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Hi! My name is Nicola and I am the Sports Development Assistant (volunteer) here at Leeds Sport! Whilst I am new to the role and the Leeds Sport team, I am not new to volunteering. Over the last five years I have dedicated over 800 hours to volunteering within the Watersports Sector.

My volunteering journey started off in 2015 when I was sailing at my local club in Manchester. I decided that I wanted to get more involved with the running of the club and was given a few jobs to do each week to help out, including helping to rig the boats and launch them. I really enjoyed this and decided I wanted to become an instructor, but I couldn’t pay for the course fees and so I made an agreement with the centre that if they pay for the course, I will continue to volunteer my time as an Instructor. My experiences grew from there and in 2016 I was awarded the Manchester Sport Young Volunteer of the Year for my dedication to volunteering within the sport sector, alongside my studies.

I continued to volunteer for the club and moved my way up the committee from Social & Events Officer, to Vice Chairperson and now to Commodore. In 2018 I won the inaugural Panerai Challenger Trophy for my ability to use sailing and windsurfing to overcome difficulties in my life, which led to a £5000 grant to go towards my training and equipment and £10,000 for my club. Now I am a Senior Instructor in Sailing, Windsurfing and Powerboating.

Although winning awards and improving my CV have both been great outcomes from my volunteer work, it’s not really what drives me to keep doing it. The connections that you build with people and seeing that you are making a change in someone’s life through what you’re doing are enough to keep me motivated and enjoying what I do.

Volunteering isn’t always a walk in the park, like with any ‘job’ it can come with its own challenges. For me it was the competition for time between my studies and volunteering and finding a balance, but I found doing volunteering little and often meant that I could manage my studies, whilst still having fun from the volunteering and sports. You just have to find a balance that works for you.

I always recommend that everyone gives volunteering a go because the skills that you develop from it and the opportunities presented are invaluable and not to mention, you’ll have a great time doing it too!

I hope to bring my past experiences to the role and help to improve offerings around campus!

If you are interested in the Sports Development Assistant post or any other of our volunteering roles, find out more on our website. 

The role of a Leeds Sport Media Assistant is exciting, varied and flexible. It opens the door to opportunities which are shaped towards your interests and skills you wish to develop. In the role, activities stretch from social media coverage of Varsity to writing blog posts about sport initiatives in Leeds such as Goodgym. It’s a really rewarding scheme and a great way to develop employability skills such as leadership and communication.

ELLIE: Social Media Assistant 

I applied to the Media Assistant role because I intend to go into a marketing career and wanted more experience. My previous marketing roles have been in social media marketing and market research. I wanted to build on this experience in a new industry context. I’m interested in going into a sports marketing career but did not have any experience in this industry. Therefore I thought the role would be a great way to develop my understanding of sports marketing.

I really appreciate the flexibility of the scheme, both in terms of the role and time commitment. I have been able to mould the role to suit areas that I would like to get more experience in. For example, this semester I will be learning more about the Sports Colours Awards, which is a big sports event on campus. Last semester I focused more on social media for a variety of different events such as the Parkrun. This flexibility has allowed me to gain experience in areas that I wanted to develop, whilst also developing other crucial employability skills such as communication. The scheme requires around two hours of work a week during term time. On the whole, it is extremely flexible around your degree.

I’ve really benefited from the scheme so far, not only have I developed my skill set which I have found really useful when applying for graduate roles, but I have really enjoyed being involved in such a wide variety of sports opportunities throughout campus.

MADDY: News and Blog assistant

 As an aspiring journalist, the role of the media assistant really appealed to me. I wanted to diversify my time between academic writing, keeping active and writing news and blogs. In the past, I’ve worked with financial news organisations and write regular blogs on issues of current affairs and human interest.  However, I wanted to develop knowledge and skills in a new field whilst also gaining reputable writing skills for my year-in-industry and future graduate role. The voluntary nature of the role is incredibly rewarding as both others and yourself benefit from the work you produce. I’ve had the opportunity to interview Olympic hopefuls and inspiring coaches. It’s fascinating to hear and convey stories from the universities key role models in sport.

Adapting my writing style from academic essays to journalistic articles has been a real learning curb for me. I’ve really benefited from learning about digital platforms such as WordPress. I’m also excited to create a video with Ellie for the Leeds Sport Volunteering campaign this month. As well as this, I’ve gained a valuable set of skills ranging from communication, leadership, teamwork and initiative. The role is very flexible around your degree which avoids lots of stress when it comes to managing essay deadlines. This role will also give you direct access to societies and you can assist them with media enquiries.

I would highly recommend this role as it has allowed me to be recognised by other journalists and business professionals on platforms such as LinkedIn and it also provides you with free access to the Edge gym – one of the many advantages of a volunteering role.  

Check out all of our volunteering opportunities for the 2020/21 academic year, including the Leeds Sport Media Assistant, here.