October 8 - Sebestian Coe, the chairman of London 2012, has praised Volleyball England’s V3 project for ‘encouraging young people to fulfil their potential’ after it was awarded the Inspire Mark.


The badge of the London 2012 Inspire Programme, the award recognises innovative and exceptional projects directly inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Coe said: "I am proud that with the help of partners such as Volleyball England we are delivering on our vision to use the power of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to boost participation in volleyball."

The V3 project involves groups of approximately 10 young volunteers aged 16 to 25 running their own volleyball events during October half-term to encourage other young people to take up the sport.

Events will take place in Manchester on October 23, Nottingham on October 24, the Metro Centre on October 30 and Birmingham on October 31. 

The young volunteers are taking a lead on decision-making within the projects and have come up with some really creative ideas such as running taster sessions in the Metro Centre.

Some of the volunteers are already active within the volleyball community but for others it is their first taste of volunteering. 

They have undertaken a training weekend in Kettering at the National Volleyball Centre and all volunteers have committed a significant amount of time to the project.