With volunteers contributing over 1.2 billion hours each year to support sport, Athletics provides opportunities for everyone. Whether you can help maintain facilities or can offer your services for a couple of nights a week, you can make a real difference. There are opportunities for everyone ranging from making the tea to painting the track to chairperson. Volunteering is vital to the survival of Athletics and the growth and improved structure of clubs.  Volunteering contributes to the overall running of clubs which is vital to athletes including Paula Radcliffe who believes “all clubs have a vital role and we should be proud of that, work on it and support it.”

The 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games presented our sport with its biggest opportunity for a generation. In 2014 we see the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, then 2016 has the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games before the 2017 World Athletics Championships take place in London. It is a tremendous decade of sport with many major events taking place on these shores. The ‘Are you ready?’ England Athletics Volunteer Initiative was based around helping clubs and networks to Recruit, Retain and Reward volunteers thus obtain Results for both clubs and volunteers.