Every year between the 1^st-7^th June is volunteers week. It is an annual celebration recognised across the world to promote and give thanks for the fantastic contribution of all volunteers. It goes without saying that volunteers play a key role in society as they have always made a huge difference to our communities.

We want to thank our SASP volunteers for their hard work and commitment to getting people out and active. These last few years have shown us, that more than ever, being outside can drastically improve our health and happiness.

We've recently spoken to a few of our volunteers at SASP to understand a bit more about their experiences.

Adam Cox, one of our volunteer walk leaders, has been leading the SASP health walks since 2017.

Our health walks are gentle walks done on a regular basis for well-being. They can help you to feel good, to have more energy, to sleep better and to manage your weight.

Adams responsibilities as a walk leader include 'planning, and risk assessing suitable routes, leading walks regularly and reporting data back to (his) coordinator.' He also 'produces promotional material for walks and attends community events to promote them.'

Since Adam has been leading the Street health walks, he mentioned that group 'numbers have increased significantly' which has given him 'a purpose and connection to the community'.

We are so grateful for all of Adam's efforts!

Another volunteer of ours, Rob Glover, is our very own 'equipment and maintenance man'. He 'helps get the pitch ready, set out the equipment and then help clear it all back into storage at the end.'.

He also helps out with any small repairs to equipment that might be needed. He's helped to repair the 'the lock on the equipment store' and 'rounders players own equipment'.

Rob has found, that by volunteering, it has helped him to 'get out of the flat and mix with people'. He says he now has 'more friends than (he's) ever have had' and that he's 'way more active than (he's) ever been'.

Thank you for all your help, Rob.

Lastly, our volunteer rounders team leader, Rebecca Cridland, began volunteering for us almost 10 years ago!

Rebecca started volunteering because she 'wanted some social, light-hearted sport as a way of getting some healthy outdoor exercise and as a means of releasing some of the stress and strain of a fairly high-pressured office-based job.'

Her team, The All Rounders, has helped Rebecca and the team to develop strong friendships as 'the main reason for (them) being there is to have fun, enjoy each other's company and look forward to coming back next week.'

The team have even started doing 'other things together like go to concerts, informal beach rounders, and quiz teams'

Rebecca's roles as a volunteer include umpiring, planning the season ahead, ensuring the program runs smoothly, responding to the Facebook group questions and keeping everyone happy!

She added 'the rewards are so fulfilling, and people are so appreciative of what you do'

Thank you Rebecca for all your hard work.

Happy Volunteer's Week!