Tennis Wales joins call for volunteers

Why not pitch in at your local tennis club this Volunteer’s Week – that’s the appeal from Sport Wales and Tennis Wales.

Volunteer’s Week celebrates the fantastic contribution that millions of volunteers make across the UK. To highlight the true value of sport volunteers to our communities in Wales, Sport Wales has unveiled compelling new data, which it hopes will inspire more volunteers to get involved in their bid to recruit nearly 250,000 sports volunteers in Wales by 2016.

The headline findings of Sport Wales’ research make for impressive reading:

·         An estimated 113,000 adults currently get involved in sports volunteering.

·         They dedicate an average of three hours a week to their clubs and sporting events free of charge.

·         That means that nearly 17 million hours are devoted to supporting Welsh sport each year.

·         The financial value of that commitment is worth more than £160 million a year.

·         Those hours worked are the equivalent of nearly 10,000 full-time extra employees added to the sports labour market.

·         That’s a significant contribution considering that the number of paid employees within Welsh sport is currently estimated to be around 23,200 people.

Sports volunteers in Wales commit to a wide range of roles including; coaching, administration and providing transport for community sports clubs and school clubs. But even cutting up the half time oranges or washing the kit can make a huge difference.

“The truth is that tennis in Wales simply could not function without the hard work, dedication and talent of countless volunteers up and down the country,” said Tennis Wales chief executive, Peter Drew.

“Volunteer’s Week is a timely opportunity to thank them and to spread the message more widely that volunteering is vital to the success of our sport and is very rewarding for the individuals involved.”

Chair of Sport Wales, Professor Laura McAllister said: “Volunteers are the lifeblood of many activities in our communities and this is especially true for sport. Last year, through Sport Wales’ Behind Every Star campaign, we sought to raise awareness of coaching and volunteering opportunities in communities up and down Wales. We have set a challenging target to engage 10% of the Welsh adult population in volunteering in sport by 2016 and National Volunteer’s Week is a great springboard for us to raise awareness of the opportunities available once again.

“We want to not only see those people actively involved in coaching grow, but make sure people are aware that sport needs people with a whole range of skills, from building websites and helping with administration to driving the team mini-bus and cutting up the half-time oranges. There is a role in sport for everyone. We would urge anyone who might be tempted to help out, be it at their child's sports club or with a student sport team, to just pitch in and give it a go this Volunteer’s Week.

“We’d hope that by giving it a try, and seeing what a difference they can make, that people will want to continue volunteering in sport for as long as they can. Each and every one of us has a part to play in shaping a culture where sport becomes a habitual way of life. Volunteers are vital to keeping sports clubs and events running, jumping and scoring across all our Welsh communities.”

For information about volunteering within tennis in Wales, please contact Tennis Wales at 029 20 463335 or www.tennis.wales.org