Volunteer coach role description

KEEN London is a small but growing charity. Our vision is that every child has the chance to enjoy games and leisure activities and none are left behind due to disability.

We provide free (and highly sought after) games and activity sessions with one-to-one support for children with additional needs and disabilities. We support over 100 athletes with a wide range of additional needs, including autism, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities and global development delay.

During a typical KEEN London session, you’ll provide tailored support to an athlete, helping them to access all the activities on offer, achieve their personal development goals, and of course have tons of fun! You can expect to get involved with a wide range of playground games, ball games, nature walks, and creative activities. From time to time we also run trips for our athletes, and previous trips have included trampoline parks, high ropes courses, pedalo boating and slime-making classes!

At KEEN London we’re always looking for volunteer coaches to help us deliver our weekly sessions.

Volunteer Coach

Our volunteer coaches are the backbone of a KEEN London session! You’ll work in a small team to support our athletes, ensuring that they can access everything the session has to offer and have fun at the same time.

Help our athletes access the activities and games at our sessions. You’ll support our athletes to engage with the session, and have fun while they’re doing it.
Support athletes to achieve their goals. You’ll help our Service Coordinator develop goals for our athletes, track their progress, and give them lots of encouragement along the way.
Work as a team to develop creative ways of engaging with the athletes. You’ll work together to come up with new games, develop resources, and plan activities.
Get moving. We want our athletes to have fun being active, making friends, and trying new things – and we want you to join in with them!
Have fun! Our athletes love working with energetic and enthusiastic people, and we’ll ensure that all your hard work will be rewarded with a great time.

Requirements

We don’t expect any prior experience for this role – just lots of energy, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn!
A commitment to attending 2 sessions per month, for at least 6 months. This is to ensure a level of consistency for our athletes, and so that you can gain the experience needed to support our athletes effectively.
Completion of our application process. You can submit your application to volunteer here. After submitting your application, we’ll invite you to attend a training session and complete a DBS check.

What you’ll get in return

You’ll make a difference to the lives of our athletes, see their progress, and have fun along the way!
Regular social events and opportunities to meet other coaches
Additional training sessions and access to our training drive
Development of skills such as working with children, teamwork and communication
The chance to progress to becoming a coach team captain
Long-term volunteers receive t-shirts, badges, and advance sign-up to our popular events

Apply to volunteer

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer with KEEN London please complete an online application here.

Contact us

If you want to get in touch with us about volunteering you can email volunteering@keenlondon.org or call us on 02076863172.

Volunteers say…

I’ve been volunteering for almost two years now. I started doing it because I wanted to use some of my spare time to help people in my local community. I think London can feel so big and impersonal and it’s easy to become self-involved — I wanted to avoid that and do something to make life easier for the people around me.

I’ve never worked with children professionally and my career is not at all child-oriented, so it was all very much outside of my comfort zone when I started. I have learned so much from the kids and become a more rounded person myself, so it’s been a great experience.

Olivia, KEEN volunteer

I think what keeps me coming back is knowing that you really are making a difference to the children’s lives even in just a small way, you can see week to week how they start to interact with each other more and become more confident with getting involved with the games because everyone is there as a group encouraging. All the athletes are really lovely too. Plus it’s good fun playing all the games anyway, it doesnt feel like volunteering your time!

Laura, KEEN volunteer

A very enthusiastic friend who volunteers with KEEN got me involved; and now there’s no going back. On Sundays I get to play games I haven’t played since my childhood and if it’s possible I think I enjoy them even more now! The athletes are great and what’s more, I’ve met some great people who I hope become friends for life.

Kelly, KEEN volunteer

I got involved with KEEN through the Vodafone world of difference programme and really enjoy the Sunday morning sessions. I find it a rewarding and exciting experience to interact with the enthusiastic and energetic kids while allowing their parents/carers a couple of hours respite. I have also really enjoyed getting to know the other volunteers who, just like me, are still kids at heart.

Alex, KEEN volunteer

KEEN London is great place where you can meet superb people and have loads of fun.

Edyta, KEEN volunteer

KEEN is a fun, friendly and active way to let off steam, both for athletes and coaches. What makes it so successful is the enthusiasm and the familiarity as coaches and athletes develop friendships that grow.

Charlotte, KEEN volunteer

Volunteering for KEEN is a wonderful way to spend your free time. It’s a pleasure to get to know and develop the athletes and the sessions and trips are lot of fun.

It’s well-organised and the coordinators provide lots of training and support. You only need to commit to volunteering once a month but most coaches attend a lot more than that, as it’s so enjoyable and rewarding. Would definitely recommend to any Londoners looking for volunteering opportunities!

Rachel, KEEN volunteer