You don’t always have to be racing through the water as a competitor to feel you’re making a big splash in swimming.
Charlotte Howells, 18, from Morriston in Swansea was once a keen competitor, but now spends her spare time helping out and volunteering in conjunction with Swim Wales.
Charlotte is a member of the Swim Wales Youth Panel and aims to enable and encourage people to enjoy themselves and be active through the sport.
Volunteers’ Week – which this year runs from June 1 to June 7 – is aimed at showcasing the vital role volunteers play and their importance in so many spheres.
A recent a study showed that 16.3 million people in the UK volunteered through a group, club or organisation in 2020/2021.
Volunteering plays a huge part in all sports, with volunteers across Wales helping to keep many of them afloat, especially at the grass roots level.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on face-to-face events taking place, almost one in five (17%) of people reported volunteered at least once a month, equating to around 9.2 million people in 2021-22.
Charlotte is one of them - helping to make sport accessible in the local community and on a national level.
Having started swimming when she was young, she joined the Young Ambassadors Sport Wales Programme when she was just 13 at her school, Morriston Comprehensive.
“I had a go at a lot of different roles within different organisations,” she says.
“I’m a swimmer myself and then had the opportunity to help out with Swim Wales and I really enjoyed it.
"Because I kept going, I had the opportunity to join the youth panel when I was 15 or 16 which has given me so many opportunities."
With the Swim Wales Youth Panel, the teenager helped to create events for young people.
“We decided to run our own volunteer-led meet down the National Pool in 2019, so before the Covid-19 pandemic. It went really well; we had so many volunteers help out. The volunteers helped run the event from calling out names and timing the races.
“We are constantly in discussion with the people within Swim Wales, talking about our plans and how to get young people involved, because obviously it is a key part of the sport."
“There were six of us to begin with, but recently we have had new recruits which has taken us up to eight to 10. It is good that there are more voices now to help us move forward.
