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Gabriella Cottage
17-year-old Ella, from Berkshire has gained the Milennium Volunteers certificate by working for a variety of sports projects for children with different disabilities.
Gina Macgregor
Gina Macgregor is a shining example of a dedicated volunteer, who has been influential with the development of netball in Berkshire.
Amy Shaw
Amy, from Hampshire, was inspired to volunteer following a presentation at her school by Step into Sport. She currently works with people with learning difficulties and disabilities at South Downs College.
Gabriella Cottage
Ella is 17 years old and she is the eldest of eight children in her family. She is in her last year at school studying maths and physics, and aspires to study Architecture at University. Ella describes herself as bubbly, outgoing and patient.
Ella began volunteering from being advised to taking up either the CSLA award or volunteering. Ella opted for volunteering. She contacted her local Millennium Volunteer advisor who suggested various different activities. She chose to do a Buddies project and spectrum club and then later added doing work for Mencap. These projects work with people with different disabilities. After initially doing extra work to gain her MV certificates, Ella now regularly volunteers and helps out with an after school club. She stated that “It’s great seeing the kids enjoy themselves, it’s nice to see a smile on their faces, and it makes me feel all warm inside”.
When asked about what she gained by being involved in volunteering, she highlighted that she had:
•Boosted her confidence
•Allowed herself to relax
•Taken away worries about current affairs
Ella’s commitment to volunteering is purely for her own enjoyment, which is the reason she keeps doing it. She gets involved with the activities and has formed a great rapport with the children; she states, “I am more concerned about the kids”.
Ella would recommend volunteering to others. She adds that to work for similar projects, volunteers need to have a similar temperament and have patience, as it is hard work, but also very satisfying.
Gina Macgregor
Volunteering can be very enjoyable and rewarding, it is a great way of being more involved in a sport than just being a participant. Gina Macgregor is a shining example of a dedicated volunteer, who has been influential with the development of netball in Berkshire.
Gina has played netball for 58 years and has been coaching for 51 years; few can say they have shown this commitment to a sport. Gina started playing at junior school at the age of nine, and always played centre. At the age of 15, after leaving school, she joined a youth club in Northolt and was soon part of the netball team. When the coach left, Gina started running the team the first of her many organisational roles!
In 1969 Gina moved to Maidenhead, where at the time there was no netball in the local area. So Gina put leaflets through the letterboxes at her new estate asking ladies to come for a coffee evening if they would like to play netball, Gina only needed 6 ladies to make up a team for the High Wycombe League. To her surprise 32 ladies turned up and the Maidenhead and District Netball League (M&DNL) was formed.
Gina has been instrumental in seeing the league grow. The M&DNL started with 12 teams on just one court. Thanks to Gina's many years of persistence with the council in 1983 she gained 3 more courts, and this year Maidenhead received a brand new 5 court, all-weather, floodlit netball courts.
During Gina's netball career she has set up the M&DNL and the Netball League in Sunningdale. She has also been on the Berkshire Committee for 20 years and helped out with international games, games against the south region and county fixtures. Without Gina's perseverance and devotion, opportunities for netball in this area would be far fewer.
Gina has been an inspiration to the netball community and has been recognised for her achievements. Most notably, in July 2004 she was invited to 10 Downing Street for an Evening of Excellence in Sport. And in 2005, Gina received the most honourable recognition, an MBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace, for her outstanding services to netball. Gina commented:
"I feel so proud and very honoured to be presented with this award as netball is a sport I have always loved and enjoyed"
Gina is a wonderful example of the thousands of volunteers that contribute to sport each year, without their commitment there would be far fewer opportunities for people to participate in sport. Gina would like to say a 'big thank you' to everyone who has helped her during her career, as netball would not continue to flourish as it does today without them.
Amy Shaw
I became interested in volunteering after the class had a talk on the Step into Sport programme. The reasons for me taking up sports volunteering is because I like coaching and I felt that this was the opportunity I needed to become a better, more experienced coach and was a good path to go down. I also had a lot of support from my subject teachers and my tutor. I also thought about the other benefits of doing the Step into Sport programme, the biggest of all being the benefits on my CV
Since starting my volunteering I have learnt better coaching techniques and have learnt the different styles of how people learn. I have learnt a lot about coaching that has helped me at my present coaching job and will also help in any chosen future carer. There are skills that I have learnt from coaching, such as the importance of punctuality, full attendance, treating everyone equally and the way in which coaches should conduct themselves, all of which can be used in all aspects of my life. I have a lot more confidence; I can now plan and lead a good session. And at the end of the session I can receive positive and constructive criticism from the group and/or teachers, which before volunteering I was’nt able to do.
I am currently volunteering at South Downs College with people that have learning difficulties and disabilities, coaching a range of activities, from playing basketball to playing bowls. I enjoy doing this a lot and I feel from a coaching perspective that I get a lot of support and encouragement to fully develop as a coach, from the staff at the college. I have also taken part in many coaching courses, such as the FA level 1 Football Certificate in Coaching, Leadership Skills and Peer mentor training, which helps deal with the theory sides of coaching, such as confidentiality, trust, looking at bullying and ways to resolve incidents. I am currently in talks with Hampshire and Portsmouth Sport Development Officers to find a suitable placement where I can continue to do my voluntary hours. |
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