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Game Changers Guide

Volunteering, Leadership and Skills Development

Contents 3 Introduction 4 How to sign up to Game Changers 5 Step 1: Sign up 6 Step 2: How you'll take part 9 Step 3: Volunteering 10 Step 4: Log your hours 12 Step 5: Certificate 13 Student feedback: What our volunteers loved 14 FAQs

Introduction Whether you are a student hoping to meet other people while volunteering at a sporting event, or seeking to become a Coach or Sports Official, to give back to your club or community, Game Changers is for you! Game Changers is the University of Bristol’s volunteering, leadership and skill development programme that utilises sport and physical activity to support students to build their skills profile. With opportunities to volunteer within local communities, gain new qualifications, and broaden your sport and physical activity knowledge, Game Changers is open to all students no matter your level of experience. Why should you take part in the programme? Make new friends Learn and develop your skills Gain a new qualification Give back to your sport Expand your network connections. Still looking for reasons? As you take part in Game Changers, you'll be developing valuable skills and gaining experience that employers look for. Many of the activities you complete will also contribute towards the Bristol PLUS Award, helping you reflect on your development and gain recognition for your achievements. Find out more and register through mycareer.

How to sign up 1

Select how you’re going to take part: 1. Enter your secured volunteering opportunity 2. Enter your coaching or officiating course for approval

Complete your 10 hours’ volunteering

Log your volunteering hours and submit the necessary documents

Receive your certificate!

You’ll receive your monetary reimbursement after you’ve logged your volunteering hours and once your reference has confirmed.

Not sure what to get involved with? Book a drop-in session with the Game Changers team and we can talk it through.

Step 1: Sign up To start your Game Changers journey you need to: Go to the Career Services webpage to sign up Click on the ‘search’ tab and select ‘pathways’ Search the Game Changers 2026-27 pathway Select ‘start’ to sign up (register) by providing your name and university email address. Next, you will be asked to take a moment for self-reflection and complete your skills check. If you have recently completed a skills check, you can use that one for this activity.

What is a skills check? Identify your personal skills profile and set your development goals. Discover your strengths by selecting the statements that you feel best reflect your current competency levels, for each element of your skills profile. After you have submitted your skills check, you will be redirected to the Career Services homepage. You will then need to click ‘back’ on the Game Changers pathway to continue to the next step, which is outlining ‘How you are taking part in Game Changers’.

Step 2: Select how you’re going to take part Tell us how you are planning to change the game! You can either take part in the programme, via: Community volunteering, or Coach & officials support fund.

Are you..? ...thinking of taking part via community volunteering? Great! Once you have your volunteering secured with the programme lead, add their details into this portal section.

...thinking of taking part via the coach & officials support fund? Provide the course details for approval. The Game Changers team will then review your request and notify you, via email, of the outcome. Once approved, it is over to you to book your course and complete the 10 hours of volunteering! If you book and complete the course without approval from the Game Changers team, you may not be reimbursed.

...part of a club that has a group of students undertaking a new qualification? Amazing. Add in the details of the pre-agreed course. Your club lead is already in talks with the Game Changers team.

Community volunteering opportunities Our community volunteering platform features a variety of Bristol and UK-based sport and physical activity volunteering opportunities. Whether you’re looking for a one-off, or something more frequent, you should be able to find it! Your commitment doesn’t need to be long-term; simply helping at a one-off event or supporting a club monthly makes a huge difference. You can also view the Students’ Union Volunteering Hub to see further sport and physical activity volunteering opportunities on offer in Bristol. Or why not find your own, and let us know? Once you have found an opportunity, secure it and then update us via the Career Services portal. Participants have previously supported at the Ignite Bristol Inclusive Multi-Sport Festival and our (many!) Bristol Run Series events.

Coach and officials support fund On the next page, we’ve listed just some of the courses available to you (through English sport governing bodies) as a University of Bristol student and aspiring coach or official. If you are interested in a course that isn’t listed there, or have found another organisation that offers a course, that is great! Sign up to Game Changers, enter the course details and our team will be in touch to say whether your request has been approved, or not. You can also undertake training to ensure your sport and coaching practices are inclusive and accessible. Wheel Power and Disability Sports Coach have various training modules available; from learning how to 'Engage Wheelchair participants in Sport', to 'Adapted Sports Courses' - where you can learn how to adapt and modify activities for different disabled people. While Access Sport and Activity Alliance can provide disability inclusion training. Once your request has been approved by the Game Changers team, the programme will cover 75% of the cost of the course and travel up to £250. The remaining amount needs to be supported by you or your sports club / society (if agreed). Remember! Whether you are claiming back a course or travel, don’t lose your VAT receipt. This is a requirement to process your reimbursement claim. 7

Sport

Coaching courses

Officiating courses

Athletics

England Athletics - coaching

England Athletics - officiating

Badminton

Badminton England - coaching

Badminton England - officiating

Baseball

Baseball Softball UK - coaching

British Baseball Federation officiating

Basketball

Basketball England - coaching

Basketball England - officiating

Boccia

Boccia England – coaching

Boccia England - officiating

Cricket

England & Wales Cricket Board coaching

England & Wales Cricket Board officiating

Football

England Football Association coaching

England Football Association Refereeing

Goalball

Goalball UK - coaching

Goalball UK - officiating

Hockey

England Hockey - coaching

England Hockey - officiating

Kickboxing

Kickboxing GB - coaching

Kickboxing GB - refereeing

Korfball

England Korfball - coaching

England Korfball - refereeing

Lacrosse

England Lacrosse - coaching

England Lacrosse - officiating

Netball

Netball England - coaching

Netball England - officiating

Rowing

British Rowing - coaching

British Rowing - Umpiring

Rugby

England Rugby - coaching

England Rugby - refereeing

Squash

England Squash - coaching

England Squash - refereeing

Swimming

Swim England - coaching

Institute of Swimming - officiating

Table Tennis

Table Tennis England - coaching

Table Tennis England - officiating

Taekwondo

British Taekwondo - coaching

British Taekwondo - refereeing

Tennis, wheelchair tennis and padel

Lawn Tennis Association coaching

Lawn Tennis Association officiating

Volleyball and sitting volleyball

Volleyball England - coaching Volleyball England – technical module

Volleyball England - officiating

Weightlifting and para weightlifting

British Weight Lifting - coaching

British Weight Lifting - Technical courses

Step 3: Volunteer! Volunteering opportunity secured! Support fund request approved! Amazing!! It’s now over to you to complete your volunteering activity. Although the minimum is 10 hours, you don’t need to stop there; you can complete as many hours as you would like. We are looking forward to hearing how you got on!

Step 4: Log your hours Logging your hours With your volunteering opportunity complete, it is now time to update your progress on the portal. Log in to your Game Changers pathway and navigate to 'Volunteering log'. You will be asked to provide details on: Name of the organisation, including the event name - if applicable Your position|role How many hours you volunteered for A name and email address, for a reference. The Game Changers team will contact your reference, so please make sure to ask them, before adding their name

Self reflection and skills check Now that you have undertaken your volunteering, take a moment to self-reflect and complete a new skills check, noting all the new skills learnt and developed through your volunteering. To retake the skill check you will need to: 1.Click on the ‘view my skill profile’ 2.Click on the ‘retake skills check’ tab 3.Click on the ‘retake skills check’ button. After you have retaken your skills check, you will be able to compare your progress. Take some time to digest the information and see how far you have come, what skills you have developed, and where you might want to continue learning.

Final step It would be great for us to get your reflections on your Game Changers journey, to help us ensure the programme meets the needs of our students and that the experience is the best it can be. Please fill in the Game Changers feedback form and share your thoughts.

To mark that you’ve completed the pathway, navigate to the last activity within the programme called ‘Final step’ and tick that box.

Submitting the necessary documents Did you take part via the coach & officials support fund? Did you pay for the qualification yourself? Only if you answered YES to both of those questions do you need to complete this section. If so, submit the necessary documents via the portal. You will be asked to submit your: VAT course receipt Course certificate. If claiming for travel expenses in line with our non-staff expense policy (shared within your Game Changers coach & official support fund approval email), you will also need to provide your Start and end postcodes VAT receipts of all tickets. Do not submit a bank statement or bank transfer; only a VAT receipt will be accepted. If you do not have a VAT receipt, please email the Game Changers team seh-gamechangers@bristol.ac.uk.

Step 5: Receive your certificate After your volunteering hours have been confirmed, the Game Changers team will be in touch via email, and you will receive your Game Changers certificate. If you took part via the coach & officials support fund, we’ll confirm your hours and review your submitted receipts, before sending your certificate. We’ll also confirm the value of reimbursement, and ask you to complete a non-staff expense form. Once you have returned the non-staff expense form, we will process it with the Finance team, and you will receive your reimbursement within 4 to 6 weeks You are now a GAME CHANGER!! Congratulations! New skills learnt, friends made, and a community supported. We are super proud of you! Although you have completed the programme, we hope you continue to volunteer and develop your skills further.

What our volunteers loved “I enjoyed giving back to my society, and giving other people the opportunity to enjoy the hobby the same way I do.” Diving qualification

“I really enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and making a difference to myself and the people around me.” Basketball Level 1 Coach

“Overall, the volunteering has greatly improved my confidence in standing up and talking to people and in the content I am teaching. Each time I teach, I realise new ways I can convey information to students and how I can tailor it to each individual student, so they fully comprehend what they need to learn.” British Sub-Aqua Club Instructor Foundation

“I enjoyed the volunteering more as time went on, as I felt more comfortable in the role” LTA Assistant qualification

“What I enjoyed most about the programme was the opportunity to stay closely connected to the sport I love, while making a tangible impact on the local basketball community. It was incredibly rewarding to help beginner players develop their skills and grow in confidence week after week.” Level 2 Table Official License

Frequently asked questions What email address should I use to sign up on the Career Services website? We encourage you to use your university email address. Can I edit my entry in the portal? Only if your entry has been reviewed and marked as unsuccessful, can you edit your entry. If this happens, you will be asked to provide further details and resubmit for approval. Do I need to attend a drop-in session? No, these sessions are optional. The course I am interested in undertaking isn’t mentioned in the guide, can I still do it? We are aware not all courses are covered in the guide. Complete Step 2 of the portal, entering the details of the course you are interested in. The Game Changers team will then review your request and, once it has been approved, you can go ahead and book onto it. How will I know if my coach & official support fund request has been approved? You will be emailed by the Game Changers team. What happens if I book a qualification course without approval from the Game Changers team? A support fund request must be agreed with the Game Changers team in advance of undertaking the course / training; funding cannot be agreed retrospectively. What happens if I fail my coaching or officiating course? If a participant does not pass the assessed element of a qualification course, Game Changers will still commit to reimburse the cost of the training. However, the individual must cover any costs required for re-assessment.

When do I need to complete the course and volunteering by? You can complete your course, and volunteering whenever works best for you, across the year. To process your reimbursement, you need to be a current student at the University of Bristol, so take this into consideration when completing your volunteering hours. What documents do I need to claim my reimbursement? To claim course costs: an itemised VAT receipt and course certificate. To claim travel costs: start and end post code location, and itemised VAT receipt(s). What is a VAT receipt? A VAT receipt is provided by suppliers who are registered for VAT, and serves as proof of transaction. If paying online, your receipt may be sent alongside your booking confirmation or registration links. If paying in-person, your receipt may be printed and handed to you. If you do not receive a VAT receipt after paying for your course or travel, please contact the provider and request one.

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