Danny’s story of volunteering for Burnley Leisure & Culture
Training and development programmes offered by Burnley Leisure and Culture (BLC) have supported over 500 young people in the past year, while our Active Streets sessions have attracted approximately 35,000 young people across Burnley and Padiham.
Volunteers are a vital resource and it’s people like Danny Tattersall, who has been volunteering with BLC for nine years, that ensure activities like Active Streets are a success.
Danny, now aged 27, was completing a course in electrical installation at Burnley College when he went to a college volunteering fair. There, he met Waz from BLC and immediately clicked with him; wanting to know more about how he could get involved as a volunteer.
Danny supports the Active Streets team by engaging with young people across Burnley, delivering football-based sessions as a coach, welcoming new participants, reviewing sessions and planning future sessions and assisting in recruiting new volunteers. He volunteers two evenings a week and uses his holidays to do even more volunteering. Here’s his story.
“When I began volunteering, I hadn’t really been doing much as I had been in and out of hospital with a knee injury,” he says.
“Volunteering gave me a focus and if I had not met Waz that day at college my life could have taken a different route. I would have probably been going out drinking and getting myself into trouble. Volunteering has given me more confidence and a positive mental attitude. I have had support from staff to develop and undertake training as well as making new friends.
“My work with young people has helped my personal development and communication skills. The mentoring support I have had has helped me do things that I never imagined I would, such as delivering a dance session to young people. I have had some great experiences and have never had a bad day volunteering.”
