Inspiration and Legacy from the 2012 Games
The 2012 Olympics and Paralympics will inspire thousands of new volunteering roles and engage people who haven't previously volunteered.
The Office of the Third Sector is providing funding for Volunteering England and YouthNet's 'Inspiration and Legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games' programme, which will ensure everyone who is inspired by 2012 can find those volunteering opportunities quickly and easily.
We aim, over the course of this programme, to enable organisations to create, promote and manage volunteering opportunities that have been Olympics inspired*, particularly in the fields of sport, arts and culture, and the environment and conservation.
Nationally and regionally, we work with organisations to develop Olympics inspired volunteering opportunities, and guide them towards ensuring that their opportunities are registered on Do-it – the National Volunteering Database. This work is achieved in partnership through infrastructure bodies such as regional Volunteering Development Councils, consortiums of Volunteer Centres, and the national and regional bodies for sport, culture and the environment.
Organisations who are engaged with this project will have a number of different options for them to be able to advertise their volunteering opportunities on the Do-it website. These include:
- V-Base: Our bespoke volunteering management software, that enables to store all your volunteers details, upload opportunities onto Do-it as well as much more.
- V-Base Recruiter: Our online system that links directly to Do-it to enable you to quickly and easily put your volunteering opportunities on Do-it
- Volunteer Centres: Local organisations that link to Do-it to allow you to post your volunteering opportunities by utilising their expertise.
If you're interested in finding out more information about how to get your Olympics inspired volunteering opportunities onto the National Volunteering Database please contact a member of the Partnerships Team.
Volunteering England are producing guidance on how volunteering opportunities and activities can harness the excitement of the Olympics, linking organisations that involve volunteers with good practice advice on how to do so. We will ensure that our plans link in with other volunteering development and Olympics focused strategies, such as the Government's Legacy Action Plan.
An Olympics inspired volunteering opportunity is 'a role which engages individuals in either sports, culture or the environment / conservation sectors, that is based on the Olympic values and which harnesses the power and excitement of the Olympics to engage more people in volunteering'. For examples of specific definitions, please see the Get Involved page.