VOLUNTEER ROLES
The Club relies heavily on volunteers to run, we can only to continue to run with people helping. Most of the volunteer roles require no previous experience, no prior knowledge of swimming and can be done in very little time, usually just the time you already spend in the stands.
There are 4 main groups of volunteers supporting the club (many people help in more than one area):
- Club Administration – Officials & Volunteer coordinators, Welfare Officers, Membership, Club Secretary, Marketing, Website, Entries and many other roles. When the Club is looking to fill any of these roles it will be shared with all members.
- Volunteers – They help to run Club Champs and Open Meets along with supporting coaches with training sessions & land training if required. Some volunteers help with admin and others help to look after the swimmers. There are many roles, the details are below in the table along with what training is need and if a DBS check is required. Email Debbie on here to find out more, or if you have any specific questions.
- Officials – They are involved in timing and judging the swimmers when they compete. Officials have to be registered and licensed with minimum qualifications click here to find out more or email here
- Coaching - If you are interested in training to become a volunteer coach email Head Coach, Will Philpot here, he can talk you through the role and what to expect.
HOW MANY VOLUNTEERS DO WE NEED?
Open Meets and Club Champs need an army of volunteers and can only take place with the support of Parents/Carers and volunteers.
To host an evening of club Champs requires 30 volunteers (including officials) as a minimum. An open meet requires 40 volunteers (including officials) per session and typically, a day has 3 sessions in it, so we might need up to 120 people to help with a full day meet!
We are fortunate to have a large team of volunteers but there aren’t enough so please help where you can.
WHY SHOULD I VOLUNTEER?
You may think why go to the trouble, but there are many benefits for you and your swimmer/s:
1.It allows our swimmers the opportunity to gain licensed times.
2.It generates vital revenue which allows the club to keep our fees down.
3.It saves you money as volunteers don’t pay spectator fees to watch meets (and volunteers often get the best views).
4.It helps us support our own swimmers with increased knowledge about swimming.
5.It is also fun and allows us to get to know other parents, grandparents, and friends of the club.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS OF EACH ROLE?
The table below gives you an idea of the roles we require to host a meet, training requirements and numbers required. As you can see there are lots of roles where no previous experience is needed but every role is vital to ensure a successful meet.
See Officials page here
NEXT STEPS
Questions
If you have any questions, please contact:
- Debbie Rotchell about volunteer roles on: [email protected]
- Will and Emma Best about official roles on: [email protected]
- Will Philpott about coaching roles on: [email protected]
Swim England Numbers
To be able to help poolside you must be registered with Swim England (SE), the club will pay & organise for this to happen. If you wish to sign up to help, email Vanessa on [email protected] along with your name, your swimmer(s) names and your date of birth (she may need more information depending if you are registered on TeamUnify or not). Vanessa will then add you to the system. Please note this can take a little bit of time, you will receive confirmation of registration from SE along with your SE number from SE directly, via email. The links at the bottom of this page will help you set up & view your SE profile online.
Join the workforce & DBS Checks
Once you have a SE number, email Pamela on [email protected] with what roles you wish to help with. She will add you to the workforce list and will advise you of what training you need to complete and assist you with completing your DBS check, if it is required for the role you intend to do. The club will pay for the DBS check but you will need to provide certain documentation, again this can take time, so please don't leave it too late.
It is important that you update Pamela with the progress on your training so the clubs records are kept up to date - this is crucial for the swim mark accreditation.
Booking Training
Before you can book any training, you need a SE Number, so please make sure you have this first. Once you receive it these are the steps you need to do to, to be able to complete an online course and upload the training:
1.Register your profile on the SE website
2.Then Register on this page – this is where you will upload qualifications if required. You will need to upload a photo if you wish to get SE accreditation for an event, such as the County Champs.
3.Now Register on the SE course booking website
4.To book a course see the links below for the TM training & safeguarding training. TM training is hosted via Zoom by the South East Region, if you search for it you may beable to find other regions have TM training on different dates, which you should be able to sign up to.
5.Once you complete the training if there is no obvious link to download a certificate make sure you screen shot and save the image of the completion page of your training.
6.Some course automatically update to your profile, others don’t, normally at the end of the courses it will tell you. It can take a good few weeks for your profile to be updated. If you need to add the qualification yourself use the link in step 2.
7.Once you have completed the training please ensure you inform the workforce coordinator, so that the clubs records can be kept up to date.
HELPFUL LINKS:
Link to view your Swim England Number
How to view & edit your profile on the Swim England website
Link to where you need to setup your SE membership
Where to register for online training
Link to Foundations of Inclusivity Course
Link to Swim England Safeguarding in Aquatics training
Link to upload completed certificates
