The following case study deals with the experience of Dean as a volunteer of the Coventry Ambassador programme. His feedback and views were collected during an interview and are transposed below.

Contrary to some volunteers who decided to volunteer when they retired to keep being active, Dean is volunteering besides is daily job.

“It is different from my day job!”

Dean decided to volunteer to experience something different from his day job but also to meet different types of people and to give back to the community.

He worked at Warwick University interviewing for the Games Makers for the London 2012 Olympics. Unfortunately, it was too late for him to apply as people had to enrol long before the event. Thus, interviewing was still a way for him to contribute.

Consequently, when he discovered about the Coventry Ambassador volunteer programme supporting the Olympic Games he decided to apply to be an Ambassador. Besides, he already had volunteering experiences that he enjoyed so volunteering as part of the Olympics was a great opportunity. Therefore, Dean became a Coventry Ambassador from its beginning in 2012.

Volunteering as a Coventry Ambassador enables Dean to meet new people and is also an opportunity to participate in events he would have never thought possible such as the Olympics or the Davis Cup. This is a way for him to be busy while experiencing new and different things.

He describes his experience as a Coventry Ambassador as “Experiencing Coventry”. Through all of the events he supported with the Coventry Ambassador programme, Dean learned more about the City and its culture. Therefore, he strongly recommends the programme is a way to:

“- Give back to the city
– Being able to help out other people
– A great experience and great way to be involved in Coventry”