A NEW partnership was launched in Arbroath yesterday which brings together Volunteer Centre Angus, Sport Scotland, Sports Development and Active Schools leading to more coherent and structured arrangements for taking forward sport in the county.

With the increased focus on sport and volunteering deriving from the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games, the partners felt it was essential to ensure anyone who wanted to get involved in volunteering in sport was supported.

A spokesperson for Volunteer Centre Angus said, “Over the last five years there has been an increase in legislation impacting on volunteering and many organisations and smaller clubs have faced particular difficulties in how they recruit, support and train volunteers in their work.

“Thankfully, through the efforts of Volunteer Centre Angus and Sports Development through Angus Council, organisations will now enjoy an even higher level of support to help them to develop a range of sporting opportunities complemented by the involvement of volunteers.”

The event also saw the launch of a new research report, an Impact Assessment on Active Schools.

The main author of the research report, Vikki Bunce, who is also a member of the Scottish hockey team, said that volunteering is increasingly important to everyone’s life, especially in terms of delivering on the wider social and economic benefits for Scotland, including health benefits.”