Launch of Volunteer Programme to help support youngsters in shaping Scottish Swimming’s future
Scottish Swimming today launched its Young Volunteer Programme (YVP) to support, prepare and deploy young members to help build on Scottish Swimming’s incredible volunteer base across all disciplines and areas of work across Scotland.
The YVP is a national strategy designed to engage and develop young members between the ages of 13-25 through five programmes, each of which targets particular areas of work and will provide the young volunteer with skills and knowledge to take back to their Clubs and build their sport at District and National level. With its own brand identity the Programme has been designed with young people in mind and is being championed by Ambassador Kirsty Ewen, who as a young volunteer herself, won last year’s BBC Sport’s Personality of the Year Unsung Hero Award. She said of the Programme:
“Sport can provide so many different opportunities for young people to get involved with and it’s really important that young people volunteer in a sport they love and have their voice heard.”
The five programmes are: Young Leader Squad to develop Club Captains and improve retention rates; Young Technical Official to recruit more technical officials; Young Events Coordinator to support our events; Young SS Ambassador to create a national voice for our youth members; Poolside Helper to develop coaches and helpers within a club environment.
Chief Executive of Scottish Swimming, Euan Lowe, also spoke about the Programme, he said:
“The Young Volunteer Programme it about attracting as many young people into all aspects of our sport and really trying to encourage their knowledge and enthusiasm and bring in their views of how our sport should be shaped going forward.”
The programme itself is very hands on and will provide youngsters with real-time relevant experience as they are mentored by current volunteers who do the roles at Club and District level events. And through the support of volunteers, four out of the five programmes have already enjoyed a successful pilot and along with the Young SS Ambassador Programme, which is being piloted in October, all five are ready to be rolled out across Scotland thanks to the ongoing work and commitment of Clubs and members within Scottish Swimming’s four Districts, which support the aquatics pathway the length and breadth of the country.