The 2018 conferences came to a close at the end of February, with over 600 volunteers attending the new look regional conferences.
Conference 2018 brought together Go-Ride Club volunteers and Cycle Sport officials to share their experiences, expand their network, and develop their delivery through workshops.
This year the conference road show visited each of the 10 regions across England, taking on an exciting new format under the banner of ‘Discover, Develop, Deliver’, bringing a sharp focus to the development of cycling in each region.
After an opening address, to reflect on the success of volunteer delivery during 2017 and update volunteers on the latest developments within British Cycling, attendees broke out into interactive workshops, which brought together different volunteer roles to address topics including coaching to racing, talent development, risk awareness and managing conflict.
With delegates able to choose two of the four sessions, the workshops provided the chance to have a wider conversation about the sport and there was plenty of thought provoking conversation and dialogue across roles.
There were also role specific workshops which included a commissaire, coaching and volunteer workshop.
Inside the commissaire workshop
The commissaire workshop was split into two sections. The first hour covered topics that all commissaires deal with across disciplines, looking at roles and responsibilities as well as allowing time for some online dashboard training. The second part of the workshop explored discipline specific questions and content, including the rules and regulation updates for each of the disciplines.
Inside the coaching workshop
This year’s workshop looked at how coaches could challenge riders thinking skills, which in turn improved challenge and engagement in sessions. Coaches discussed the importance of thinking skills and different ways in which tasks could be set to enable riders to be involved in their own learning.
Inside volunteer workshop
The workshop this year looked at club philosophy and how to deliver a great experience for the people at a club. It explored club’s primary focus, and challenged them to think about their primary focus was, how this was marketed and how club’s currently engage with their members, with a focus on recruitment and retention of both riders and volunteers. The workshop also encouraged discussion amongst volunteers on how to build a cycling community within the region, to ensure that rider’s needs are met across the rider development pathway.
Summing up the events, British Cycling development manager, Stephanie Allmark, said: “This year the conferences took on an exciting new format which brought together volunteers from across cycle sport.
"This allowed volunteers the opportunity to network with people from within their region and build on their relationship with regional staff, which is something we hope can continue to develop post conferences."
