Chris Usher
“You get a nice warm feeling when you see people enjoying themselves and achieving their goals.”
Volunteer role – Chairman of Buckingham & Stowe Running Club & Run Leader
What do you do in your volunteer role? – Chair committee meetings, liaise with numerous organisations, lead the club in moving it forward and hold training sessions etc.
Why did you want to volunteer? – Largely because my daughter and son-in-law kept on about how the only thing the club did was go for runs and what it could become. At the following AGM, I realised we hadn’t had a chairman for over a year – no-one had the time or inclination to do the job – so I volunteered!
What appealed to you about this role? – It was a small, but very friendly club and many people had good ideas as to how it could improve. I saw the potential and wanted to help us develop.
What are the best bits of being a volunteer? – Variety! Always something else to focus on; the club has quadrupled in size, we’ve won the Leap Club of the Year award, and recently we organised the inaugural Buckingham Half Marathon which was a tremendous success, raising over £5000 for charity. It is particularly pleasing to see existing members take great pride in their club and participate in our events (over 100 volunteered at our half marathon), volunteering themselves to lead runs and organise socials etc. It is also great to see new people, who have not been serious runners before, join the club and get so much enjoyment from it.
What do you think you gain from volunteering, either personally or professionally? – A great deal of satisfaction and fulfilment. I have also been on the Leadership in Run Fitness and Coaching in Running Fitness courses and am now a qualified coach!
How does volunteering make you feel? – You get a nice warm feeling when you see people enjoying themselves and achieving their goals.
