Call for Volunteers

Making Waves Ottawa is seeking volunteers with the personal experience to be able to advise the club on issues of accessibility and (dis)ability. Who we are: Making Waves Ottawa is a not-for-profit student initiative founded as a registered chapter of Making Waves Canada in 2009. We are a club at the University of Ottawa and our mission is to provide affordable and accessible one-on-one swimming instruction to children with special needs. We offer an average of eight 45-minute lessons per semester, and currently provide lessons for 80 swimmers between the ages of 3 and 18. Next year, we are hoping to expand our program capacity to facilitate 100 to 120 swimmers. Our problem: At present, no one on our Executive committee can provide anything other than an abled perspective on swimming instruction. We recognize that this is problematic and that it prevents us from offering the best possible service to our swimmers and their families. The solution: We are looking to create a VP Accessibility position on our Executive committee for 2014-2015. Our VP Accessibility would be an individual with first-hand experience with disability. Preferably, but not necessarily, they would also have some experience with disability and sport. This person would attend Executive meetings, which take place on campus on a more-or-less biweekly basis, and advise on club policy, instructor training material, promotion initiatives, etc. This position would require 3 hours per month of volunteering from September to April, but an enthused volunteer would be extremely welcome to take on additional projects and attend other Making Waves events (lessons, promotional or fundraising events, etc) if they were interested. How to apply: Please send us an email at admin@makingwavesottawa.org explaining in 1 to 2 paragraphs why you would like to be involved with Making Waves and what knowledge/experience you could bring to the club. If internet access is a problem, you can contact us instead by phone at 1-888-530-5618, and well figure something out. Deadline to apply: April 19th, 2014. If you would like to get involved with Making Waves in a way other than in the VP Accessibility position, please contact us at admin@makingwavesottawa.org or by phone at 1-888-530-5618. Our other Executive positions for the 2014-2015 year will be released in the next two to three weeks. If you are interested and are not on our mailing list, check out our website at www.makingwavesottawa.org. If youd rather teach swimming than talk about it, you can apply to be an instructor online at www.makingwavesottawa.org. If internet access is a problem, you can contact us instead by phone at 1-888-530-5618, and well figure something out.