1.What is your name and what is your volunteer role?
Darren White – Club Captain
2.What Charity/Organisation/Group do you volunteer with?
Herne Bay Amateur Rowing Club
3.How long have you been volunteering with them?
41 years
4.What makes you decide to do volunteering?
Loyalty to the Club
5.What was the best thing about your time volunteering?
Witnessing young people develop a skill they didn’t know they had
6.What was the most challenging part?
Keeping crews together for regatta’s. Rowing is a team sport, typically in crews of four plus cox, when someone pulls out it can be difficult to replace them and keep Herne Bay represented in that particular event.
7.What contribution or achievement are you most proud of?
Winning the Coast Amateur Rowing Association Grand Aggregate in 2018 (winning more races than any of the other CARA clubs)
8.What motivates you to stay involved in volunteering?
Watching crews that I’ve helped coordinate, race for Herne Bay – Doesn’t matter where they finish necessarily, but the feeling of pride when a rower is put in an uncomfortable situation and does well is very rewarding – It does help when they win !!!
9.What skills you gained through volunteering?
Communicating, problem solving and peacemaker
10.This year Volunteers’ Week theme is about ‘Celebrate & Inspire’. What would you like to say?
There are many things to celebrate in Rowing – Teamwork, friendship, healthy living and the thrill of competition, through all these you will see evidence of Inspiration.
Members and their families helping to load and unload equipment to the various beaches on race day, regardless whether they have participated or not. Support and guidance, from all members to another who may be in need, physically or mentally and the joy from everyone when a crew performs to the best of their abilities.
11.Anything else you would like to add?
I’ve always considered myself a cog in the club, a link in the chain. I am a manager, a coordinator with such a fantastic team of volunteers whom without, the club would not function – every one of them as important as the next!