Celebrating the contribution of Volunteers

Annie Scott, who is responsible for overseeing the ICC World Twenty20 volunteer programme, is passionate about the importance of volunteers at sporting events.

Having co-ordinated the volunteer programme for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2004, I have witnessed firsthand the impact that such a programme can have on a global sporting event.

The volunteer plays a significant role and although they go unpaid, they certainly don’t go unrewarded.

I’ve been overwhelmed by the level of support that the recruitment drive has garnered and the results have surpassed everyone’s expectations. We found ourselves in the enviable position of having more applicants than positions and that has enabled us to match the skill sets of individuals to the most appropriate volunteer roles at the four venues.

We’ve called the programme Twenty20 Vision and we have recruited volunteers to fill 430 shifts across five different project areas (Media, Event Support, Ticketing, ICC Support and Accreditation) and training days will be held to
ensure that they are all equipped to deal with situations which may arise.

The volunteer journey began in March when our online portal opened inviting people to apply for a position by stating when and where they would be available. We publicised the portal in the media, on social networking websites and through established volunteering networks at universities, colleges and cricket clubs and we received applications from all corners of the UK as well as a handful from Asia and The Americas.

Each shift will be around six and a half hours long and we’ve asked all volunteers to commit to at least three shifts during the tournament. Based on requests from the venues, we have allocated 676 volunteer working hours to
Lord’s, 657 to the Oval, 748 to Trent Bridge and 657 to Taunton. To put the response into context, the total amount of time pledged by applicants exceeded 91,000 hours.

Volunteers will be placed inside and outside of the venues, directing supporters to local facilities, providing information and assistance and working in partnership with venue and tournament staff in specific areas.

It is vital that every volunteer has a positive experience of their time with us and we have to demonstrate how highly we value their commitment. We will issue a uniform and a personalised volunteer handbook to every volunteer and our hope is that we can create a legacy of volunteering with our recruits eager to pursue other opportunities in cricket and sport in general.

The ICC World Twenty20 is a truly global event and I am delighted that so many volunteers will be right at the heart of it.