Information for Volunteers

What happens at KEEN?

• Pairing-up
  Each volunteer is assigned one athlete for the session. As a coach, your job is to enable your athlete to take part in the activities and to have a great time. For example, you can make sure your athlete understands the instructions and gets a turn in each game. You will be given a profile card with details of your athlete's abilities as well as lots of helpful coaching hints.
• Sports Sessions
  The session starts with a warm-up and then the sports and games begin. Some of the games we play include football, basketball, playground games, relay races and much more. Every activity is lead by an experienced coach who is always happy to lend a hand where it is needed.
• After the session
  After the athletes have gone home to their parents, we have a "debrief" over food and drink. This is a good chance to discuss the session and get advice from other coaches if you have had any problems, or just to have a laugh and make some new friends.

You want to volunteer!

Great! Read this information for coaches and download the application form. Please post this to the office and we will contact you about an induction! You will then need to fill in a Criminal Record Bureau Check. Once you have been to this initial training session, we will add you to the mailing list and you can come to our sessions whenever you are able! If you want any more information (although most of it is on the website - so do look around) feel free to email us.

More questions...

• Do I need any qualifications?
  The only thing you need is a sense of FUN! You don't need to be sporty or to have worked with children before. We ask all new coaches to attend a training session before coming to sports sessions, so you will have plenty of opportunities to ask questions and learn more about KEEN. And once you come to a sports session, you'll find plenty of friendly experienced coaches to help out.
• Do I have to come every week?
  NO - you can come to sessions when you can. We ask you to come three times a term - this means you can really get to know some of the participants and see the progress they make. We really rely on our volunteers so we can pair each child up individually. This is why we require coaches to sign up in advance for sessions, so we can make sure we have enough people - it's all done by email and is very easy.
• What do I gain?
  Volunteering isn't only about helping the children. As a volunteer with KEEN you can gain lot too - you'll meet lots of new friends, have a wonderful time and can add some valuable experience to your CV in teamwork, leadership and any careers related to psychology and medicine. We also offer training in autism awarenes, Makaton (a sign language used by children with special needs) to an accredited level, behaviour management, and session leading. So even though we can't give you a wage, KEEN can give you a lot more!
• I can't help with the sports, is there anything else I can do?
  YES - we also need volunteers to help out with publicity, fund-raising and admin. If you have skills in any of these areas and would like to get involved, please get in touch.

Why volunteer?

So, you're probably asking, 'Is it for me?' Well, you don't need to be sporty, although it doesn't hurt if you are. You don't need any experience (most KEEN coaches didn't have any when they started) and there's plenty of back-up from session leaders and other coaches, so you won't be left on your own. And the one thing I haven't mentioned so far, it's a huge amount of fun!

If you need any more convincing, read these quotes from other volunteers...

"I just love doing KEEN, It's not something I do because I feel I should, it's something I do because I have a great time. And it's good to realise that people's lives go on whatever you are doing: there are these kids going from school and your essay is not a big deal at all, really." - Kate Hunt

"I've had such a good laugh with the kids. They put such effort and enthusiasm into everything: KEEN really puts back your faith in humanity." - Jen Hurst

So give it a go, there's no commitment, it's only a couple of hours and you probably weren't going to do much else on a Sunday morning anyway. There's only one way to really find out...

When and where?

Sports sessions currently take place weekly during school term time on Sundays near Tufnell Park. We also run special events throughout the term which are all round London. New coaches will be required to complete a registration form and attend a training session before attending sessions. We will also conduct a CRB check for each coach.