NEW 

Innovative Tools for sport volunteering

V4V PROJECT

Analysing and making visible the skills acquired through volunteering in sport in Europe

The V4V project has been funded under the Erasmus+ Sport Programme of the European Union (Call 2020) and had a duration of 3 years, running up to December 2023.

Background

Volunteers make a huge contribution to the sport sector as a whole and play a vital role in sustaining the delivery of sport at all levels from grassroots participation to elite competition.

Through their tireless commitment, volunteers also gain much informal learning – particularly in generic transversal skills – which, if made visible, will be a powerful incentive to volunteer recruitment, easing transition into paid employment and addressing skills shortages more widely in the sector.  

Within the V4V project, we were using the main elements of the volunteer concept in laws and regulations adopted by EU member states.  

For the purposes of this project, it has been agreed that volunteering describes actions which:  

  • are performed with the free will of the individual;
  • are developed in the framework of non-profit, non-governmental organisations;
  • are non-paid and carried out for for the benefit of the community or third party.

 

Aim 

The overall goals of the transnational V4V initiative were:

  • to analyse the sport volunteer workforce;
  • to highlight realities and challenges around volunteering;
  • to improve recruitment and retention;

  • and, to create an innovative online tool which volunteers can use to showcase their skills and competencies to potential employers and education providers.

The V4V project targeted impacts were to raise the profile of sport volunteers and the skills they gain, to increase volunteer recruitment and retention, and to smooth transition from voluntary to paid employment, thereby to address skill shortages.

Project Outputs

OUTPUT 1: A mapping of sport volunteer workforce

The overall goal was to publish a comprehensive mapping of the sport volunteering workforce in Europe that was developed through the collection and analysis of data gathered through the implementation of various research activities.

DOWNLOAD OUTPUT

OUTPUT 2: A toolkit for volunteer recruitment, retention, and management

The partners collaborated to design a practical and innovative digital toolkit for sport organisations to respond to some of the identified realities and challenges faced by volunteers and organisations in the sector and particularly to facilitate the engagement, development and retention of sport volunteers in Europe.

OUTPUT 3: An online competency-based self-assessment tool

An online competency based self-assessment tool enables volunteers to reflect on their experiences, identify and showcase the types of skills and competences they have built up while participating in sport volunteering and record evidence to match their achievements and make these visible to others: e.g., employers, training providers.

OUTPUT 4: The first ever European Sport Volunteering Skills Summit

At the end of the V4V project, as part of the sustainability and legacy plan, a European Sport Volunteering Skills Summit was organised to present and discuss the main findings and innovative outputs of the project with a wide audience of sport stakeholders from all over Europe.

Partnership

The V4V partnership constituted a powerful mix of 13 stakeholders: national and international sport federations, a governmental organisation responsible for sport, two sport training providers, two sport research centres and two sport European Networks with numerous contacts all over Europe and beyond.

The partnership included the European Volunteer Centre (CEV) which is a multi-sectoral European Network of over 60 organisations dedicated to the promotion of, and support to, volunteers and volunteering in Europe.

Project News

V4V Partners Meet for the Last Time – Celebration and Sadness

V4V Partners Meet for the Last Time – Celebration and Sadness

All good things come to an end, and there is always a degree of sadness for those involved. This was certainly the case for the partners in EOSE’s V4V project (full title Analysing and Making Visible the Skills Acquired Through Sport Volunteering in Europe) when they...

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Contact

Need to know more about the V4V project?

Willing to take part in the dissemination and consultation process?

Interested in working with the V4V project partners or share ideas/suggestions/good practice on sport volunteering?

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