Impact case study database

Development of a volunteer programme for sports mega-events

In 2010, Melling was contracted by the 2014 Winter Olympic Committee to create the blueprint and preparation training programme for Olympic Volunteer Centres within 26 Russian universities [A]. Volunteer Centres within universities was a new concept for the Russian Federation and there was little knowledge around the recruitment, management and support of volunteers. Melling worked with Sochi Organising committee for the Olympic Games to identify appropriate institutions and using the ‘action learning toolkit’ [2, 3] and peer leadership programme model [4] they co-created a training programme to ensure standards of excellence in volunteer management. For the first time in the history of the Olympic movement, selecting and training Games volunteers was carried out through Volunteer Centres based at educational institutions throughout the country. The programme formalised volunteering within the Russian Federation through the engagement of 27,000 volunteers and was one of the most important outcomes of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The Official International Olympic Committee (IOC) Report on Sochi 2014 Vol two stated:

"The Sochi 2014 Games helped revive volunteerism in Russia and brought it to a completely new level of development. The Sochi 2014 Volunteer Programme could be called one of the most important elements of the Games legacy." [B]

The benefits of the programme also had far reaching impact on the lives of Russian people beyond the Games: “When Sochi began the bidding process in 2005, the concept of volunteering simply did not exist in Russia,” explains Dmitry Chernyshenko, President and CEO of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee. “Now, the volunteer movement is thriving, with a quarter of a million Russians regularly participating in volunteer activity.” [C]

Further to Melling’s contribution to the Sochi 2014 Volunteer Centre concept, the CVCL was also consulted on the development of a volunteer legacy programme for the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Moscow. The University of Central Lancashire signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Moscow State Social University and Melling collaborated with former Head of the Sochi 2014 Volunteer Programme, Anton Lopukhin, Acting Vice Rector of the Moscow State Social University, on the development of an inclusive legacy programme, which would create benefits for community projects around disability and social justice. Representatives from Moscow City Government then visited the University of Central Lancashire on a fact-finding mission to explore best practice in relation to mega-sports volunteering [D]. Using the Sochi model, 17,040 volunteers were recruited for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The media predicted that the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Moscow would be tarnished by racism and hooliganism. This did not happen. The World Cup was a success, where all visitors were made welcome and the game was characterised by friendliness. This was due in part to the culture of volunteerism built on an ethos of social inclusion. As Patrick Jennings from BBC Sport stated in 2018:

“In many ways, Russia was the perfect World Cup host. A vast country where there is so much to uncover. The organisation was superb, thanks in no small part to the thousands of volunteers who helped visitors get by.” [E]

Transforming lives through peer leadership

From 2014 to 2020 the work of the CVCL has created a network of student volunteer peer researchers and leaders delivering research-informed knowledge exchange within the UK, the Russian federation, Pakistan, Oman, and Zambia. Participants in this network have strong connections with international agencies and policymakers: Anaisa Baig from the University of Gujrat Centre for Civil Society was invited to represent Pakistan at the G(irls)8 Summit: Zuleikha Chikh, CVCL University of Central Lancashire, became Muslim Sports Leader of the Year, 2019 in the Muslim Women in Sports Powerlist: and Wajid Khan, University of Central Lancashire CVCL, became MEP for Northwest England and sits on the committee for Human Rights within the European Parliament. Chikh’s postgraduate research on women and leadership in sport is directly addressing IOC and UN SDG priorities regarding gender equality.

The Global Youth Solutions (GYS) peer leadership model developed by CVCL [4] has had an impact which has transcended Sochi 2014. In 2013 the GYS programme engaged with the University of Gujrat in Pakistan, resulting in an international student led conference in 2014, where students at the University of Gujrat co-created a conceptual university volunteer centre based on the Sochi model, with the mission of delivering peer research and leadership education addressing structural inequalities highlighted by the SDGs, including 10 Reduced Inequalities. This work led to the development of a new research Centre, the Centre for Civil Society within the University of Gujrat [F], which was ratified in 2014 by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Mohammad Nizamuddin, now the Head of the Pakistan Higher Education Commission. This resulted in a culture shift around formalised student volunteer knowledge exchange and peer-led research in the Gujrat Region of Pakistan. The GYS model was applied in Oman between 2014 and 2017, engaging 260 Omani Students as peer-research leaders. The programme resulted in a culture shift in volunteerism within Omani HEI’s and the development of a learning community of active volunteers. On the strength of this, Nizwa University forged a MoU with the University of Central Lancashire [G1, G2]. Closer to home, in 2014 the CVCL was approached by the Traveller Education Service to develop an educational inclusion project with the Traveller community in Preston. The GYS programme facilitators worked on the site with young people to deliver a story-telling project about Traveller sports, experience, culture, and how the young people saw their place in the world. In the spirit of Freirean pedagogy, representatives from the Traveller community have formed an ongoing dialogue with undergraduates, engaging on Traveller culture, rights, and social justice [H]. Collaborating with Traveller communities has richly informed research and pedagogical approaches, thus influencing emerging work with local communities high on the multiple deprivation index, such as Shadsworth, Blackburn with Darwen, East Lancashire, and Allerdale and Copeland District, West Cumbria.

Another recent example includes the GYS 2019 project ‘Letters from Lesvos’, where CVCL student peer researchers contributed to addressing the six United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) priorities for reform. Many unaccompanied refugee children had undertaken perilous journeys across the sea and experienced significant trauma before their arrival at Lesvos. This experience impacted on the children’s confidence and trust in humanity. The aim of the project was to co-create new knowledge with the children, thus supporting a positive change in the children’s world view and development of both self-advocacy and peer-advocacy. To operationalise the project, the GYS team developed strategic partnerships with UNHCR, related NGOs, and the University of the Aegean, whose staff and students collaborated on a FIFA initiated football skills programme for refugees with Barcelona FC. The real impacts, however, transcend the formal structures of policy and practice. The children benefited from the project in several ways, but the greatest change was in their world view through the knowledge that the University of Central Lancashire staff and students cared enough to share their skills. In 2019, one child said:

“Despite the war, we can see that good people exist in the world”; “You make us very happy.”. [I]

Sport as a mechanism for international dialogue

Since 2014, over 100 University of Central Lancashire student volunteers collaborated with Sport in Action, a Zambian sports non-governmental organization. This collaboration enabled peer leaders from Sport in Action to deliver life skills programmes in Kabwe and Lusaka, directly impacting the lives of over 3,500 young people [J]. Local schools have reported further impacts in terms of increased classroom attendance and educational engagement post intervention. Students with specialist skills in Media and Film production, Journalism and Publishing have helped to enhance the profile and consequently the impact of Sport in Action, nationally and internationally, by producing high quality marketing literature, YouTube trailers, video documentaries and publications. Furthermore, using a student mentoring approach [1, 5] Sports Coaching and Sport Studies students co-delivered the development and delivery of community activity and health programmes in Kabwe and Lusaka addressing HIV and Hepatitis B, impacting on the lives of approximately 1,000 individuals. Student volunteer Physiotherapists have maintained the development and delivery of short first aid and basic injury prevention workshops in partnership with Sport in Action Peer Leaders in Kabwe and worked on placements at the IOC Regional Development Centre in Lusaka. The impact of this has been the co creation of new health education programmes. Latterly, Sexual Health students have been based in Lusaka supporting the delivery of key sexual health education messages to young people and supporting the education of teachers and sports leaders. This activity impacted on 5000 individuals and its success has been demonstrated through increased dissemination of key messages. Sport in Action are now working with the University of Central Lancashire volunteer students on programmes on Gender Equality and combating violence towards young women.

The Centre Sauvegarde de l’Enfance d’Agadir is a Boys’ and Girls’ orphanage in Morocco whose purpose is to care for and support young people who have no family or have either been abandoned by their parents or referred to the Centre by the juridical court system. The Centre positively impacts the lives of hundreds of children throughout Agadir, currently caring for 96 boys and 80 girls. Utilizing peer mentoring methodologies [1, 5] student volunteer peer mentors and CVCL staff work with approximately 180 young people per year and support over 25 staff members to help deliver key life-skills and health messages [K]. Stakeholders such as the CVCL play a crucial role in supporting organizational development and sustainability. The Centre has worked closely with CVCL to create a strong partnership and to use sport as a tool to engage with the children. Since 2014, CVCL has added significant capacity to the Centre in terms of knowledge exchange and in the development of a sustainable structure.

Nawal Rais, the CEO, has stated that children displaying behavioural issues and not attending has significantly reduced from 50% to 13%, with many now regularly attending school and demonstrating a positive attitude to learning.

Further change in terms of increased extra-curricular interventions including football and basketball have also been reported on national TV in Morocco. Finally, to ensure a lasting and sustained impact the University of Central Lancashire have supported the Centre in making physical activity a core element of the curriculum.