Volunteering With The Club Committee
The Eastleigh Swim Club committee meets at least once per month to discuss the activities of the club, our performance in the pool, finances, member welfare and plans for the future. The Head Coach, Coaching team and Swim School team all report to the committee.
There is a subset of the Committee, known as the Executive Committee, which meets more regularly and which deals with issues that are not appropriate for discussion amongst the wider committee, for example employment issues relating to paid club staff. In the diagram below, the Executive Committee is shown in yellow and the wider Committee includes all the other roles.
Chair
The club Chair is the principal officer for the club and is elected by the club members.
Who we are looking for?
- You will have a passion for sport with a good knowledge of sports clubs, aquatics or leading an organisation.
- You will demonstrate strong leadership skills and experience in leading a group of like-minded individuals for a common purpose.
- You will be approachable, diplomatic and helpful.
- Have the ability to maintain harmony in the club.
What do we and the club expect from a club chairperson?
- To provide direction and leadership to the club, dealing with issues as and when they arise.
- To chair meetings; setting the agenda to support the development of the club.
- To oversee decisions made by the management, sub committees, officers and other club personnel.
- To prepare and present the annual report in conjunction with the Secretary (if necessary).
- To help ensure the correct and smooth running of all aspects of the club in accordance with its rules, constitution and by-laws and also Swim England law and UK law.
Level of commitment required
- This will vary but will include attendance at club meetings and could include attendance at meetings with the Local Authority, pool operators, Swim England and County Sports Partnership staff.
- There may be other time commitments in addition to this in order to fulfil the above criteria.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Club Development Officers
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Volunteering Team.
- Access and support from other Swim England teams as required by your club, including (but not limited to); membership, Institute of Swimming, England Talent teams, and discipline-specific Development Officers.
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is a pivotal and highly rewarding role which success and impact on the club will be determined by your own ambitions and enthusiasms. As well as your ability to guide and engage others, it is an opportunity to take on a new challenge and influence the future direction of your club.
Vice Chair
The Vice Chairperson works closely with the club Chair supporting them to undertake the leadership and governance responsibilities of the club. Generally speaking, the Vice Chairperson will look to step into the role of club Chairperson when the Chairperson is unavailable.
Who we are looking for?
- You will have a passion for sport with a good knowledge of sports clubs, aquatics or leading an organisation.
- You will demonstrate strong leadership and communication skills.
- You will be approachable, diplomatic and supportive.
What do we and the club expect from a vice chairman?
- To support the chair in the provision of direction and leadership to the club, dealing with issues as and when they arise.
- To assist the chairperson in the planning and delivery of club and committee meetings.
- To support the chair in overseeing decisions made by the management, sub committees, officers and other club personnel.
- To prepare and present the annual report in conjunction with the club chairperson and secretary (if necessary).
- To help ensure the correct and smooth running of all aspects of the club in accordance with its rules, constitution and by-laws and also Swim England law and UK law.
Level of commitment required
- This will vary but will include attendance at club meetings and could include attendance (either with or on behalf of the club chair) at meetings with the Local Authority, pool operators, Swim England and County Sports Partnership staff.
- There may be other time commitments in addition to this in order to fulfil the above criteria.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is a developmental and supportive role which success and impact on the club will be determined by your own ambitions and enthusiasms.
- As well as your ability to support the chair in providing leadership and direction to the club, it is an opportunity to take on a new challenge, and develop the key skills and experience required to take on the role of club chair in the future.
Treasurer
The club treasurer is responsible for producing and managing the club’s accounts and finances and oversees all income and expenditure for the club.
What we are looking for?
- You will be enthusiastic with a good knowledge of managing finances.
- You will have a financial background and good knowledge of managing and producing accounts.
- You will have a knowledge of using and producing accounting spreadsheets or other accounting systems.
- You will be reliable and honest.
- You will have a knowledge of various banking systems such as direct debit.
What do we and the club expect from a club treasurer?
- To be responsible for all club finances by ensuring adequate accounts and records exist, and that all funds are used appropriately and banked promptly.
- To plan the annual budget in agreement with the club committee and to monitor throughout the year.
- To prepare end-of-year accounts and present to the auditor, management committee and AGM.
- To plan floats with members who would need to collect or pay out cash and make them aware of procedures.
- To be responsible for maintaining records of any wages/salaries paid and for meeting the requirements of HMRC.
Level of commitment required
- This will vary but will include attendance at club meetings and ongoing budget and financial responsibilities.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Club Development Officers.
Secretary
The swimming club secretary is key to the smooth running of the club. They provide a main point of contact for administration, information and communication.
What we are looking for?
- You will be enthusiastic with experience in managing and supporting others.
- You will be an excellent communicator with good verbal, written and IT skills.
- You will have good administration skills, including word-processing and minute-taking.
- You will have excellent organisational skills.
- You will have confidence to represent the club at external meetings.
What do we and the club expect from a club secretary?
- To act as a main point of contact for the club.
- To manage the day-to-day running and administration of the club including all internal and external correspondence.
- To organise committee meetings and AGMs, prepare agendas, take minutes, and distribute and communicate these as appropriate.
- To have a good knowledge and understanding of the roles and responsibilities of other club committee members.
- To maintain up-to-date contact details of all members, committee members, other key club personnel and Swim England secretaries at national, regional and county levels.
Level of commitment required
- This will vary but will include ongoing weekly responsibilities, particularly in dealing with correspondence.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Club Development Officers.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Volunteering Team.
- Access and support from other Swim England teams as required by your club, including (but not limited to); membership, Institute of Swimming, England Talent teams, and discipline-specific Development Officers.
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is a pivotal and highly engaging role which success and impact on the club will be determined by your own motivations and enthusiasms. As well as your ability to organise and manage the day-to-day administration and correspondence, it is an opportunity to take on a new challenge and support the development of your club.
Membership Coordinator
The club Membership Coordinator is the key link between the club and the Swim England membership team. They look after the day to day registration of all club members with Swim England.
What we are looking for?
- You will be enthusiastic with experience engaging with a wide range of people and dealing with multiple queries.
- You will be an excellent communicator with good verbal, written and IT skills.
- You will have good administration skills, including word processing and database management.
- You will have excellent organisational skills.
- You will be confident in handling payment of fees.
What do we and the club expect from a club membership coordinator?
- To act as a main point of contact for all club member registrations.
- To maintain up-to-date information and contact details of all club members, updating and changes to membership throughout the year.
- Manage the clubs annual subscription and membership renewal process, ensuring membership fees are paid on time.
- To work with the coaching team to arrange trial sessions for prospective new members.
Level of commitment required
- This will vary but will include ongoing membership responsibilities. The workload will likely be periodical, with more time in particular during the membership renewal period, at the start of each year and at the start of each competitive season.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Club Development Officers
- Access and support from the Swim England membership team.
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is a key and central role which success and impact on the club will be determined by your own motivations and enthusiasms.
- As well as your ability to manage the clubs membership and subscription processes, it is an opportunity to take on a new challenge and enhance the experience of all new and existing club members.
Welfare Officer
This role of a swimming club Welfare Officer is essential in providing a first point of contact for children, parents and adults within the club who have a child safeguarding or welfare concern.
What we are looking for?
- You will have a child-centred approach.
- You will have basic administration and record-maintenance skills.
- You will have excellent communication skills.
- You will have confidence when referring cases externally.
- You will have the ability to ensure policy and procedures are effectively implemented.
What do we and the club expect from a club welfare officer?
- To assist the club in implementing Wavepower, Swim England’s Child Safeguarding Policy and Procedures document.
- To be the first point of contact for club staff, volunteers, young people, and parents for any issues concerning child welfare, poor practice or potential or alleged abuse.
- To ensure that all incidents are reported correctly and referred, in accordance with Wavepower.
- To act independently and in the best interests of a child at the club, putting their needs above that of others and the club itself.
- To ensure that all relevant club members, volunteers and staff have an up to date DBS Enhanced Disclosure (this should be updated every three years) and the opportunity to access appropriate child safeguarding training.
- To ensure that Codes of Conduct are in place for club staff, volunteers, coaches, competitors and parents.
- To ensure confidentiality is maintained and information is only shared on a ‘need to know’ basis.
Level of commitment required
- This will vary but will include attendance at club meetings and dedicated time should any child protection concerns be raised.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Club Development Officers.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Safeguarding Team.
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is a hugely important role requires the individual to take-on a certain level of responsibility to the club’s members.
- As well as your ability to ensure Swim England’s safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented and adopted within the club, it is an opportunity to take on a new challenge and support the welfare of its members.
President
The club President is an honorary role supporting the work of the Club and presenting a public face of the club at all times. The role of President is allocated for a 12 month period between AGMs and the candidate to be honoured with the President role is nominated by the Committee.
Who we are looking for?
- You will be enthusiastic with a good knowledge of the club and people within it.
- You will be confident in publicly supporting the club committee and engaging positively with parents and athletes.
- You will have the confidence to represent the club to external partners.
What do we and the club expect from you?
- To attend club and committee meetings in a neutral and uncommitted capacity, providing an impartial voice to discussions and decisions.
- To provide a public face for the club.
- To work with the club chairperson, when appropriate, to facilitate the smooth running of the club.
Level of commitment required
- This will vary but will include attendance at general club meetings and events as required.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
- Direct contact with and support from the Swim England Club Development Officers.
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is an important and highly influential role which success and impact on the club will be determined by your own ambitions and enthusiasms. As well as your ability to provide an impartial voice to the club committee, it is an opportunity to take on a new challenge and represent the ethos and culture of the club across the wider general public and aquatic community.
Open Meets Coordinator
The Open Meets Coordinator works with the Head Coach to determine the competitions that will be entered by the Club each year. Once the competitions have been identified, the Open Meets Coordinator prepares the invites for the competition, sends them to the appropriate groups of swimmers and submits our race entries to the hosts of the competition. Depending on the type of competition entered, the Open Meets Coordinator may also be required to submit competition results to Swim England and/or publish the results to our swimmers.
Who we are looking for?
- You will be enthusiastic with a good knowledge of the club and people within it.
- You will have a passion for the sport and a good knowledge of the club, county, regional and national competition structure.
- You will be an excellent communicator with good verbal, written and IT skills.
- You will have excellent organisational skills including calendar management.
What do we and the club expect from you?
- To develop and manage the clubs competitions calendar, working with the Head Coach and Committee to agree on all upcoming fixtures.
- To manage the delivery of all competitions hosted and attended by the club, including communications with relevant competition organisers and clubs involved.
- Liaison with the club treasurer to provide accurate financial information including fees and expenses.
- To maintain up-to-date contact details of all qualified technical officials in the club.
Level of commitment required
- This varies depending on the time of year. Eastleigh SC aims to run a team of Open Meets volunteers to share the workload for competition entries during particularly busy periods in the swim season. There are deadlines to be hit for competition entries and it is important that we support the swimmers and coaches in getting all entries submitted on time.
- The Open Meets Coordinator is expected to attend club committee meetings each month, however there is no expectation for other volunteers within the Open Meets team to do so.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- Access to resources and guidance via the ‘Club Hub’.
- Direct contact with and support from the England Programmes
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is an exciting and engaging role which success and impact on the club will be determined by your own motivations and enthusiasms. As well as your ability to develop and manage the club's competition calendar, it is an opportunity to take on a new challenge and support the success and achievements of the club and its members.
Swim Shop Coordinator
The Swim Shop Coordinator is responsible for the ordering and fulfilment of club-branded items, e.g. Eastleigh SC swim hats, for members of the club. Additionally, they are responsible for handling enquiries from members on how to place orders, delivery timelines, item collection and so on. The Club also sells items through online shops operated by third-party suppliers and the Swim Shop Coordinator is responsible for working with those suppliers to select and sell club-branded products.
Who we are looking for?
- You will be enthusiastic with a good knowledge of the club and people within it.
- You will be a confident communicator with good verbal, written and IT skills.
- You will have excellent organisational skills and be rigorous about customer service.
What do we and the club expect from you?
- To attend committee meetings plus occasional presentation evenings where products can be displayed to swimmers and parents.
- To work with club suppliers to ensure that orders are fulfilled in a timely manner and club members are aware of any deadlines that may apply, e.g. for bulk orders of club hats.
- To assist in the design and selection of new club products based on product availability, demand and feedback from swimmers and club members.
- To liaise with the club treasurer to ensure all items sold through the club are correctly billed to members.
Level of commitment required
- This varies depending on the time of year. The start of the competitive swimming season and the period leading up to Christmas are busier than other times of year.
- If there are deadlines to be hit or minimum order quantities to be met, e.g. for bulk purchases of club hats, periods leading up to those deadlines may also require more effort.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- This role is supported by the Club Committee and our suppliers rather than Swim England, so no interaction with Swim England is anticipated.
What will you gain from the experience?
- This is an exciting and rewarding role and the role's success is based on providing an excellent service to our swimmers. You will have responsibility for product selection and, in turn, for swimmers getting to wear and use items that make them happy and build a sense of pride in being seen to represent Eastleigh SC.
Co-Opted Committee Members
Volunteers may also join the committee without being allocated to a specific position. These volunteers often step in to organise events such as swim camps, SwimMark accreditation, Eastleigh Schools galas, club social events.
Who we are looking for?
- You will be enthusiastic and keen to get involved in the organisation of the club without necessarily being able to commit to long-term ongoing roles.
- You may be interested in joining the committee but not yet ready to leap into a particular role.
- You will be confident in sharing your thoughts and ideas with the other members of the committee and be willing to step-up and assist with the organisation of specific events or activities.
What do we and the club expect from you?
- To attend committee meetings and report progress on any activities for which you are helping to organise.
- To be willing to work either individually or as part of a small team to organise specific events or activities.
Level of commitment required
- Although attendance at committee meeting is expected once per month, 'stepping-up' to do organise particular events or activities is voluntary and can be based around the increased level of commitment you are able to provide at that time.
- If we have sufficient volunteers, it is possible for more than one person to share the responsibility for organising an event or activity.
What support can you expect from Swim England?
- This role is supported by the Club Committee rather than Swim England, so no interaction with Swim England is anticipated.
What will you gain from the experience?
- You will get a voice in committee discussions and insight into the organisation of the club. Additionally, you will have opportunities to organise exciting events and activities that bring rewards to all members of the club.