VOLUNTEERS

The Eastern Counties Volunteer Strategy centres around clubs each appointing a Club Volunteer Coordinator to become a focal point for Volunteer Recruitment, Retentions and Recognition. There are 31 Volunteer Coordinators in the Eastern Counties most of who have received training to support them in their role./

 

The Volunteer Coordinator for Eastern Counties is Andrew Sarek andrew.sarek@ecru.org.uk 07958 138083 who arranges at least one set of Volunteer workshops per season. Contact Andrew for advice on Volunteer matters, but also take the time to have a look at the Volunteering Section of the RFU Community Rugby web site.

Jerry Otter is the driving force behind Cambridge RFC's rise through the leagues to National Two where they will be competing next season. He has coached youth sides for many years and took the club to successive Eastern Counties Colts Cup titles.

Gregory Underwood has been a stalwart of Sudbury RFC for many years most recently as the long standing Fixture Secretary. With his wife Linda he has run the Suffolk Fixture Exchange and serves on the committee of the Suffolk Rugby Union as well as the Eastern Counties Community Rugby committee.

This seminar is aimed at increasing activity at club level by raising awareness of ‘People and Places’ initiative, and providing three way communications between the Constituent Body, the Clubs and the RFU. The project will focus on core values, facility development, refereeing, club accreditation and volunteering.

The primary aims of this project will be to;

  • Support projects that increase the numbers of volunteers and encourage volunteering. Identify ways for Clubs to engage with the rugby programme;
  • Provide information to Clubs about readiness factors for club facility development
  • Identify ways to increase the number active of society and non society referees through the promotion of club referee coordinators and developers;
  • Engage with Clubs to increase the number of Whole Club and Mini & Youth Seal of Approval clubs.

New Stand to help Recruitment

Eastern Counties Rugby Union (ECRU) has unveiled a new display stand to help the recruitment of players, officials and volunteers to the game locally. Standing 2.2 metres tall and 3 metres wide it will be seen at events all around the area, the first of which was at Felixstowe Rugby Club as part of their 75th anniversary celebrations, where the Rugby World Cup trophy was the Guest of Honour.

The stand has images of male and female players, referees, coaches and volunteers, and urges everyone to get involved at any level. Produced by Van Cols of Colchester, it was paid for by a grant from the Rugby Football Union's Volunteer Fund, and it will be available to all clubs in the Eastern Counties.

Chairman of Community Rugby for ECRU, Andrew Sarek, is in charge of the project. "Volunteers are the lifeblood of our game, and without them clubs would simply not be able to operate." Sarek said. "We hope that the public will come to the stand at various events where staff from ECRU and local clubs will be on hand to explain how anyone can get involved in the game at all sorts of levels, whether they have played the game before or not. Age, sex, ability or experience are not an issue."

Rugby Clubs will be encouraged to book the stand for events they are arranging, and recruitment leaflets will be provided, to which clubs can add their own contact details. The number of people visiting the stand will be monitored, as will those who go on to become rugby volunteers.

Sarek added: "We are aiming for 100 new volunteers in the first year, which will be invaluable for local rugby". You can get more information about the new display stand, and about volunteering in the Eastern Counties by contacting Andrew Sarek on 01206 525170 or e-mail andrew.sarek@ecru.org.uk