Sport Volunteering Opportunities – Sport@VAL

Hot opportunities

Walk of Life Volunteers Needed
Location: Loughborough
Rainbows’ Walk of Life raises the funds the charity needs to help  Rainbows offer the very best care and support to children and families from across the East Midlands. The group is looking for volunteers to help with the running of the day. Jobs include manning stalls, car parking and/or marshalling Parks. Learn more

Support Visually Impaired Athletes
Location: Coventry
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, British Blind Sport is staging a Festival of Visually Impaired Sport. It is an excellent opportunity for anyone who is blind or partially sighted to try new sports, learn new skills, gain confidence, make friends and above all, have fun. Volunteers are needed on the day for a variety of roles. Learn more

Latest Opportunities

Football Managers and Coaches
Location: Melton Mowbray
Mowbray Rangers junior FC currently has 12 teams from the age of 7 – 17 but could have more if there were willing volunteers to manage and coach additional teams. As a result, the club is seeking volunteer coaches and managers and would support any willing volunteer and help them achieve FA coaching badges. More information

Run Marshals
Location: Market Harborough
Parkrun Market Harborough is a free, timed 5k run or walk that takes place every Saturday morning at 9am in Welland Park. Volunteers are needed to carry out tasks ranging from directing participants so that they don’t get lost to assisting with the timing system. Find out more

Assistant Coaches
Location: Leicester City
The Active Sports School is focused on providing children with the opportunity to make new friends through the alliance of sports. The group is looking for enthusiastic and motivated volunteers to assist the head coaches with running an exciting project aimed at children 6-16 years old. Learn more

European Wheelchair Basketball Championships
Location: Worchester
Applications are now open for volunteers for the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships, taking place in Worcester from 28 August to 6 September 2015. The Championships provides an exciting competition of twelve men and seven women’s teams fighting for the European Title and for highly coveted qualification places for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Find out more

Colour Blast Dash
Location: Melton
The Laura Centre offers a wide range of bereavement services to help people cope with sudden death. On 29 June, the centre will use ‘Colour Blast Dash’ to raise funds. Volunteers are needed to support the event by becoming marshalls or by joining the Colour Blast Regiment and showering the runners with paint. Learn more

Girl’s Team Manager
Location: Hinckley
Hinckley Rugby Football club is looking to establish a U14 or U16 Girls XV as part of its existing Mini-Junior section. As part of that process, the group wants to identify a female team manager to help develop and manage the team in association with an already identified team coach. Learn more

Advice on how to break into the fashion PR industry

UK PR Manager, Melissa Collins, works for high street fashion retailer River Island. Melissa CollinsHere she talks about her career within fashion PR and offers advice on how to break into the industry.

 

What’s a typical day for you?

Working in fashion PR at River Island, no two days are ever the same! The role is so diverse that I could be on a photo-shoot one day, a breakfast meeting with journalists or in the press showroom the next. I work with press and bloggers on a daily basis to keep that communication strong, whether that’s selling a story/collaboration in or helping out with sample requests. My role requires me to build relationships internally too, so I also liaise with the buyers and designers at River Island ensuring we know what they are buying and what the focus is for the upcoming seasons.

What do you love most about your job?

I love fashion and the buzz you get when you see your brand appear in the likes of Vogue, GQ and other prestigious magazines. I get to work on some fantastic events, press days, product launches plus once in a lifetime campaigns such as the Rihanna X River Island and the 5 Inch and Up X River Island collaborations. Both were amazing and such fantastic experiences to help drive forward and be a part of, from the original ideas right through to the finished piece.

What is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Time! There are never enough hours in the day! When I first started working in the World of PR, I was working with just magazines, paper and broadcast journalists. Now that online plays a huge part, I feel I have to spread myself thinly across all areas as I work with bloggers and vloggers too.

What makes the fashion industry so exciting to work in?

It’s constantly changing and I’m excited to see where it goes in the next 10 years. I think the digital world is set to grow and grow, especially YouTube; this is an area which is growing rapidly and I can see it getting bigger and bigger. However, I really hope the online world doesn’t dominate the media world and make more print titles fold as I still think there is a place for both the glossy magazines/national papers and the bloggers and online magazines. They just have different offerings.

What would look for in a candidate if you were looking for someone to join your team?

I would look for experience within the fashion industry; whether that’s within another PR team, in a retail environment or working for a magazine. It’s also important to be a people’s person; you have to meet and develop relationships with new people – press, bloggers, vloggers – so whether that’s face to face or over the phone, you have to have confidence and good communication skills. I would also look for someone who has a hunger for both fashion and PR.

Have you got any advice for people wanting to get into either fashion or PR?

Be confident, creative and persistent – live and breathe the industry! You will have to complete a lot of work experience to get that first break, but the knowledge and connections you gain are worth it. Work experience really helps to leverage those ‘foot in the door’ opportunities. Go above and beyond what is asked of you on your placement or internship, if you make a good impression, chances are people will remember you which is vital when that entry level or assistant role comes up. Networking is also key. Don’t be afraid to add people you meet on LinkedIn and build your profile so it showcases your experience and skills. Many in-house recruiters use LinkedIn to find talent so make sure yours is up-to-date!

What sums up fashion PR for you?

Fashion PR is fun, creative and very fast paced.

 

 

Volunteering opportunities from VAL

Health & Social Care

Befriend a Person with Mental Ill Health
Network for Change provides supported housing, outreach and day services to adults with mental health problems living in Leicester and Leicestershire. The group is seeking volunteers to befriend adults with mental ill health. Full training will be provided. Learn more

Day Centre Volunteers
Age UK is seeking volunteers to help with a variety of tasks in its Oadby and Wigston day centre. Volunteers will help with tasks like games, making tea and lending a listening ear. Find out more

Education and Learning

IT Trainer
Cooke e-Learning provides informal and accredited courses for local people to help them understand how to use a computer, improve their basic skills, gain qualifications and find work. The group is looking for volunteers to help deliver basic IT courses to residents living in Beaumont Leys who have limited IT experience and are keen to learn how to use the internet. Learn more

Help Develop and Deliver Training Programmes
The Get Set project develops unique and diverse voluntary work experience placements across departments in Leicestershire County Council for young people. The project is seeking a Learning Support Assistant who will help develop and deliver a range of training programmes such as safeguarding adults or interview skills. Learn more

Children and Young People

Warning Zone Guide
Warning Zone is a safety education centre that aims to provide every Year 6 child with an awareness of how to stay safe and an understanding of the consequences of offending.The group is seeking guides who will take small groups of young people around the Waning Zone. Learn more

Help Develop Young Volunteers
As a Youth Action Team Volunteer you will be involved in a range of activities and projects that will support the development of young volunteers aged between 13 and 25. Find out more

Other

Newsletter Volunteers
South Wigston Community News is a community newsletter for people of South Wigston to advertise their events, offers and news to the local community. The group is looking for volunteers to help set up the new South Wigston Community News. More information

Pilot Careers Live

Royal Armouries Museum

Armouries Drive – Leeds LS10 1LT

Saturday July 4th 2015

10am – 4:30pm

Pilot Careers Live is guaranteed to inform, inspire and advise students on what it takes to become an airline pilot

Find out all there is to know on how to take the first steps towards a professional pilot career:

  • Pilot Selection – what do airlines look for?
  • What qualifications do you need to start training?
  • When can you start?
  • What are the costs?
  • Career opportunities wit the Royal Air Force
  • Life as a Pilot – What can you expect?
  • Combining a university degree with pilot training…find out how
  • What are the job prospects?
  • What are the salaries?
  • Is funding available for training?

See http://www.pilottrainingexhibitions.com/leeds/ for details and to book tickets

The Deloitte Careers Fair 2015

6th July, 2-6pm, London

Deciding on a profession to go into can be hard enough, let alone which part of the business you may want to join! That is why we would like to invite you along to The Deloitte Careers Fair, taking place in our London offices. If you are looking for a graduate vacancy to start this Autumn or thinking ahead to next year, this is the perfect event for you!

On the day you will have the opportunity to ‘visit’ stands from each of the areas of our business to find out what it is they actually do on a day-to-day basis. This will provide a great opportunity to get your questions answered directly from those in the know!

The event will also allow you to participate in a number of short skills seminars ranging from ‘how to complete a great application’ to ‘interview skills’.

Exhibiting areas of the business will include:

  • Audit
  • Tax
  • Audit Advisory
  • Consulting Technology
  • Student Recruitment
  • Deloitte St Albans
  • Deloitte Gatwick
  • Deloitte Reading
  • Deloitte Southampton
  • Diversity
  • Professional Education

In order to confirm you place at what will be an extremely popular event, you will need to register on our online system. To register for your place click here

Insight into Publishing

A free event where you can find out more about the career opportunities on offer in the UK’s most diverse book publishing group and number 1 eBook publisher.

Hachette UK is the UK’s most diversified trade publishing group. The group is made up of several publishing companies and imprints including Headline Publishing Group, Hodder & Stoughton, John Murray Press, Quercus Books, Orion Publishing Group, Octopus Publishing Group, Hachette Children’s Books, Little, Brown Book Group and Hodder Education. They work with authors such as Robert Galbraith, Alex Ferguson, Stephen King, Ian Rankin, Martina Cole, David Nicholls and Ella Woodward to name a few.

From 10am till 5.30 pm on 1st July,  students  will be able to meet key people already working for Hachette UK, find out more about the industry, and gain contacts for work experience placements and future roles.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided, and you will be reimbursed London travel expenses between zone 1 and 6 (equivalent to £17).

Visit https://insightintopublishing.hachette.co.uk/ and apply for a place

Deadline for applications is 14th June 2015.