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Vicky Edge

Vicky has mainly been involved in netball coaching & hockey coaching in after school clubs across Warrington and also working with a local centre for disadvantaged young people between the ages of 10 to 18 years. She has been volunteering for over 2 years and regularly gives up 2-3 hours weekly. She has also been a volunteer at the Partnership Youth Games as a volunteer for Athletics.

In addition to this voluntary work, she has taken part in many one off events such as Football Festivals, working with groups with Severe Learning Disabilities – coaching athletics and also supporting a sports week for a group of disadvantaged young people. Vicky has also volunteered in community centres across Warrington using her skills in Netball and Hockey.

She has been actively involved in team building days for new recruits at the local sixth form – taking on the responsibility for ensuring all individuals are integrated into the “team”, running sport sessions and designing the format of the day. She has taken an active part in many Disability Awareness Days – supporting Organisations promoting equity and inclusion in the local community.

She has been a representative on the Board at the local sixth form to promote Step into Sport, JSLA and CSLA programmes to ensure future young people have the opportunity to volunteer in their local community. In addition, she set up a new netball club for young girls in the areas - having assisted in primary schools coaching netball, Vicky realised there were many girls wanting to develop their new netball skills further but no club for them to join. She therefore took responsibility for training and mentoring in order that they could continue the sport to join an after school club at High School. She also enabled many schools to enter a netball tournament across Warrington as a direct result of many new netball players at schools.

The local hockey club at which she has been coaching managed to gain a place in the local schools league for the first time due to increased skill and development of the players. Vicky has also volunteered her time working with disadvantaged groups – her goal of widening participation amongst all young people ensuring the whole community is welcomed to aid social integration across previously extremely diverse groups.

Vicky was particularly shy with little confidence when she first started volunteering and one of her goals was to improve her own confidence. She did this by offering to volunteer for many different groups, organisations and sports, taking new courses (First Aid, Good Practice Child Protection, Equity) and putting her new skills into practice.

She is now much more confident, has many sporting qualifications to enhance her skills and has even spoken publicly regarding her achievements -even promoting the volunteering programme to young people! She even successfully managed to retain one member of her club who felt she did not fit in with the team at the local club, stating she “was no good”. Vicky’s support of the girls’ skill development and perseverance has paid off and the girl remains with the club having become an active member of the team!