John Downes "Street Games"

John Downes � National Fieldwork Manager � Street Games

John graduated from the University of Cumbria 5 years ago, in which he spent one year as a sabbatical officer in the Students Union and 3 years as a volunteer officer organising events. In 2003 John moved to Manchester and worked for Manchester Youth Volunteering Project delivering a sports volunteering project in the East Manchester Sports Action Zone.

After two years this project went city wide and began to develop a range of projects and courses for young people to get involved with. Over time in Manchester John specialized in working with youth led projects, sports events and engaging with young people classed as �hard to reach�.John has also been able to look at youth volunteering in various cities across Europe and has taken a group of young people to Ghana in 2007 to be involved in a voluntary project.

John also runs a junior hockey team, is a board member of MYVP and works part-time as a mountain leader for youth groups around Manchester.

Session: Sport on the Street � Street Games

The session will look into the impact of volunteering upon the local community and how young volunteers can have a positive impact upon the local community, away from the traditional sports club. We will take a look at the StreetGames and the work it does and how developing youth led projects in the local area can make a positive impact to both local people and the young people.