The Swim England North West (SENW) Young Volunteer Award (YVA) is designed to provide young people, between the ages of 14 and 17 the opportunity to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to prepare them as Volunteers within Aquatic Sport. The Award has been designed to suit young people from any Aquatic Discipline, (Swimming, Water Polo, Artistic Swimming and Diving).
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the YVA has now been adapted to an online format.
Young Volunteers (YV) must be available to attend the following 2 dates (15th and 22nd September 2023) and will then have 12 months from the final session to complete the course (the course must be completed prior to the YV’s 18th Birthday). Failure to attend both workshops, will mean that the Young Volunteer Award will be unable to be completed.
The Award aims to:
- Provide young individuals with an overview of the different volunteering pathways; coaching/teaching, events and officiating
- Provide information about the different roles which volunteers undertake to continue the development of aquatic sports
- Support and develop transferable skills, which can be used to enhance education and future job applications
- Provide young individuals with volunteering experience which can be evidenced and utilised in conjunction with The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
The YVA is comprised of a number of workshops and modules:
- Pre Course Knowledge and Introduction into Swim England and Swim England North West.
- Online Workshops (over 2 sessions):
- Introduction
- Skills for Volunteering in Aquatics
- Volunteering in Aquatics
- Evidence – submitted on Google Classrooms
- Introduction into Officiating
- Shadowing Volunteers and Coaches
- Mindsets
- Online Activities – submitted on Google Classrooms
- Introduction into the Swim England Club Awards
- Written Activity – ‘Which Volunteer Role I would like to do and Why’
- Written Activity – ‘Aquatic Sport and why Volunteers are Important’
- Post Course Feedback
SENW have been approved by The DofE as a ‘(DofE) Centre’ which means that as an organisation we are able to offer the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections of the DofE Awards. Any person wishing to complete their DofE Awards will need to find another ‘(DofE) Centre’ that can offer the Expedition Section of their Award.
Many students are fortunate enough to be able to take part in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award through their Secondary School, however others may not be in such a fortunate position. Please contact SENW Regional Office for further information about completing your DofE through ourselves (please note this is only available to anyone completing their Young Volunteer Award) clubdevelopment@swimnorthwest.org
Criteria:
- Young Volunteers must be a minimum of 14 years of age on the day of the first Zoom session.
- Individuals must have completed the award before their 18th birthday.
Course requirements are:
- Young Volunteers MUST be available for both of the online workshops and attend them in full.
- All work must be completed within 12 months of the 2nd Workshop Date (i.e. 22nd September 2024)
- Young Volunteers MUST inform their club they are taking part in the YVA
- Parent/Guardian AND Child email addresses must be provided in order to ensure course information is received and actioned where required
The award will use Google Classrooms – please ensure your email is linked to a Google Account to access this.
Anyone wishing to complete their Young Volunteer Award must ensure their club is aware before registering, this is to ensure sure they are able to support the athletes through the 12 months.
Dates for the Online Workshops
Friday 15th September 2023: (17:30-20:30)
Friday 22nd September 2023: (17:30-19:30)
Important Information:
Parent/Athlete Guidance Document
Code of Conduct
SENW Terms and Conditions
By signing up to this Young Volunteer Award, parents are giving consent for their child to be on zoom sessions and also provide evidence via Google Classrooms.
To secure your place on the online workshops, please complete the information required below and make payment.
The closing date for this event is 9am Monday 11th September 2023, or once the course is full.