See My Voice encouraging young volunteers with visual impairments

British Blind Sport’s 'See My Voice' is a 3 year project encouraging young people (aged 11-18 years) with a visual impairment to find and access local sports volunteering roles delivering social action. If you are 11 to 18 and interested in getting involved with this young leader programme, the deadline to complete the registration form is Friday 2nd February. More details at the bottom of this page.

British Blind Sport aim to provide Young Leaders with fun and meaningful volunteering experiences that will develop invaluable leadership skills and increase confidence enhancing their future prospects. The BBS project officer will work with 35 young leaders annually. Throughout the project BBS will share project learning with their partners in order to shape their policy and increase accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities in sport for the future.

What is sports volunteering?

Social action can be any kind of activity that benefits others and creates positive social change. Millions of people in England freely give their time to help others; for some, it’s about giving something back to their community or making a difference to the people around them. For others, it’s a chance to develop new skills, gain experience or make new friends. In many cases, it’s both.

Some examples of roles that BBS Young Leaders may be interested in are; coaching, marketing and promotion, coordinating events, officiating, fundraising and race marshalling. BBS Young Leaders will be able to choose the role they are most interested in and if it turns out they don’t like it… they can try something else!

Who can apply to be a Young Leader and what is involved?

Applicants need to be between the ages of 11-18 years and have an interest in sports volunteering to become a Young Leader.

Young Leaders will be required to deliver 50 hours of volunteering during a one year term. In addition, the Young Leaders will be required to complete a national evaluation twice per year as well as attend one forum to provide feedback on their experiences of volunteering to key sporting partners. All recruited Young Leaders will be expected to attend a regional induction meeting. Parental consent will be needed for any applicants under the age of 18.

Why become a Young Leader?

This high-quality training and development programme, along with mentoring, will develop BBS Young Leaders with life skills that will inevitably increase confidence and enhance employability prospects. See My Voice offers an opportunity to develop new skills, meet new friends and improve lives.

Each Young Leader will complete a leadership qualification, receive a completion certificate, receive mentoring sessions with business leaders and have the opportunity to share their experiences with our partners. Young Leaders will be encouraged to express their views about how sport is delivered in England to young VI people by leading an open forum alongside National Governing Bodies, County Sports Partnerships and other stakeholders.

What support will the Young Leaders receive?

An experienced Young Leaders Officer (YLO) will support each Young Leader to find and access high-quality volunteering opportunities based on their interests, needs and motivations and to overcome any barriers standing in their way. The YLO will be in regular contact with all of the Young Leaders to ensure they are benefitting from their social action and receive feedback from the Young Leaders directly.

In addition, the YLO will bring together Young Leaders in person to ensure they have the chance to meet other Young Leaders as well as creating peer support networks through social media.

Lastly, the YLO will work closely with organisations hosting our Young Leaders to ensure that our Young Leaders are appropriately challenged and welcomed into an accessible and empowering environment. Once Young Leaders have completed their one year programme, they will be welcome to remain in project forums to take part in discussions, and hear of new training and volunteering opportunities.

How do I become a Young Leader?

If you are interested in becoming a See My Voice Young Leader, then click here to find out more how to apply or access the application form on the British Blind Sport website www.britishblindsport.org.uk. Applications must be submitted by Friday 2nd february 2018 .
If you have any questions, please contact Young Leader Officer, Lijana Kaziow directly by emailing Lijana@britishblindsport.org.uk or phoning 01926 424 247.