Holiday season brings opportunities for skills development

The City of Cape Town runs a volunteer programme over the festive season which seeks to equip residents from across the city with useful skills, while offering them valuable work experience.

This festive season the City’s Sport, Recreation and Amenities (SRA) Department has recruited 1 000 volunteers to run recreational holiday programmes across Cape Town as part of the provision of activities and entertainment for children, youth and families.

The SRA Department will host 1 500 programmes daily at various recreational hubs, swimming pools, beaches, resorts and sport fields from 5 December 2013 to 15 January 2014.

‘The programmes will not only render an enjoyable service to the public but will also ensure that volunteers gain work experience, skills, and other tools for their personal development.

job opportunities also extended to the disabled

‘Both volunteers and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees are trained and work in the much-needed areas of coaching, the development of sports clubs, and the running of sports and recreation programmes. Their involvement is essential in supporting sport and recreation and life skills programmes across the city. These job opportunities have also been extended to people living with disabilities,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Special Projects, Alderman Belinda Walker.

The SRA Department created 2 444 job opportunities via the EPWP in the 2012/13 financial year. Over the last three months, more than 600 job opportunities have already been with created.

Of those recruited, 90 volunteers are from the City’s partnerships with non-profit organisations such as Coaching for Hope, Making an Impact Through Sport (MITS), OASIS (Street Soccer), Waves For Change, Sport Stepping Stones, and Sport and Recreation for People with a Disability.

The SRA Department also recruited 10 volunteers from the Gym for Life Legacy project, under the EPWP, which runs gymnastics programmes at 28 community centres for all ages. The Department has employed 180 activity implementers for the programmes through the EPWP.

72 volunteers provide learners with opportunities

The Department has 72 volunteers participating in the Lifeguarding Learnership, which provides learners with the opportunity to obtain a Further Education and Training qualification in lifeguarding. The City can then source suitably qualified lifeguards from this group when making its seasonal appointment of lifeguards at swimming pools and beaches. Learners will also be equipped to apply for lifeguarding job opportunities in other regions both nationally and internationally.

The volunteer programme is an ideal opportunity for young people to get first-hand experience in the sports sector, which can influence their career choice, said Alderman Walker.

‘So many of Cape Town’s young people are sports enthusiasts, spending hours and hours of their free time on the sports field. It’s important that young Capetonians realise that a fun afternoon playing football could be the start of a lifelong career and we’re not just referring to those few who will become elite sportsman. There is a wide range of jobs in sport, from coaching to sports management, and then there are also all the medical jobs associated with sports development such as physiotherapists, nutritionists, etc.

‘We want to thank the volunteers ahead of the bumper season for willingly taking the opportunity to give of their time to assist the City with ensuring that we have an inclusive, safer, caring and well-run festive season this year,’ she said.

For more information about activities in the various communities, members of the public are encouraged to contact the recreation officer in their district.