Would you like to use sport to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa? If so, then Cricket Without Boundaries wants to hear from you.
The UK cricket development and HIV/AIDS awareness charity is looking for enthusiastic volunteers for projects in five countries in 2015.
Trips are typically two weeks long and include coaching in schools, training local teachers and running cricket festivals.
Previous projects have seen CWB coaches run coach education courses for Massaai warriors in Kenya and use cricket to help communities in Rwanda continue their recovery from civil war.
As well as coaching cricket skills, CWB uses the sport as a tool to deliver vital HIV/AIDS awareness messages.
In 2011 there were an estimated 23.5 million people living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa – a staggering 69% of the global Aids burden.
The picture is improving but, directly and indirectly, HIV is destroying lives - often causing discrimination and dividing communities. That is why we need your help.
Experienced coaches are welcome but CWB is also keen to hear from volunteers from all walks of life.
Rebecca Lockyer, ticket office manager at Surrey CCC, had never played or coached cricket before going on a CWB trip to Uganda in October 2013.
She said: “Volunteering with CWB is an amazing thing to do. You don’t need to have any previous cricket experience - I think it would be beneficial for so many different people.
“Initially I was concerned about my lack of cricket experience but it is more about interacting with the children, getting them excited about cricket and getting the HIV/AIDS messages across than it is about traditional coaching.”
CWB is running projects to five African countries in 2015: Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. They are set to run five trips in the spring and another five in the autumn.
Groups consist of six to 10 CWB volunteers supported by local coaches from the country’s cricket association. They are led by a project leader and ECB tutor and training is given to the whole group at a training weekend before you leave.
CWB head of recruitment and former England international Holly Colvin first went on a project with the charity to Kenya in 2012. She has since visited Uganda and is preparing to lead a trip to Rwanda later this year.
She said the experience had not only allowed her to give something back to the game but had also improved her as a coach.
“I have been lucky enough to travel the world playing cricket and it is amazing to be able to use the game to make a real difference to people’s lives,” she said.
“Coaching in Africa is completely different to anything I had done back here. To have to adapt my plans at short notice to deal with changes in space, numbers and equipment has definitely made me a more confident, innovative and flexible coach.
“The children over there so enthusiastic and to be coaching cricket in the middle of Africa, in a sea of smiling faces is simply one of the best experiences I have ever had.”
For more information on CWB including how to apply visit www.bit.ly/CWBvolunteers2015