Volunteering a runaway success!

When it was first announced by the Government, few would have imagined how successful the Year of the Volunteer 2005 would turn out to be.

With about a quarter of the year still to go, the initiative is well on the way to collecting the ‘Billion Minutes’ of volunteered work which was declared as its major goal.

ECB has given and continues to give wholehearted support to the Year of the Volunteer, which serves both to recognise the huge value of volunteers to the life of the nation, and to encourage more to join in.

Last April, for example, ECB joined forces with NatWest for the hugely successful NatWest CricketForce 2005 event.

Over two hardworking days, volunteers carried out repair and redecoration work on 665 cricket clubs the length and breadth of the land, achieving the equivalent of a season’s worth of improvements over one weekend.

It was one of the biggest volunteering events ever staged, and it resulted in a monster donation of five million minutes to the Year’s ‘Give a Billion Minutes’ campaign.

All volunteering is good, but volunteer work makes a particular difference to the game of cricket. ECB is indebted to the 50,000 volunteers who currently give their time and skills to grassroots cricket clubs all over the country.

England player Andrew Strauss, who pulled off the catch of the Ashes series, emphasised the long-term importance of this kind of work: “The current England team wouldn’t exist without the volunteers who give up their time to help week in, week out. I had no hesitation in getting involved in CricketForce, a volunteering initiative by ECB and NatWest to improve grassroots cricket, earlier this year.

“Anything that gets children interested in cricket and encourages volunteers to get involved is great for the game. With our fantastic npower Ashes victory and the fact that 2005 is the Year of the Volunteer, there is no better time to get involved.”

ECB has been seizing every opportunity to publicise the Year of the Volunteer this spring and summer. Year of the Volunteer logos have appeared at the recent OSCAs (Outstanding Service to Cricket Awards) and on replay screens during the Ashes. Senior men’s and women’s cricketers have also been paying tribute during interviews with the media.

Ex-England captain and current npower ambassador Mike Gatting (left) has also made the link between this summer’s Ashes success and volunteer support: “I’d like to see more youngsters taking up cricket and I hope this year’s success will inspire more volunteers to get involved.

“It’s the Year of the Volunteer and we’ve beaten the Aussies - do you need any more incentive to get out there and volunteer for club cricket?!”

It’s clear that the best way for fans to ensure England’s future cricketing success is to get out there and offer a few hours of time and enthusiasm to their local clubs.

Every little counts when you’re volunteering. You can be behind the scenes, making tea, providing transport or contacting local businesses for support. Or you can be more involved in the game itself, helping the groundsman, keeping score, even coaching kids who might be the stars of tomorrow.

And volunteers get benefits back too. They can learn new skills, get fitter, de-stress, or just enjoy the sense of real satisfaction that comes from doing something that makes a big contribution to the success of club and national players.

If you are interested in volunteering to help our beautiful game, please check the volunteer section of this website for more information. It even has advice about what to do if you want to recruit volunteers for your club or league, or any organisation.

If you would like to volunteer to help in other fields, it has never been easier to do get involved. Whether you are an old hand or completely new to it, The Year of the Volunteer website lists all sorts of local opportunities.

Go to www.yearofthevolunteer.org and just type in your postcode or town to see details of suggestions.

That’s also where you can pledge your minutes and make your own invaluable contribution to the Year of the Volunteer ‘Give a Billion Minutes’ campaign.

And remember, have fun!

• Visit The Year of the Volunteer 2005 website