The intention is for a key message of ‘thanks’ to be delivered to the 5.8 million volunteers already said to contribute to sport at all levels in England.
Sport Month is being built around the theme ‘What’s your passion?” with the aim of increasing sporting opportunity across public and voluntary sectors.
Present at yesterday’s announcement of Sport Month was Paralympic gold medallist Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, who said: “Volunteers have helped me throughout my career, without whom I would not have been able to achieve my success.”
The website www.sportmonth.org lists all the sporting events taking place during the year that volunteers can get involved in and can be used to publicise events where people can volunteer.
Events lined up to promote Sport Month include a Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games Volunteer Reunion in early August, a London 2012 Sports Volunteering Summit on June 2 looking at the strategy to recruit the 70,000 volunteers needed if London were to host the Olympics and the world’s largest triathlon on August 6 and 7, the Michelob Ultra London Triathlon.
The ‘Year of the Volunteer’ is run by CSV and the Volunteering England Consortium, and supported by the Home Office.
