Volunteers Week (1-7 June) is a national celebration of the work that millions of volunteers do every day, week and month. We took the chance to find out a bit more about why our fabulous volunteers do what they do to grow the charity.

CWB is almost exclusively run by volunteers, it’s what makes us special, and without the hours that are put in by our ‘CWB family’ the charity would not exist. But why would you donate time and considerable effort if you are not getting paid? We asked our volunteers, why they volunteer for CWB.

Carl Ferguson, like many of our volunteers, found out about the charity by chance and has stayed involved after being ‘hooked’ on the first trip; ‘my first trip was everything and more I could have wished for with over 2,000 children coached… As a result of this, on my return to England I knew I had to stay involved with the charity in whatever way I could’.

Equally, Greg Mackett has been on one trip but this Autumn plans to volunteer in four countries because ‘the reward you get from something as simple as making a kid smile with the sight of a tennis ball puts a warmth in my heart like I can’t describe’. Greg recognises its exhausting mentally and physically but ‘the smiles on people’s faces is what makes me volunteer and that’s why this autumn I’m going back!’

At CWB, we hope to have an impact both on the people we are trying to help in Africa but also on our volunteers. David Terrace has seen further benefits of volunteering ‘Of course I enjoy volunteering in Africa, it’s a fantastic experience. However, I volunteer in the UK for the charity for two key reasons. Firstly, I believe that sport can make a positive difference and I want to make sure we demonstrate that, hence the monitoring and evaluation work. Secondly, it has provided me with some skills and lessons that I am using to further my own career.’

We are running a social media campaign to find out why more our volunteers volunteer through our Facebook and twitter accounts.

You can find out more about volunteers week here http://volunteersweek.org/