August Volunteer of the Month

This August, our Volunteer of the Month goes to Delyth Jones of Sospans Netball Club, for her outstanding contribution to her netball community by selflessly going the extra mile in support of others.

At the start of the season, the team at Llanelli Netball League made the decision to financially support elite players in following their netball dreams. Five young players from the League were selected to represent LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons Pathway Squads at U23 (Ellie Grant and Cassy Rumbelow), U19 (Nia Bullen) and U17 (Cari Adams and Manon Howells).

The League decided upon an idea of hosting a virtual Cycle Marathon based at their playing venue. Delyth became really excited about this challenge and decided to increase her input into its fruition. Delyth came up with the fantastic idea of cycling around the Super League venues where the LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons played last season. The League then secured the loan of three bikes and Delyth willingly took the lead on this project.

To detail their journey, Delyth found an App that she could use to build a map that would track their progress and spent her time updating this every Sunday. She worked out the route and the total mileage to be covered. Once everything had been confirmed, Delyth then developed an online booking system for other netballers to join her on this challenge.

Over a period of six weeks, Delyth handled all donations physically through providing buckets for collection of donations and taking these donations home to be counted and paid into their League’s JustGiving Account. Every Sunday, she would then make sure to update all League members via social media of the current total reached, and even cycled herself once a week! Delyth’s dedication to this cause was first class and despite a few bumps along the way, her determination was steadfast in completing this challenge.

Denise Craddock, Llanelli Netball League Chair, said:

“Del’s positivity and can-do attitude was infectious and our target of £1,500 for our Fab Five was realised and total mileage achieved. She always strives to uphold the values of our League.”

The fundraising was greatly appreciated by the athletes:

“The kind donations from my amazing netball community have greatly assisted me in my netball career this season, allowing me to focus on opportunities to improve my performance rather than worrying about the financial demands. This funding has meant I’ve been able to improve my access to training facilities to further develop my performance at club, Cardiff Dragons and National levels. I am so very grateful to all those who contributed and for their ongoing support” – Nia Bullen (U19s)

“I am extremely grateful for the support I’ve received from the Llanelli Netball League. I felt truly humbled by the number of past and present players, as well as friends and family and members of the league who participated and donated to help us athletes on our netball journey with the Cardiff Dragons. The financial support was really appreciated. Thank you” – Cari Adams (U17s)

A big thank you to Delyth Jones for her incredible contribution and organisation of the Cycle Marathon – which helped five incredibly talented young athletes pursue their dreams and reach for higher performance.

Wales Netball’s Volunteers of the Month will be announced at the beginning of every month, with an article going on our website and posts going out across all social media channels.

If you would like to nominate your coach, an umpire, or someone who helps your netball club and the wider community, complete the nomination form using this link – https://forms.gle/fREqFRkPFyHnoPRn6