This Volunteers’ Week, The Rugby Football League is celebrating the outstanding work of Hull Wyke RL who continue put their local community and volunteers at the forefront of everything they do.
Formed in 1960, the club have recently undertaken initiatives that have made a positive impact on their volunteers. These include developing new recruitment practices, hosting a volunteer celebration night, and delivering concussion awareness sessions.
Samantha Buttle joined Hull Wyke in 2023 as Club Liaison and Welfare Officer and introduced a new recruitment process to improve the onboarding of volunteers following an RFL Safeguarding conference.
“We’d experienced a lot of growth as a club when I started so we needed a more formal process when onboarding new volunteers”, explained Samantha “the RFL Safeguarding conference discussed safer recruitment processes which I thought we should introduce, so I took this information away and collaborated with Kerry Taylor to develop a new way to take on volunteers.”
This new system saw Samantha and Kerry create a new simple, yet effective recruitment process starting with an appropriate application, role descriptions and questions for interview, right through to acceptance letters and induction.
“New volunteers for 2024 have now been introduced using our safer recruitment process and the committee feel like they have a better knowledge of who they are taking on and the volunteers have a better knowledge of what is expected within their roles.
“Overall, more checks have been put in place and the safety of all the children at our club is paramount.”
Hull Wyke is now home to 120 volunteers supporting the delivery of Rugby League across 13 different age groups as well as being an accredited RFL Community Wellbeing Hub. In January, they hosted a volunteer night to thank all the dedicated people who contribute to the successful running of the club.
“All clubs are run on volunteers, without whom the club would not exist let alone survive so our aim was to give them something back and say ‘thank you’ for everything they do.
“Each team and parent were given the opportunity to express words of gratitude at the event. It was truly humbling to be able to read words of thanks and express the gratefulness of so many people.”
The RFL’s Director of Development, Marc Lovering, says:
“Volunteers are the bedrock of Community Rugby League and I think the work Hull Wyke have been doing to recruit, train and celebrate their volunteers should be the blueprint for clubs going forward.
“Their management have taken the time to listen and learn about their volunteers and now have a thriving network they can rely on to keep Hull Wyke at the centre of the community.
“Hull Wyke’s commitment to keeping parents and team managers up to date on the latest concussion symptoms and protocols has also been second to none. This is a great example of a club developing volunteers to understand the new concussion guidelines and showing a commitment to the safety of their players.”
Volunteers' Week celebrates the amazing contributions volunteers make to communities across the UK.
The celebration starts on the first Monday in June every year. It’s a chance to recognise, celebrate and thank the UK’s incredible volunteers for all they contribute to our local communities, the voluntary sector, and society as a whole.
