Volunteer Zambia 2024 induction

On Sunday 11th February the University of Edinburgh hosted the Scottish induction for this year's Volunteer Zambia project volunteers.

Volunteer Zambia is a collaborative project between several leading UK Universities, the Wallace Group. The partnership's mission is to make a difference to the lives of young Zambian people by empowering and enriching communities, through the power of sport, leadership and education. The project involves upskilling and educating coaches, rather than teaching the sport. This empowers the local coaches to go out into their communities and deliver higher quality coaching sessions across Lusaka and further afield. 

The 2024 Cohort

This year, four University of Edinburgh students and a member of the Sport & Exercise staff team will travel to Zambia.

• Izzy Skinner, 1^st year Geography MA (Football Development Officer)
• Kene Ileagu, 1^st year Economics (Basketball Development Officer)
• Orla Doherty, 2^nd year Medicine (Netball Development Officer)
• Archie Vaughan, 4^th year MA French and History (Football Development Officer)
• Aisling Doyle, University of Edinburgh Sport & Exercise (staff representative)

The Edinburgh volunteers, who were joined at the induction day by volunteers from the University of St Andrews and University of Stirling, came together to gain a greater understanding of their role in Zambia and what to expect during the 8 weeks they will spend embedded in communities across Lusaka.

'Coach the Coach'

Part of the induction was a 'Coach the Coach' session delivered by University of Edinburgh Head of Netball, Trish Wilcox. Trish put the students through their coaching paces and helped to develop their understanding of what it means to be a coach educator. Next up for the students will be the UK-wide induction weekend in Durham in April, before heading out to Zambia this summer.

Further information 

• Volunteer Zambia (external site)