SCHOOLympics

Following a successful training session in Tri Golf with Andy Leigh at our Leadership Academy night, 25 of our volunteers travelled to Penrith on July 1st to support our local Primary Schools by volunteering at the Cumbria SCHOOLympics. Our volunteers supported the Tri Golf, Tennis, High 5 Netball, Inclusive Basketball, Oreienteering and Kwik Cricket. Each of the volunteers worked hard and had a very enjoyable day. Their hard work ensured that the day ran smoothly and that each event was supported - without the young leaders, the event would not have been able to run. A MASSIVE thank you to all the volunteers.

Also............ Thank You to everyone who turned up in the rain to support the Women In Sports day on Sunday July 4th. On a beautiful sunny day it can be quite easy to volunteer at an outdoor event, so to volunteer in the rain takes extra dedication. Thank You to all those who gave their time. 

 Barrow Borough Sports Council Awards

The Sports Council held their annual Sports Awards on November 20th at Barrow Town Hall. This year a new award was introduced by the FSSP - The Young Volunteer of the Award.The award recognises the hard work and dedication that the Partnership's students put into sport through volunteering. 

Five students were short listed for the award: Jemma Bell from UVHS, Charlotte Lewis Parks from St Bernards, Katie Grove from Dowdales, now at the 6th form, Alex Earley from Lancaster and Morecambe College and Ricky Mason from Furness College.

Each of the students work tirelessly to give back to sport and they were all worthy candidates. Jemma Bell was chosen to be the first winner of the Young Volunteer of the Year Award. Through her time as a volunteer, she has gained a number of qualifications, completed over 200 hours of vlunteering and has also attended a National Step Into Sport volunteer camp at Loughborough University.

Following her success at Barrow, Jemma was then nominated for the Cumbria Sports Award, Young Leader Award. Once again Jemma was successful, demonstarting to us all waht an excellent volunteer she is - "Jemma cannot be praised highly enough and she throughly deserves this award." Lynn Jackson - UVHS SSCo 

Club / Volunteer Night

On October 6th, the Leadership Academy students and representatives from local sports clubs were brought together at Chequers Hotel for the first meeting of the year. Both groups were given training on the online passport and looked at ways in which they could support eachother through volunteering. The night was very well attended by both clubs and students and many of the students went away with a good contact for a club and are now supporting them through volunteering in a variety of ways.

Our next Meeting for all SIS students is on Oct 6th. Local clubs will be invited along with SIS volunteers to Chequers from 6pm onwards. 

MSC Training 

At the end of term, training was provided for the Leadership Academy students which would allow them to go into primary schools in September, to help deliver a msc club. Anne Shuttleworth delivered the session to the students which taught them about breaking activities down and taking it back to the basics. The students all had fun 'playing' the different games and contributed alot of good ideas. On the night, the students were also awarded the next lot of incentives. Within the Leadership Academy we now have 3 students who have completed over 100 hours volunteering, 6 who have completed over 50 hours, 12 who have completed over 25 hours and 15 who have completed over 10. Well Done to all the students and keep it up.

Incentives

Thanks to our kind sponsors, we can offer the students a range of incentives for the number of hours they contribute to volunteering in sport.

10 hours volunteering - whistle and pen and FSSP certificate.

25 hours volunteering - 'goody bag' - drawstring bag, water bottle, ad loop and highlighter and FSSP certficate.

50 hours volunteering - polo shirt, bronze pin badge, 7 day fitness pass for Park leisure centre and certficate from FSSp and YST.

100 hours volunteering - Hoody, silver pin badge, 7 day fitness pass for Park leisure centre and certficate from YST and FSSP.

200 hours volunteering - Rain Jacket, gold pin badge, 7 day fitness pass for Park leisure centre and certificate from YST and FSSP. 

Welcome to our new Partners

After much discussion, Barrow Borough Sports Council have kindly agreed to join with the Leadership Academy and become our partners. They have very kindly bought us all our clothing for the 50, 100 and 200 hour reward incentives. The clothing has now been ordered from Cumbria Sewing and will dispatched shortly to the volunteers.  

We welcome Barrow Borough Sports Council and will welcome them and thank them officially at the press launch in July. 

First Meeting

The first Leadership Academy meeting was held on April 29th at Furness Rugby Club. Students were invited to share their volunteering experiences with their peers and to listen to Alex and Jemma, two of our students who were lucky enough to go to the national SIS camp at Loughborough University. Paula Johnson, a wheelchair basketball paralympian also came and spoke to the students about how volunteers have helped her in her career and also to emphasise how being able to volunteer at the olympics in 2012 is too good an opportunity to miss!

Students were also rewarded with their first volunteer incentives. Rewards were given to the students for 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 hours volunteering. Alex Earley received the 200 hour award, whilst Jemma Bell received a 100 hour award.

Congratulations to everyone for their hard work.

Thank you also to Kimberley Clark, Furness Building Society and Nuffield Health who have kindly sponsored the Leadership Academy.

The next Leadership Academy meeting will be held on July 14th where more volunteering rewards will be given out and students will also receive multi skills training.

The Leadership Academy

Introduced in September 2008, the FSSP Leadership Academy is in its pilot year. The LA involves over 95 volunteering students from all the high schools and FE colleges across Furness. Students volunteer in a variety of clubs, in their own schools and in local primary schools. Each student is rewarded for their volunteering with incentives for each volunteer hour logged. We are currently awaiting hearing from local companies about sponsorship.

The Leadership Academy is designed to provide high quality, regular support, training and development for young volunteers to help them develop as young people and as leaders and volunteers. Members of the Leadership Academy will meet several times a year to support one another through the sharing of ideas and experiences and to gain qualifications and training. Alternative forms of volunteering such as fundraising and web design will also be looked at.

All students who are part of the Leadership Academy will log their volunteering hours on the online Volunteer Passport. This is where local clubs who have a volunteer placed with them verify the hours. the volunteer passport can be found on the Youth Sport Trust website.

Step Into Sport is a national system of volunteering established by the Youth Sport Trust in 2002 to acknowledge and reward all the hard work that students put into sport through volunteering.

This year the FSSP has launched a Leadership Academy which will bring together Step Into Sport and the volunteering that goes on in schools. The Academy will be overseen by Helen Wright and will be made up of 14 – 19 year old volunteers from the schools and colleges across Furness.

“Barrow AFC has provided a number of placement opportunities for young people to enable them to gain experience of coaching and organising events. Whilst the SIS programme has the main aim of supporting young people to gain new skills and experience, we have found the benefits are mutual.

The Step Into Sport programme has proved a great success and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to any young person who is looking to gain new skills or any employer who would like to put something back into the community whilst gaining an extra pair of hands.”

Club / Volunteer Night

On November 11^th, all the clubs across Furness were invited to a night at Chequers Hotel where they could meet potential volunteers and network with members of the partnership. The night was a great success and clubs and volunteers were matched together so that volunteers had club placements and clubs/organisations had volunteers. Attendees were guided through the online passport system – a way for volunteers hours to be logged – and talked through the SIS programme. Thank You very much to Becky Underwood from Cumbria Sport and Chris Athersmith from Barrow Borough Sports Council.

Well Done

Congratulations to Alex Earley one of our volunteers from Lancaster and Morecombe College who received her Silver award for volunteering for 100 hours. Alex has been volunteering at the girls U15 rugby club and local orienteering club. She has nearly completed 200 hours. Her contribution to volunteering in sport has been amazing. Thank You.