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A year of training – catching up with David

Training volunteers is a vital part of our work here at Sporting Memories and this year has been no different with over 100 new volunteers trained either in-person or online during 2024. 

Sporting Memories relies on volunteers who give up their time across England, Scotland and Wales to help maintain the smooth running of sessions, as well as help members old and new to feel like a welcome part of their respective Club.

Training therefore is critical to understand what a Sporting Memories Club is like, how sessions can be delivered and most of all, ensuring members get the most of out their time with us and improve their wellbeing.

To achieve this, we ask all volunteers to complete training before they begin their time at a Sporting Memories Club, with David Gallagher, our Training Officer, ensuring everyone goes through this process.

We caught up with David (centre) after a busy 2024, where he has held over 30 training sessions online and in-person.

“It’s been great to see so many people attending the training over the course of 2024,” David began.  “This is the second year in a row where we’ve seen an increase in numbers and personally I have enjoyed getting to meet those involved in our work across the country from clubs, new and old, as well as those from various care settings.”

David has led over 20 sessions with new volunteers who have joined either current or new Sporting Memories Clubs, and also led the training for Care Home and Day Care settings staff where they provide Sporting Memories as a session to their residents.

“We’ve trained over 140 people this year for Sporting Memories across a wide range of settings, and I think all of them have really engaged with what we try to do and how through sport, inclusive activities and reminiscence, we can help older people to feel more confident and outgoing.”

One new aspect of training this year has been getting volunteers from organisations such as Sky and Allwyn up-to speed on all things Sporting Memories as part of their CSR work with us, helping at sessions on an ad-hoc basis.

“It’s been brilliant to have these new partners on board with Sporting Memories, as they are keen to engage their staff with our work in any way possible and the response by their employees involved with us has been great.

“The training has helped them really helped them understand what we do and how they can play their part in delivering positive sessions for older people.”

Even though our training session are over for 2024, it promises to be a busy 2025 for training for David and the Sporting Memories team.

“As we head into the new year, I’ll be looking at what we can do to make the training sessions even more beneficial for those who attend as well as how we can support those involved in our clubs and care settings outside of our training.”

To find out more about volunteering for Sporting Memories, you can contact David via david.gallagher@sportingmemories.uk