DLLT Volunteers Share Highlights from Volunteer Transfer 2024
In August, volunteers from Denis Law Legacy Trust visited Salford as part of an annual ‘Volunteer Transfer’ with Foundation 92, a registered charity founded by The Class of ‘92.
Ameer, Chloe, Judith and Solieman all volunteer with Denis Law Legacy Trust’s Streetsport programme in Aberdeen, which is run in partnership with Robert Gordon University, and went on a weeklong exchange to Manchester to experience new places, people and cultures.
In their own words, here are their highlights from the Volunteer Transfer:
Ameer
“I was one of the volunteers selected to go on the Volunteer Transfer with Foundation 92 where we went down to Manchester to see how F92 run their sessions and what we could learn and bring back to our sessions to improve our participants’ experience.
Foundation 92 ran a vast range of different activities such as sports games, holiday camps and their Premier League kicks sessions. We participated in the Sale High School Holiday Camp which I thought was a great place for participants as they were inclusive of everyone and made sure all participants had a fair turn in each game. The holiday camp also served as a place for participants to meet new people and make new friends. We also took part in the Premier League Kicks session which was a football game between the participants and Denis Law Legacy Trust/Foundation 92 which I thought was very beneficial for the participants and helped them with speaking to new people which can be quite scary.
We also had free time where we got to see Manchester United's stadium. When we got to Old Trafford we were given a full tour where we got to see the pitch, the dressing rooms, the conference rooms and the rest of the stadium. The stadium was huge which goes to show just how big the pitch is and how much work the players put in which was amazing and made me appreciate their work even more.
The trip as a whole was really good as it gave us a new look and experience on how to run our sessions and what we could implement into our sessions to make them better for our participants. I felt that it also brought our group closer together and improved our teamwork and coordination. I would recommend that other volunteers go on this trip as it was a really good experience and also a great chance to learn new skills, develop new skills and meet other people.”
Chloe
“I was first asked if I would like to participate in the Volunteer Transfer with Foundation 92 during a meeting of the Trust’s youth forum, Granite City Speaks. I immediately thought this would be an amazing opportunity for me as I would be able to gain an insight into another charity and I would be able to further connect with my peers within Denis Law Legacy Trust. I was initially quite apprehensive about the experience because it was way out of my comfort zone and unlike anything I had ever done before.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and we were able to make the most of our experience and use the time well by seeing how a similar charity operates and do some team building activities. Throughout the week, we got the opportunity to attend and help run Foundation 92’s holiday activity camps and attend one of their evening sessions (which was more like a typical Streetsport session), we also got to go bowling to team build within the group and we went on a tour of Old Trafford too, which was super cool!
It is difficult to choose a highlight of the whole experience although I really enjoyed the bowling and arcade which we went to as I got the chance to better get to know my peers and I really liked doing occasional vlogs to update how the experience was going. Attending the F92 sessions was good, especially as I learnt some new games which I can bring to Streetsport sessions such as ‘one bounce volleyball’ and ‘bench ball’. It was interesting to explore new places in Salford such as Media City and the Trafford Shopping Centre. It was especially interesting to see the size and nature of these places compared to Aberdeen (I was impressed with how clean it felt - there was no litter on the ground, and it felt really cared for). I definitely wouldn’t have had the chance to participate in an experience like this outside the Volunteer Transfer and I think it is a great thing for the charity to do as both charities are able to learn from each other to further develop their own charity.
I really enjoyed my experience because I was able to learn more about the other volunteers whom I work with at Streetsport and I felt really proud of myself afterwards, as I felt really anxious beforehand and didn’t think I would be able to go. I would 100% recommend the Volunteer Transfer to other volunteers because not only is it an excellent opportunity to learn about a different charity, it is also a great way to push you out of your comfort zone and learn more about your peers and yourself.
It was great to chat to the participants at the F92 sessions and experience different behaviour, as this has widened my repertoire of skills and has allowed me to practice speaking to new young people and build new relationships with the children at sessions. I definitely got to know the other Streetsport volunteers better which is great as we can now work better together whether that be in Granite City Speaks meetings or at Streetsport sessions.”
Judith
“Through the days we spent on the Volunteer Transfer, we went to Foundation 92’s Sale High School Summer Camp and we did different games with the kids which was fun. On Wednesday we went to one of their sessions and we played a big football game which gave us the opportunity to interact with other participants and speak with them.
For me, the highlight of the transfer was the Old Trafford tour that we did as it was an amazing experience and I’m really glad I went since I learned more about Manchester United and their history through the years.
Thanks to the Volunteer Transfer, I learned new games and activities that can be implemented in our Streetsport sessions and on our volunteer training days. I would recommend this exchange to other people since it was an amazing opportunity and experience.”
Soleimen
“I was invited to participate in the Volunteer Transfer through Granite City Speaks which is a youth forum run by Denis Law Legacy Trust which has provided me with countless opportunities to take part in activities like this.
We helped out at Foundation 92’s morning holiday camp activity sessions and learned some excellent new games which we can now use at Streetsport sessions. These sessions were a good way to learn some key skills from F92 and see how they do their sessions. We also went to a Premier League Kicks session which was more similar to a Streetsport session and it was a lot more of a familiar kind of activity.
We also went to the Trafford Centre which is amazing, probably the best mall I’ve ever seen. It had so many shops and the food court was huge, we spent eight and a half hours there and still didn't see everything! We did bowling there as well and even had a little trip to the Costco right next to the mall to see what they had. This was a really good experience because it allowed us to become closer as a team and we got along very well together. We also went on a tour of Old Trafford which was a great experience and we all really enjoyed it.
Overall I found the Volunteer Transfer really fun because we got to do such a wide range of activities and see so many new things. It was such a good way to get to know the volunteers in our group better and develop new skills which we can use in Streetsport sessions in the future. I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone who gets this opportunity as you'll get to experience so many different things and grow connections with the other volunteers that helps team building and improves your communication and teamwork skills.”