Voluntarism takes new regional guard

The noble undertaking of voluntarism in sports in the Caribbean got an injection of renewed energy recently, when the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC), staged a two-day workshop at the Rex Resorts in Grenada, October 11 and 12.{{more}}

Held in conjunction Pan Am Toronto – 2015, participants were drawn from the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) from Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States Virgin Islands, and host Grenada.

Following the workshop, several outcomes were achieved. It was agreed that CANOC encourage the development of volunteer structures in the various NOCs, as well as produce a handbook on the subject matter and a database of all national volunteer organisations.

The workshop mandated that CANOC identify and promote best practices among NOCs in the region.

Additionally, it was resolved that National Olympic Committees should undertake to establish national volunteer organisations in their respective islands.

Participants felt that a curriculum should be developed to teach voluntarism at all levels of the education system, but at the tertiary level, credits should be awarded to the students’ course.

Among the topics elucidated at the workshop were: ‘What is Voluntarism’; ‘Organisational Needs’; ‘Recruiting Volunteers’; ‘Training Volunteers’; ‘Placing Volunteers’; ‘Managing and Retaining Volunteers’; and ‘Working with Volunteers – the Grenadian Experience’.

The facilitators of the workshop were Keith Joseph – St Vincent and the Grenadines; Catherine Forde – Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Angel Morales – United States Virgin Islands and Charles George – Grenada.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was represented by Rohan Thomas and Marlon Gibson.(RT)