When you think of people who volunteer for a charity, what sort of roles spring to mind?
Working in a shop? Doing some gardening? What about canoeing?
Meet Kev Homewood… He is a long-term volunteer for Derwen College and supports students to access experiences in canoes.
Every few weeks he brings canoes to College so that residential students can experience canoeing in the safety of the College’s swimming pool, as part of their weekend leisure activities.
Kev also works with Derwen College’s Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Awards team and supports students who are working towards their DofE Silver Award.
Volunteering for almost ten years
Kev started volunteering when he joined a colleague from his local paddle club who was coming to the College to work with the students.
He enjoyed his experience so much that he has now been a volunteer at Derwen College for almost ten years.
“My paddling ethos is to enjoy it. So my aim is to make it enjoyable for the students, to learn new skills and also to use it as a form of relaxation.”
“We give as much time to the students who like to sit in the canoe and splash the water or spin around, as we do to those who love learning canoeing techniques and skills. They all get an equal amount of enjoyment even though they are doing different activities.
It’s about the students getting that experience, and giving them confidence.”
Passing on his skills
Kev says that he found canoeing quite late in life. Initially taking his children to the local paddle club, he eventually joined in himself.
After attending regularly for a while, he was encouraged to become an instructor, undertook his Level 1 Coaching course and has since progressed to Level 3.
Kev enjoys all sorts of paddling – whether it be canoe, kayak or stand-up paddle board. He paddles on canals, lakes, rivers, meres, and the sea. But often it’s the quieter moments he enjoys the most. Even when he goes white water kayaking with his friend and fellow Derwen volunteer Craig, they often find themselves stopping in an eddy chatting for hours.
“When you get on the water, you could be on another planet, it’s not long before you are experiencing the tranquillity of the countryside. All your troubles disappear, you can quickly relax and chill out.”
“Spending time in nature and seeing wildlife puts a big smile on my face.” He doesn’t have to go far to find nature. On the canal near his home he will often see Kingfishers, something that many of us are not lucky enough to see.
“Why shouldn’t the students get to do something that other people enjoy? That’s what sums it up for me. Paddling along gives that little bit of adventure!”
Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards
Working with the Derwen College DofE team is another opportunity for Kev to volunteer doing something he loves, and offers students that element of adventure.
The College has offered the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for a decade now. The award incorporates four sections for participants: regular physical activities, a volunteering placement, learning a new skill, and going on an expedition.
When students do their DofE Award, they might do canoeing for their Silver expedition. The students get the chance to try out canoeing early in the year, as it isn’t for everyone. Students who do the canoe expedition are generally more likely to have physical or medical difficulties and who wouldn’t be able to undertake a three-day walking expedition – or that the walking expedition wouldn’t challenge them enough.
When the canoe expedition goes out, Kev supports students (and staff!) while they travel up to 40 kilometres for the entire expedition. In a practical sense, during the expedition Kev will be supervising the DofE team to ensure they are always safe. He will paddle ahead on bends of the canal to ensure there are no narrowboats coming in the opposite direction.
Kev will teach students paddling techniques to allow them to manoeuvre more easily along or across the canal, how to stop and stay in one position on the canal – and how to get in and out of the canoe safely.
He will even advise students how to get past protective swans with their cygnets and has been known to rescue a mole and a grass snake stuck in the canal!
When the DofE team wanted to create some sort of ‘dry dock’ equipment for students to practice getting in and out of the canoe, Kev was the first person they contacted. “I really enjoyed creating the canoe simulator. I had a few ideas about how it could be done, but luckily the first attempt worked!”
The students find really benefit from the canoe simulator. With physical disabilities, some students can become anxious about canoeing, just because of the anxiety of getting in and out of the canoe. The simulator gives them that practice and confidence building in familiar surroundings.
Volunteering recommendation
When asked if he would recommend volunteering to other people, the answer is absolutely.
“Derwen College is nearly a second home to me. As a volunteer you’ll get as much out of it as the students do. You get feedback from students without them saying anything at all – the smiles say it all.”