Member Article

Your Business Skills and Experience are needed!

Do you have an interest in sport and a desire to use your professional skills to help organisations become stronger?

sported. is looking for volunteer Mentors to work with local organisations to enable them to become more business savvy.

Established by Sir Keith Mills in 2008, sported. is a national charity that provides support to community sport organisations that work with young people (aged 11-25) from disadvantaged communities.

We do this by providing business resources and financial assistance, so that these organisations can concentrate on doing what they do best - improving the lives of disadvantaged young people through sport.

This is made possible thanks to our network of volunteers, mentors and experts, who provide their services to members of sported. for free.

sported. has now Launched in Tyne and Wear, East Durham and Tees Valley and over the next 12 months will be extending services to the whole of the North East region. We are now looking to involve people with skills and experience interested in mentoring and making a difference to the sustainability of local organisations that use sport for development with young people.

We are particularly looking for people with skills and experience in any of the following areas:

• Business Planning • Finance • Fundraising • Governance • Organisational Policies and Procedures • PR and Marketing • Project Management • Staff Management • Volunteer Management

We also want people with experience in club/sport development, within the voluntary sector or working with community groups.

Mentors work with one of our Member organisations, supporting them with their business development. The exact work you do will depend on your skills and the needs of the Member. It could range from helping to write a business plan, to helping them organise their income and expenditure.

We ask our Mentors to commit to a minimum of 10 hours over a 3 month period. Most of our Mentors meet with their Member organisation for a couple of hours every 2 - 3 weeks. Meetings are arranged at a time and place convenient for both Mentor and Member, and we will make sure that you are happy with the length and location of a project before we place you with a Member organisation.

Before you start your first Mentor placement we ask you to complete a 3-hour induction training course, so that you are fully prepared to work with a Member organisation. We run the course regularly throughout the year at various times and locations, so you should always be able to find one in your region that fits into your schedule.

Throughout your time as a Mentor with sported. we are committed to helping you access any appropriate training required to enable you to be the best support to our Members that you can. Any training needs identified can be discussed with your Regional Manager.

Once trained we ask our Mentors to commit to doing one placement. After that it is entirely up to you. You can take on another placement straight away or take a break for as long as you want.

Interested?

For more information about sported. mentoring or membership for organisations/groups, please see our website www.sported.org.uk or contact Sandra Hillyard S.Hillyard@sported.org.uk 07775 602137

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sandra Hillyard .