The young volunteers of today, such as Jemima Parkinson from Darlington Headlanders Netball Club, are the future leaders of tomorrow.
In Jemima’s role as volunteer coordinator, she organises the rota for the other volunteers helping to ensure the smooth running of sessions and the club, and also coaches herself.
And it’s the Netball Family – both individuals who she has looked up to and those who look up to her now – who keep inspiring Jemima’s netball journey.
She said: “The smiles on the kids’ faces when they arrive and the frowns when they have to leave inspire me to keep volunteering. They are so happy to be at netball!
“It’s the women before me that inspired me to do what I do and I hope I’m inspiring the young women in front of me!”
Watch what a typical day looks like for Jemima here as she juggles college and volunteering: Jemima’s Day.
Jemima’s three top tips for volunteers:
- Have a club that supports volunteers at a grassroots level
- Make time for yourself – time management is key for a busy life
- Sign up for Pass on Your Passion
As part of the England Netball (EN) volunteer strategy, we want to ensure that by 2025 young volunteers are at the heart of designing new programmes and forms of recognition for their peers.
In addition to her coordinator role, Jemima set up Headlanders’ very own volunteer scheme – this consists of the volunteers logging their hours and sending it in to the club and then being rewarded with kit when they reach a designated number of hours.
Further to this, if volunteers complete 100 hours and are over 16, they will receive a fully expensed Level 1 Coaching course from the club.
Thank you Jemima for everything you’re doing to make netball happen and change lives through our sport!
You can find out about some more amazing young leaders and the role they play in their local netball community here.
If you’re aged 12-25, don’t forget to sign up for our reward and recognition scheme Pass on Your Passion (POYP) which is designed to acknowledge the incredible work undertaken by our sport’s young volunteers. We currently have an incredible 710 young volunteers registered!
