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North of Tyne McCain Athletics Network (NOTAN)  has been recruiting volunteers from various sources and the link they have established with Northumbria University has been particularly successful.

The network has been working with the University for a few years by recruiting volunteers who are completing placements as part of their courses. The network works closely Linsey Aiken, the placement officer, to coordinate the placements. The University has three sport degree courses which all provide students to the network and its clubs. The courses are; Sport Coaching, Sport Development with Coaching and Sport Management. The students bring many different skills to the network and fill a variety of roles from coaching to club management.

The scheme has been very successful and a great example of this is Victoria Spence, the Network Coordinator.  During her second year at University, Victoria volunteered helping out with the development plan, coaching in schools and helping to develop the clubs.  Following her placement, she stayed involved with the network and after graduating from Northumbria, she was appointed Network Coordinator.  This just shows how volunteering can benefit the club but also the volunteer can learn skills that increase their employability.

NOTAN is also taking advantage of the events that the university and other colleges hold.  In September the network will be attending fresher fairs to help recruit more volunteers into athletics.  These are great events to showcase the network and its clubs to students and advertise volunteering opportunities.

NOTAN also links up with Team Northumbria based at the University to recruit volunteers.  The network uses this section of the University to recruit volunteers to help at events. The network communicates regularly with Sarah Stevenson, the lead of Professional Development at Team Northumbria.  Sarah is able to recruit and provide volunteers to help at network events.

The links NOTAN have established are a great example of how a network can link up with local partners to recruit new volunteers into the sport.  The scheme benefits the student volunteers who need contact time to increase their employability and also the clubs who need the services of the volunteers.
 

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