Royal seal of approval for sport volunteers

Northumbria University has won a prestigious national volunteering award after its students were recognised for their work in driving a positive change in society.

The University was competing for the National Sport and Recreation Alliance volunteering award, which also saw Loughborough Sport, at Loughborough University, and Sport England’s Active Surrey programme also shortlisted. Northumbria Sport was presented with the award by His Royal Highness Prince Edward.

The Sport and Recreation Alliance’s volunteering award seeks to celebrate clubs and programmes that go the extra mile to make volunteering accessible to all people. Northumbria Sport’s 297 on the volunteering programme logged over 9,000 hours of work between September 2017 and August 2018.

Northumbria’s sport development and engagement manager, Sue Vout, said she was delighted with the programme’s achievements and the result. “The Sport and Recreation Alliance is the umbrella body for sport and recreation in the UK and is the voice of the sector with government, policy makers and the media,” she said. “In 2017, our student volunteer programme won the BUCS workforce programme of the year award, demonstrating its excellence among other universities.

“Unlike that award, the Sport and Recreation Alliance award is open to all types of organisations across the country, clearly demonstrating how outstanding our work in this area is.”

Student and staff development manager, Kate Hansbury, and Sarah Stephenson, sport services assistant, oversee the sport volunteering programme at Northumbria and paid testament to the volunteers and hosts they work with.

“We are lucky to work with such fantastic volunteers, as well as internal and external hosts who offer such exciting opportunities for them to experience,” said Kate. “Without these generous host organisations there wouldn’t be a programme, so being nominated for this award is an achievement for everyone involved.”