Fancy ‘doing a favour’ for your local club, or county board?

Volunteers are vital to the health and development of grassroots cricket. Without them, the future of the beautiful game at all levels would be in jeopardy.

You can make a difference; do a favour for the local club

Volunteering is very rewarding and has great benefits for both the club and individual. If you are thinking about seeking a new job, entering university, starting a new school, working in sport or generally improving yourself, cricket clubs can provide the perfect opportunity to help you reach your goals and objectives.

Among 200 of the UK leading businesses:

• 73 percent of employers would employ a candidate with volunteer experience over one without
• 94 percent of employers believe that volunteering can add too skills
• 58 percent say that voluntary work experience can actually be more valuable than experience gained in paid employment
  Source – Time bank / Reed executive 

The benefit to you as an individual by ‘doing your club a favour’ are:

• A brilliant CV booster
• Skill acquisition – communication skills, leadership skills through hands on experience
• Personal & professional development and/or training
• Learn new skills or using existing skills
• Satisfaction from doing something to make a difference within your local community
• An increased sense of worth and accomplishment from making a difference
• Respect for different people and conditions
• Support your studies or interest in gaining experience outside of the learning environment
• Development of your interests to become a profession
• The ability to explore different sorts of career or job opportunities in a voluntary capacity
• Physical and social benefits – a chance to get out, have fun and meet some new people – enjoying the traditional social life that cricket clubs generate
• Give you a sense of intangible satisfaction
• Experiencing new challenges
• It can help you keep fit, de-stress
• Supporting your local community – putting something back into your community, personal satisfaction knowing you have helped others
• A written/verbal references

The benefit for the local cricket club:

• More people involved within the club will help development the club
• Increase numbers of participants within the club
• Increase media exposure through local press and website
• Developing individuals and age groups through coaching
• Improving the club's facilities
• Engaging with the community
• Help to build a lasting legacy for the game

Here are some of the exciting opportunities you can become involved in by ‘doing your local club a favour’ are:

Media Officer – Previewing and reporting forthcoming fixtures, match reports, future events within the clubs to local media.

Website designer/administrator – Work with officers within the club to keep the website updated and including relevant information to the members of the club. Researching of new initivities to update the website.

Assistant Coach - Work with groups of people of different ages and gender to help individuals learn and develop their cricket skills and knowledge.

Assistant Grounds Man/Women – help provide high quality cricket pitches for the players within the club, from first XI to the junior players within the club. Assist in the preparation, watering and rolling of cricket pitches during the season.

Official – Officiate within the club as an umpire or scorer. Joining in the fun at Kwik Cricket events, Twenty20 matches or adult matches.

Schools Cricket Liaison - Provide the link between club and schools cricket, assisting the administration of schools cricket competitions. Facilitating school/club links within clubs.

For a more comprehensive list of volunteer opportunities please look at our example role descriptions.

This is your opportunity to be part of a network of thousands of volunteers currently active in cricket within the grassroots level

A great and easy way to get to know your local club is through NatWest CricketForce. NatWest CricketForce 2008 attracted a record 85,000 volunteers at more than 1300 participating clubs.

NatWest CricketForce is a programme form the ECB to help cricket clubs prepare for the forthcoming season, whether it be painting the sight screens, score box, boundary markers, decorating changing rooms, even cutting the outfield. The 2009 NatWest CricketForce event encourages cricket player, supporters, their friends and families to give something back to their local community cricket club by volunteering.

NatWest CricketForce’s purpose is to improve cricket club facilities by involving and motivating existing members and their friends and families, the local community, local businesses and other supporters in a team building exercise to help undertake renovations or new build which helps everybody feel proud of their achievements.

Improved facilities mean a higher standard of cricket and a more welcoming environment for all. This year's NatWest CricketForce will take place on the April 3-5 2009.

The opportunities your club can offer volunteers are immense.

Also, take a look at the Volunteer Organisations section for further support and contacts to help you, to ‘do a favour’ at the local cricket club.