Volunteers needed
Many of the roles listed below involve assisting other volunteers or they are roles that are not particularly onerous. As a club we want “many people doing a bit rather than a few doing a lot”. Do give some thought to the roles. If you can help you will join a happy band of almost 90 volunteers that keep this
great club going and which makes a very positive contribution to why Saffron Walden is the best place to live in in 2025! Although some roles can be paid roles (eg. bar staff, lead coaches) the real reward comes from being part of a thriving community club, making new friends and that warm feeling that
comes from doing something good that benefits others
Sunday Café – This is a much-loved service that we provide to members on a Sunday morning. Coffee, bacon/sausage rolls etc are part of the Sunday morning tradition at the club. We are looking for one or two volunteers to join our team to make sure this service can continue and thrive. Cevin Owens will continue but needs help. This would suit any parent from the under 4 to under 10 age groups.
Press Officer – We would like someone to write a very brief (a little means more as far as the local press are concerned) report on club activities each week for The Local and other papers. It would basically be a report on highlights from fixtures played in the previous week. It would suit someone who enjoys writing and who would like to be more involved in the club. It would also suit a young person who has their eye on a career in journalism.
Social Committee – New members needed to help organise events during the season. The annual dinner and the awards evening in September are the key events in the year but we would very much like to organise more informal events during the season as part of what we do as a club. These events could be aimed at the whole club of particular teams of age groups. Linda Hancock, Fran Dorren and David Razzell need your help.
U8 managers – League cricket starts at under 8 as far as SWCC is concerned and builds on the coaching that our young cricketers will have had for anything up to 4 years previously. Although in a league, the emphasis is still on fun and participation. Tom Angell and Sam Davies need your help.
U9 Managers – Scott Baker threw himself into this role last year as u8 manager. As a club we would ideally like to have 2 or more managers per age group to share the load. This does not involve coaching although the allocated age group coach would welcome your support on training nights.
U13 managers to assist Stuart Irving, Chris Marshall and Nelion Ridley in order to ensure that as many youngsters in this age group get to play cricket. This does not involve coaching. This would suit a parent or grandparent of any under 13 player.
U13-14 Sir Alistair Cook Trophy managers – this is a county competition for our under 13 – 14 Emerging Player squad. It involves a small number of fixtures (plus additional fixtures if we are successful in the qualifying round. This would suit a parent of any u13 or u14 child in this squad.
Bar Staff – we always need bar staff, paid or otherwise, for Thursday and Friday evenings, Saturdays and other occasions such as some Sunday afternoons. Tim Gladwin has run our Friday evening bar for 5 years as a volunteer and we are indebted to him for that. Thank you, Tim. You will be hard to replace but we will do our best! This role would suit anyone over the age of 18 but, for Friday evenings, any parent, relative or family friend of under 11s, under12s, undwer13s, under 14s or u15s who have children being coached on a Friday evening
Former Player Liaison Officer – We have contact with a number of former players and arrange a lunch for them each year. The role involves ensuring we make contact with as many former players as possible , making sure they receive our newsletter (Extra Cover) and inviting them to the lunch. Ideally, this would suit any former player whether they live locally or not.
Village Club Liaison Officer – SWCC is a big club and, in our view, we have a responsibility to support local clubs wherever we can. It involves maintaining a database of local club contacts, keeping in touch with them about relevant events such as first aid or safeguarding courses and acting as a link between local clubs and our Academy. We can coach youngsters from local villages and ensure local clubs are aware so that, having hopefully developed a love of the game, they can make an informed choice about who to play for when they reach age 13.
Assistant Safeguarding Lead – this role will support the work of the overall club safeguarding lead (David Barrs) and would suit someone who has children in the Academy and who has experience of the caring professions such as teaching, caring or youth work. Having said that, training can be given for anyone who is interested.
Carnival float – Three years have gone by and plans are already in hand for Saffron Walden’s famous 8-Day weekend! The club will enter a float into the Carnival Procession on Saturday 5 July. We need a small team of parents to co-ordinate this. It would suit parents of children in the younger age groups who would be keen to be on the float.
Young Leaders Award – this is aimed at 14-16 year olds and involves an introduction to coaching, first aid, umpiring and groundsmanship. We would like a parent of a child in this age group to co-ordinate this. It involves liaising with the organisers and recruiting youngsters, who do not have to be members of the club.
Grillmaster(s) – we have a top of the range Weber BBQ which is not used often enough. Are there any members out there who would be prepared to be part of a rota on a Friday evening to sell hot dogs etc. This could also extend to a Saturday evening after a match.
Having a BBQ would also complement the bar which already makes for a great club night on a Friday.
Assistant to Academy Director
This could involve a variety of tasks in negotiation with David Razzell.
Assistant Clubhouse manager
Linda and David Hancock continue to do a fabulous job maintaining the clubhouse and bar but help is needed. This could involve managing bookings of the clubhouse, liaising with cleaners, stocking bar, supporting Sunday café and/or general maintenance
Registrars
A rather grand-sounding name but we must always ensure we register young players as they attend sessions. We would like volunteers to take registers on arrival both on a Sunday Morning and a Thursday and Friday evening. It is a 15 minute task at the beginning of the session and would suit parents who have children in that session. This role also helps the coaches who can then concentrate on their coaching session knowing that the register has been taken.
Thank you to those who have already offered to help with Carnival float, database
management and Academy fixture co-ordination.
Our Chairman , David Barrs, is happy to talk further about any of these roles. All responses
to any of the above can be made via the club email address
[email protected]