With volunteers contributing over 1.2 billion hours each year to support sport, Athletics provides opportunities for everyone. Whether you can help maintain facilities or can offer your services for a couple of nights a week, you can make a real difference. There are opportunities for everyone ranging from making the tea to painting the track to chairperson. Volunteering contributes to the overall running of clubs which is vital to athletes including Paula Radcliffe who believes “all clubs have a vital role and we should be proud of that, work on it and support it.”

The 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games present our sport with its biggest opportunity for a generation. The games will see sport thrust into the spotlight in a way that hasn’t been seen before. With this in mind England Athletics are asking ‘Are we ready?’ and more importantly we are asking you, ‘Are you ready?’

England Athletics Volunteer Initiative is based around helping clubs and networks to Recruit, Retain and Reward volunteers thus obtain Results for both clubs and volunteers. Volunteering is vital to the survival of Athletics and the growth and improved structure of clubs. As part of the initiative England Athletics have launched the ‘Are you ready?’ campaign to drive the Recruit strand of the volunteer initiative aiming to bring new volunteers to the sport.

“Our vision is to use the power of the 2012 Games to inspire lasting change. They offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something extraordinary, to inspire everyone to use their passion to help others” - Lord Seb Coe 

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