opportunities available and then find out how to participate in. This process could often be timely and was restricted in the number of opportunities I could find and access information on.

Using TeamKinetic’s system through MCRVIP, I found it to be very straightforward to use. It was a very convenient and useful way to find opportunities, with a much easier process to select and apply to volunteering opportunities. The registration process is very straightforward and it only took a couple of minutes to create a profile. Once this has been completed you are able to find opportunities, which can be viewed on the homepage or searched for using the search bar.

The process to apply to each role is simple. Duties, qualifications, location and contact details are included in the opportunity description, as well as the sessions and dates. You can also share opportunities you have joined on social media, making it easier to involve my friends.

Once you have completed an opportunity you can leave feedback, through a simple thumbs up or down and add a comment. You can also see the number of hours you have logged and sessions you have attended in your profile. If you complete a specific number of hours, you will gain badges to acknowledge your participation and thus you will have the opportunity to turn your logged hours into vouchers. Depending on the opportunity provider, this could be traded for a free t-shirt to a discount on coaching courses”

Experience and benefits of volunteering

“I am delighted with my volunteering role of MCRVIP. Through this position, I have the chance to be involved in Manchester football and also to be registered on Manchester Football Association. My volunteering has now grown beyond the pitch, as the founder of the charity I work for offered the opportunity to get involved in the administrative and development of the charity. This will help to continue my professional development and provide me with the knowledge and experience in the business of football and will help to strengthen my CV.

Overall, being a volunteer can be a very beneficial experience, not only does it provide a sense of fulfilment it can improve employment opportunities. As a volunteer, you build your network, create new connections and can discover new opportunities. It also shows that you are eager to build your experience and do something to help others.

TeamKinetic provided the most straightforward system for joining opportunities I have come across. I really like how intuitive the system is and the motivation the hour trade vouchers provide. I could see this system working for sports organisation, charities or any organisation that requires volunteers.

They really provide a simple to use the system and I will be sure to find other opportunities using MCRVIP”.

For further information on TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software please email chris@teamkinetic.co.uk or call 0161 914 5757.

TeamKinetic Case Study: Volunteer Glasgow A Year On

On 5th March 2018

In Case Study

TeamKinetic recently visited our friends in Scotland, Volunteer Glasgow. With over 45 years’ experience of supporting charities and 3^rd sector organisations to recruit and support volunteers, Volunteer Glasgow has managed to be one of the most successful third sector organisations in Scotland.

Over the years the many volunteer-dependent organisations Volunteer Glasgow supports have faced various challenges in the recruitment, retention and management of volunteers. Upon acknowledging the need for a new digital volunteering platform better able to meet the city’s volunteering needs, the search for a more efficient solution began.

For the last year, Volunteer Glasgow have been using TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software. Nick Brown, Volunteering Services Manager at Volunteer Glasgow shared his experience leading to and using TeamKinetic. He explains the importance of having an online presence for opportunities, the fundamental problems concerning the previous methods of opportunity advertising and how TeamKinetic has provided the solutions to overcome these issues.

The importance of advertising volunteer opportunities online:

“Many of the organisations we work, look to advertise roles with a relatively short turn around so speed is of the essence when it comes to getting opportunities online.

With previous methods of advertising opportunities online, it usually took between three to five days to appear online but it’s crucial that you get your opportunity out there quicker than that, with the right message to the appropriate people.

This is because organisations are unsure of the resources available to them far in advance or they may be overwhelmed with work and maybe a bit rushed. This means the process for advertising opportunities, at times, needs to be quick and easy.”

The problems with the previous systems:

Previously, Volunteer Glasgow used the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisation’s (SCVO) MILO2, but this had several challenges, with a major issue around the processing time to advertise opportunities.

Commenting on the system: “One of our biggest issues was the long time period for an opportunity to be advertised online. For example, organisations had to fill out a form, then we input the form onto a system which then took around three days to be published online. This issue was further made challenging as opportunities were sometimes uploaded with the wrong details or none at all. This had a real impact on the ability of our partner organisations to recruit volunteers and obviously also carried a reputational risk for ourselves.

Exploring our options, we had a trial with another volunteer management software provider, but experienced issues in the reliability and functionality. The importance of effectively recruiting volunteers is crucial to the running of charities and 3^rd sector organisations”.

The biggest struggle for Volunteer Glasgow was getting the systems to work and appear properly. As Nick explained “having a presence online with opportunities advertised is essential if you want to ensure high levels of recruitment of volunteers in an organisation.

Previously if you had an issue it could take quite a long time to resolve. TeamKinetic changed that. If we need support or help they were always responsive to our calls and queries.”

How TeamKinetic helped Volunteer Glasgow:

TeamKinetic was introduced to Volunteer Glasgow by Glasgow Life, who had already been using the software to manage volunteers for the needs of sport and leisure purposes. Having been impressed by the functionality and simplicity of the system, with the benefit of being able to interconnect platforms, TeamKinetic was deemed suitable for Volunteer Glasgow’s needs.

Introducing TeamKinetic to organisations we deal with:

“We told the 250 organisation we deal with that they should get started on using the TeamKinetic’s software and see how they get on. If they felt they were struggling or needed help they should get in touch. Out of them all, only eight got in touch to ask for some support and guidance using the more advanced functionality. Consequently, they have all given feedback on how simple to the software is to use”.

Controlling advertised opportunities:

“TeamKinetic’s software provided the ability to manage and control opportunities posted in real time. It enables us to have a level of authorisation and control which we had not had before.

Something we have to remember is that although we are advertising opportunities for other organisations, it is our website, with our branding and reputation on the line. TeamKinetic’s software notifies us immediately once an organisation has submitted an opportunity, allowing us to approve it; check to make sure it is appropriate and has sufficient detail. Once we have done this, we can approve the opportunity and straight away it goes live on our website.”

What Volunteers thought of TeamKinetic’s system:

“From the volunteers’ perspective there was a positive feedback; it is much easier for them to create their own profile which is something that has never done before. Volunteers can log hours, leave feedback on opportunities and are able to earn themselves HourTrade vouchers.”

Commenting on the ease of use of TeamKinetic’s software:

“If you have ever, for example, set up an online shopping account or uploaded your CV onto a recruitment website, then you will find TeamKinetic just as simple to use.

Using TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software has enabled us to reduce the amount of time we spend inputting and writing copy content.

This has directly resulted in staff having more time available to spend on the things that matter, such as directly approaching and offering our services to other charities in Glasgow.”

Summary of experience using TeamKinetic:

“It is the responsiveness, ease of use and functionality of TeamKinetic that makes it so great. Since as we started using TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software we have seen a positive impact. In the last six months, everything has been made easier for all those involved. TeamKinetic addresses the issue of limited time, by reducing the time it demands to create and advertise opportunities. This has alleviated much of the stress and difficulties previously experienced. Volunteer Glasgow is now able to spend time more effectively and we are able to achieve so much more.”

To learn more about TeamKinetic’s volunteer management software and how it could help your organisation or any other voluntary workforce needs please contact one of our team.

email on james@teamkinetic.co.uk | Call us on 0161 914 5757 | Book a free demo: teamkinetic.co.uk

TeamKinetic: YMCA Sleep Easy Challenge

On 28th February 2018

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/jamesandteamkinetic

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: Named in the Innovation 100 Greater Manchester

On 26th February 2018

http://www.bqlive.co.uk/section/218/innovation-100

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.”

You can read the more here:

Follow updates on social media at #Innovation100GM

Denise Larrad BBC Sports Personality 2017

http://www.facebook.com/groups/1751032761783867/

On 23rd February 2018

In News & Views, Sport

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.

A Waterfall Begins From Only One Drop of Water

On 8th February 2018

“A waterfall begins from only one drop of water, sir. Look what comes from that…”

(The Power of One, 1992)

Can a single person change the world? It’s a thought that has been on my mind for some time and the recent success of the Space X heavy illustrates just how one person can make a difference. When people ask me why I do what I do, I keep coming back to this idea. When I say it aloud, it sounds conceited and ridiculous. I struggle to apply context to my wish to change the world, and that makes my ambition appear grandiose and self-righteous.

So I have decided to change my approach to this question, and rather than making “crazy” proclamations about what I do at TeamKinetic, I have started to look at what it is we are actually doing to change our world.

The first thing to note is I have changed the pronoun from “I” to “we”. Each of us can change our own behaviour but the real magic starts when you move from “lone nut” and look to bring others with you, to start a movement! That is our ambition here at TeamKinetic. To build a volunteer management system that allows people to change the world around them; their sports club, their community group or whatever their passion might be.

TeamKinetic intends to put our money where our mouth is, as we try and be the change we want to see in the world. We believe that business should be and can be a driver of positive change for equality, for the environment and people’s lives.

One of the first ideas we had was to share the wonderful work our customers are involved in. How can we promote your successes and shout about your achievements that through TeamKinetic we have played a small part in making possible?

We want to share your stories with our other customers, system administrators, volunteer managers and sector leaders. We want to share how you have actually achieved the change you wanted in the hope that some of the best practice can be replicated, that we can all learn from each other’s failures and successes.

So here is my first call to action. Each and every one of you, please look at your volunteers, your providers and if you have a great story to tell, something worth sharing. However small, we want to know. Volunteering is powered by stories, great stories of how people worked together to create the community they want.

We don’t need a lot, just a few paragraphs telling your story, and we will take it from there.

Submit your stories and ideas directly to me at chris@teamkinetic.co.uk and for each story, we use we will send out one of our TeamKinetic t-shirts to the people involved with a letter saying thank you for their wonderful work.

This will form the basis of our new resource area for volunteer managers, where eventually we will have a shared document repository for admin users to share and swap documents, a question and answer forum and all the updates and videos from our Kinetic Academy sessions.

Let’s start a movement.

TeamKinetic: Driving Innovation in Your Volunteer Management

On 1st February 2018