Example: Welcome letter for volunteers

(small groups)

Special Olympics Leicester Club (SOL)

Thank you for offering to volunteer with SOL.

About SOL

SOL is a ‘multisport’ club for people with a learning disability. By multisport, we simply mean we try different sports, aiming to provide

  • Enjoyment
  • Physical activity
  • A place where there is a sense of purpose
  • Teamwork

SOL is affiliated to Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB), which is part of the Olympics family, and through which our athletes can access competitive sport.

Some formalities

As of turning up, you are a SOL volunteer and are on our insurance should you have an accident.

There is a form from our parent body Special Olympics Great Britain (SOGB - and we also need to register certain details ourselves on the first occasion you volunteer.

There is also a need for a DBS check, as otherwise you cannot be alone with an athlete as they are categorised as a vulnerable person.

So, in summary, you need to have completed within a few weeks of starting

  • SOL’s form (on the first day of volunteering)
  • SOGBs form
  • DBS check

Trial period

The best way to see if you are going to enjoy volunteering is to try it. Therefore we set a three week/occasion volunteering trial period, and if after that time you think this is not for you (or we think its not for you – not very likely), there is no embarrassment in moving on. After three weeks or occasions of volunteering, you are a SOL volunteer and totally a part of a team.

We know the people already volunteering can seem to inhabit the space easily and you can feel an outsider coming in, but we will seek to be as friendly and welcoming as possible and discuss with you your role as a volunteer so that you enjoy it from the start.

Your role

Within the club we tend to be flexible and muck in with what needs doing, but individuals do tend to have certain things they like to do (joining in with the sport, helping with the tea break, being on the entry desk etc). The key aim is to create a happy atmosphere in which the athletes feel they belong and to make the sporting element work well so that everyone joins in, and those that want stretching get challenged in performance.

Reliability

We do not have the sort of culture where you must turn up, it is OK, for instance, to come every second week, but we do really like to know if you are coming or not, preferably the week before, but at least earlier in the day, so that cover can be arranged if we’re short handed.

The committee, with contacts, are listed below