Volunteers
VOLUNTEERS
Keith Skirving who has ties with Kidderminster Carolians RFC and Stourbridge RFC is the NMRFU Volunteer Coordinator.
Volunteers falls within the Club Support and Development section of NMRFU.
Keith’s contact details are:
Email: keithskirving@gmail.com
Tel: 07810 321056
Volunteers:
Successful rugby clubs are more than just victorious teams on the pitch. Players and coaches are vitally important but so are the many dedicated volunteers who work hard behind the scenes to help the club function.
Future success for all rugby clubs depends upon the ability to recruit sufficient volunteers and all clubs must be on the look out to strengthen their volunteer group.
You don’t have to be a rugby expert to get involved. Whether you’re a current player, someone who has hung up their boots or a person who has never picked up the oval ball, you could be a valued rugby volunteer, with a workforce of 100,000 already situated around the country.
It is also important that our game recognises the time, effort and dedication of all our volunteers and below is some information that your club should find useful.
What is available for volunteers:
NMRFU do not have any stock of gifts for volunteers but the RFU, through Mitsubishi Motors, do supply gifts – see attached link.
NMRFU do make end of season awards to a volunteer in each of these 7 categories:
Young Volunteer of the Year
M & J Volunteer of the Year
Senior Club Volunteer of the Year
Club Volunteer of the Year
Groundsman of the Year
Long Service Award
NMRFU Volunteer of the Year
NMRFU has access to “Money Can’t Buy” opportunities for volunteers which in the past have included a trip to watch the England squad train ahead of a 6 Nations match, a trip to Badminton Horse Trials and tickets to autumn internationals. What I need to know as NMRFU Volunteer Co-Ordinator is who at your club are the “Unsung Heroes” and what they do to make a difference.
NMRFU have in the past organised a trip to Twickenham to watch England play in the end of season May fixture and we also hire a hospitality box at Worcester Warriors and entertain worthy volunteers. Again please do let me know the names of volunteers who would appreciate this type of recognition.
Clubs are contacted direct around February time about the Mitsubishi volunteer awards seeking nominations from fellow club members. The winner from events held in the NMRFU area are invited to a Black Tie dinner at Twickenham (with winners from other CB events) where one overall winner announced on the evening will have the use of a Mitsubishi vehicle for 12 month, as well as a very enjoyable meal and day out at Twickenham.
What is happening this season:
I am going to shortly arrange a breakfast meeting (for about 1 hour duration) on a Saturday to discuss what opportunities there are for club volunteers – these meetings will be Domestic Union based and I will be inviting 1 or 2 people from each club who are involved with volunteer recruitment as well as volunteer recognition. I will also be asking what clubs expect from NMRFU in way of recognition of club volunteers.
I am hoping that clubs will be able to take away some new ideas as well as information from the events.
The important thing is to let us know who your Club Volunteer Co-Ordinator is for the 2018/19 season – can you please pass your Club Volunteer Co-Ordinator’s details to Keith Skirving by email to keithskirving@gmail.com
More Volunteer Recognition in NMRFU Clubs 2017:
The NMRFU Awards were presented by Rob Bray, President of NMRFU, to valued volunteers at a pre-match lunch before the County Championship match against Warwickshire in the Bill Beaumont Cup last May.
Ben Andrews from Pershore RFC Mini and Junior Volunteer of the year
Ben Andrews and Robert Bray (NMRFU President)
Emily Shotbolt Redditch RFC – Young Volunteer of the Year
Frank Jewitt from Birmingham Exiles RFC – NMRFU long service award
Malcolm Harris from Hereford RFC – NMRFU Volunteer of the Year
Malcom Harris with his award
Other winners who could not attend the pre-match lunch were:
Nick Minshall from Market Drayton RFC – Senior Club Volunteer of the Year.
Angus McMeeking from Dixonians RFC – Club Volunteer of the year
Pete Chidley from Ludlow RFC – Groundsman of the Year
Many congartulations to all the winners and NMRFU really do appreciate the volunteering you have done within your club and the game. The Club Support and Development Committee are already seeking names of candidates for this season’s awards – if there is someone on your club you feel is worthy of a nomination then please contact NMRFU.
ARCHIVES
More Volunteer Recognition in NMRFU Clubs 2017
The NMRFU Awards were presented by Rob Bray, President of NMRFU, to 6 valued volunteers at a pre-match lunch before the final County Championship match against Somerset in the Bill Beaumont Cup on 20th May.
The awards went to:
Young Volunteer of the Year: Dan Trombley – Birmingham Solihull RFC
Mini & Junior Volunteer of the Year: Martyn Duncan – Chaddesley Corbett RFC
Club Volunteer of the Year: Stephen Hindson – Redditch RFC
Senior Club Volunteer of the Year: Don Waterston – Dudley Kingswinford RFC
Long Service Award: John Ross – Birmingham Barbarians RFC
North Midlands Volunteer of the Year: Gerry Acton – Ludlow RFC
Many congratulations to all of the above and many thanks for all the hard work and effort they have put into their clubs and rugby generally during this season and previous seasons. It is appreciated that all clubs have such volunteers so please let NMRFU Community Committee know about your worthy candidates.
The final events of the season were held last week at 2 Mitsubishi dealerships in the area, Bromsgrove and Telford. The 66 nominated volunteers from NMRFU Clubs, in the Mitsubishi Motors Volunteer of the Tear Award were all invited to one of these two events. The overall winner at each event will be invited to attend a black tie event at Twickenham on 15th September 2017 along with the winners of the 39 other events held around the country – the overall winner at the September event will receive the grand prize of a Mitsubishi vehicle for a year.
The winners from NMRFU were:
- Stephen Hindson from Redditch RFC and
- Thomas Simmonds from Dudley Kingswinford RFC
Again very many congratulations to our 2 winners and I am sure you will have a great experience on 17th September.
I look forward to the 2017 / 18 season and hope the interest generated this season on the Volunteer Recognition front will continue.
Keith Skirving
NMRFU Volunteer Co-Ordinator
NMRFU Recognising Club Volunteers in 2016 / 17 Season
The following article is to give you a flavour of what your CB has been doing in terms of recognition of Club Volunteers within the NMRFU area, one of the most valuable assets for both clubs and our CB.
Early on in the season NMRFU was able to present a pair of tickets to some valued club Volunteers for three of the Old Mutual Wealth Autumn International matches and all recipients had a great day out, especially as the results were all wins.
There then came a number of opportunities to recognise volunteers courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors Sponsorship deal with the RFU.
In the first of these events Phil Knowles was recognised for all his years’ dedication to Kidderminster Carolians RFC on and off the pitch with a day watching England train ahead of the 6 Nations at their Pennyhill Park ground. The day included lunch with the players and photo opportunities with Eddie Jones and some of the players. Needless to say Phil had a tremendous day and is still recounting his experience months later.
NMRFU then put forward John Forster of Edwardians as a candidate for the “RFU President’s Value the Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award”.
John and his wife, Theresa, were invited to Twickenham for the England v France game.
The package included a tour of the stadium, lunch, tickets to watch the match (and that magical late try), attendance at the players’ post-match meal and a night at a good quality hotel in Richmond. John was presented with an award by Eddie Jones.
When recalling his weekend John told me:
“The members lounge / bar was packed and we were well looked after by the RFU, Steve Guy and Stuart and Linda Potts.
England won. Yes Yes Yes!!!.
Return to the Petersham Hotel in Richmond for the night – what a day – what a weekend – what a pleasure for the two of us – what an honour – what a privilege”
Both had a wonderful weekend and the next time you see John I am sure he will tell you all about the experience.
John and Theresa relaxing on their Stadium Tour
John receiving his award from Eddie Jones
More recently NMRFU had a hospitality box at Worcester Warriors for the final league match of the season against Leicester Tigers. A good lunch and a drink (or two) was enjoyed by the club volunteers in the photograph below.
I am sure ALL Clubs have valued Volunteers and if you would like to help your CB recognise these valuable resources then please do let the CB Community Rugby Committee know about who you believe deserves recognition by your CB.
There are a couple more events for our volunteers before the NMRFU AGM and updates about these will be posted on the website soon.
With clubs already holding or about to hold their AGMs what would be really appreciated is confirmation of your Club Volunteer Co-Ordinator for the 2017/18 season – can you please pass your Club VolunteerCo-Ordinator’s details to both Keith Skirving by email to keithskirving@gmail.com and also Sarah Wild at nmrfuas@gmail.com
Keith Skirving
NMRFU Volunteer Co-Ordinator
MAY 2017