On this page you will find information and resources to help you recruit and manage volunteers and write your own club development plan.

  

Volunteering

Volunteers are the life-blood of boccia clubs, which rely on their skills, passion and commitment. That’s why it’s so important clubs know how to recruit new volunteers as well as inspire, manage and support those already helping out.

Sport England Club Matters have developed a range of resources to help club leads determine the skills their clubs need, review them against the skills their club have, identify and engage new volunteers, and give your existing volunteers a high quality, rewarding experience to give you the best chance of retaining them in the long term. These resources are on the following webpages:

Meeting the needs of volunteers

Recruiting volunteers

Effective volunteer management

Retaining volunteers

  

Volunteer Recruitment Websites

There are a wide range of national and local volunteering organisations, both sport and non sport specific, which clubs can use to recruit volunteers with various skills. These include:

• Volunteer Centres – The NCVO has a network of accredited Volunteer Centres across the country. These are local organisations that provide support and expertise within the local community, to potential volunteers, existing volunteers and organisations that involve volunteers. Volunteering Centres are good places to start looking for volunteers to support the running of your boccia club. Find your local Volunteering Centre.
• vInspired
• Join In
• Reach Volunteering

You will find club volunteer role profiles on our Club and Group Resources page.

To advertise roles at your club on our Club Support page, email George at [email protected].

     

Club Development Plan

A development plan is a good way for you to become a more effective and reliable club, and will potentially help you attract more members.

The plan outlines your club's vision and aims and addresses how you will achieve these over a specific period of time.  It should be a working document which is easy to read, simple, clear and concise. The plan will:

• explain the type of club you are, what you offer and what you want to happen in the future
• encourage a coordinated approach to development
• enable better use of your resources
• aid in the securing the future of the club 

  

Creating the Plan

To help you get started we have developed a club development plan template which you can amend to suit your club.

Here are some top tips for your plan:

• Make it realistic- ask yourself "can we do this?"
• Include several people in its development from the start- the plan is more likely to succeed this way
• Obtain member buy in- ensure all your members' needs are accounted for so they can see how they will benefit 
• Reference your plan- e.g. committee meetings. This will get further buy in and help you keep track of progress
• Make amendments where needed- things don't always happen the way we think they will so make changes as you go along

  

Developing the Plan

Collating your plan is based around three questions:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be?
3. How are we going to get there?

  

Using the Plan

It is important that your plan is a working document and is regularly reviewed and revised.  

There are a number of ways you can use your plan to support your club:

• Identifying areas of rapid progress and areas that require greater assistance
• A publicity tool to inform your local community and seek support from funding agencies
• To review your progress and help you decide future plans.