Volunteering Sportmakers

Whether it's planning the route, finding the pitch or encouraging people to take part – sport doesn’t just happen, it needs people to make it happen. People like you.

If you can spare some of your time you could become one of 40,000 Sport Makers across the country.

You don’t have to be a coach or referee, there’s lots of ways you can volunteer. Here’s just a few ideas:

• Book the badminton court for yourself and colleagues each week
• Organise football on the park for your mates
• Marshall at a sports event like the Great Notts Bike Ride, Canoe Slalom Championships
• Help out with short term sport projects and charity sports events
• Drive a minibus, create a website for a sports club or help with refreshments

The opportunities are endless and you never know where they might lead!

Sign up now and you’ll be invited to a workshop which will give you the skills, knowledge and opportunities you need to start ‘making sport happen’, plus you’ll become part of the official London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games legacy.

Want to find out more? Read our other pages on Sport Makers or visit the official Sport Makers website.

Why not visit our facebook page and find out what other people are saying about the programme.

Sport Makers are, quite simply, people who make sport happen.

Some might organise sport informally for themselves and their friends, colleagues or neighbours, for example by:

Others won’t take part themselves, but will do all those things that make sport possible, such as:

The first step on the Sport Maker’s journey is to attend a Sport Makers workshop. This workshop will help them identify what roles a Sport Maker could undertake and which are best for them. The workshop will also explore some the skills and qualities they will require in these roles.

These Sport Makers will be helping to deliver the official London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games sporting legacy, Places People Play, by helping more people play more sport.

There are lots of reasons to become a Sport Maker;

It is totally flexible; you choose which sports you want to be involved with and who you want to make sport happen for – friends, colleagues, neighbours or your local community.

It’s extremely rewarding; you will meet other people interested in sport; find new ways of getting involved that suit you and gain access to resources that will help you organise your own activities if that’s what you’d prefer.

It could help you get a job; you will also develop new skills that could be useful in other areas of your life and employers love to see outside activities on a CV.

You’ll be part of the official London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy; inspired by the Games and their values, you will be part of an army of 40,000 Sport Makers who will help to create new opportunities for lots more people to play sport.

You get free stuff; as well as receiving official Adidas kit, once you start to make sport happen there’ll be chances to win some exciting rewards.

Or to put it another way, you will become the sort of sporting hero that makes a difference to the lives of other people – and have fun whilst doing it.

Becoming a Sport Maker is easy and the programme is open to everyone aged 16 and over.

First, come to an informal and interactive workshop where you will explore: the Olympic and Paralympic values, how you can make the biggest difference to sport as a Sport Maker, work out how to get sport or activity sessions going with friends, colleagues, neighbours or the local community and find opportunities to get involved in making sport happen in your area.

To find a workshop near you, visit www.sportmakers.co.uk and click Nottinghamshire. You will then be asked to register with the programme, by giving us your details you are not committing to anything. It simply allows us to send you relevant information. We promise not to pass your details on to anyone else.

After the workshop it’s over to you – how do you want to make sport happen?

We will support you with advice, information, connections and resources and you’ll also get free Adidas kit. We simply ask you to complete at least 10 hours of activity and to log your hours in a journal so you and we can see the difference you are making.

Once you’ve completed and logged 10 hours of Sport Maker activity you will have the chance to win some fantastic prizes.

There are two ways that a sports club/organisation can be apart of the Sport Makers programme in Nottinghamshire.

1. Recruit new volunteers; simply let us know what roles you need to help grow your club. Could be anything from assistant coach or someone to help manage the equipment to help with the registration desk or managing the club’s Facebook page.
2. Recruit new members/players; if you are aiming to increase your membership then Sport Makers can help. We are looking for projects that increase the number of people taking part in sport in the county. We can help fund these programmes too, up to £45 per new participant over the age of 16 years.

To access this funding you will need to complete a Sport Makers Bid form, available from John Selby-Sly (john.selby-sly@nottscc.gov.uk or 0115 977 2267)

Criteria for Sport Maker Funding

• Target age group must be 16+ years of age
• The project must start with a Sport Makers workshop, either for potential new players or existing members who will be tasked to recruit more players.
• The club/organisation must be constituted, with a registered bank account and registered with their National Governing Body where applicable.