Tidworth Leisure Centre Hosts the First Community Volunteering Conference

The first Community Volunteering Conference will be held in Wiltshire at Tidworth Leisure Centre on 23^rd March 2007 and will be attended by up to 150 young volunteers who have shown potential. 

The young people attending the event will have been chosen by their School mentors and will participate in workshops run by Community Sports Coaches plus other specialists.

Workshops will include Disability Sport, Speed Agility and Quickness, Fundamentals and Multiskills. There will also be the opportunity to learn about how to lead sport specific sessions including Athletics, Basketball, Cricket, Dance, Football, Hockey, Rugby and Swimming and they will even have the opportunity to try out Ultimate Frisbee.

Cllr. Paula Winchcombe, Member Champion for Leisure said: "This is another fantastic opportunity for young people to enhance and develop leadership and life skills".

All Schools in Wiltshire with 16-19 provision are currently being visited by WASP (Wiltshire and Swindon Activity Sports Partnership) Youth Sport Development Manager Simon Woodhouse who is offering students the opportunity to take part in the national Community Volunteering programme. This involves taking part in a placement within or linked to a high quality club where they could engage in a wide range of volunteering roles. This will be the fourth year of the programme within the county and numbers have risen from 36 people being placed to 127 last year with this number set to rise again during the 2006/07 academic year.

In order to gain an award young volunteers must complete 20 hours in one year to gain the WASP Community Volunteering Award and 50, 100 or 200 hours to collect one of the national awards.

To find out more information about the programme please contact Simon Woodhouse on 07717 666939 or email wood_dog78@hotmail.com.