Volunteer with us!

What does KEEN do? We are a registered charity and a joint organisation of both Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities. We provide social, sporting and recreational activities for children and young adults with a broad range of special needs in Oxford and the surrounding area. KEEN thrives on a diverse set of volunteers drawn from all walks of life. Currently, most are students from Oxford's two universities, sixth formers or young professionals.

What sessions does KEEN run? We run four regular weekly sessions during Oxford University term times: AllSorts, Zig-Zag, KEEN Teens and GrEAT. All our sessions are positively brimming with fun and excitement! AllSorts is our Saturday sports session; Zig-Zag, a drama, arts and crafts workshop which is aimed at primary school aged children; KEEN Teens, a social club for 11 to 19 year olds; and GrEAT, our over 18's social club.

GrEAT Zig Zag

Zig-Zag is our performing arts session, held on Fri-days, aimed at younger children. Each session features an exciting mash up of music, dance, craft and games. Each block of sessions follow a different theme, covering anything from nursery rhymes to horrible histories; myths and legends to Shakespeare. Only at Zig Zag is it possible to be building Hadrian's wall and learning to fight like a Roman one week, before fleeing to Italy the next to help a forgetful Leonardo da Vinci name his famous portrait! If this sounds completely unmiss-able to you, and it should, come along and join in the fun!

GrEAT is our social club for over 18s. GrEAT was set up for those participants who still enjoy coming to KEEN but who are over eighteen and would bene-fit from more age-specific activities. It is very easy going, and sessions can feature anything from bowling to campfires, pub quizzes and even owls! Recent visitors, have included Oxford acapella choir "The Alternotives", a drumming and dance workshop and the Irish dancing society. A particu-lar favourite of members and volunteers last year were our visits to the Stingray club night run by My Life My Choice, which are sure to be repeated this year!

MONDAYS 7:30—9:30 St Clement’s Family Centre

FRIDAYS 4:45—6:00 St Clement’s Family Centre

KEEN Teens AllSorts

That sounds great! How can I get involved? We are delighted that you would like to volunteer with KEEN! If you are a student, simply turn up to one of our forthcoming sessions. If you are not a student, you’ll need to send our co-ordinator a quick email at keen@keenoxford.org to organise a CRB check.

What can I expect when I come to a KEEN session? KEEN sessions are always lots of fun and immensely rewarding. At Zig-Zag and AllSorts, coaches are paired one on one with an athlete by the co-ordinator at the start of the session. This allows us to tailor to the individual needs of each of our athletes, offering them the chance of personal development. At KEEN Teens and GrEAT, the sessions are more relaxed and everyone is free to mingle as they wish. Each session is led by one or more committed volunteers, who work with the co-ordinator to ensure each session is as enjoyable as possible. Variety is the key to success at KEEN, and we are always looking for

AllSorts is our Saturday sports sessions. Each session consists of three sporting related activities, around which our athletes rotate. We cover a whole range of activities, from old favourites such as football and basketball to the slightly more obscure activi-ties such as golf and parachute games. Between October and March we hold AllSorts sessions at the Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre. In the summer, ses-sions are held at New College sports ground. You are welcome to make your own way to Blackbird Leys, but we also run a free bus which has three pick up points around Oxford.

KEEN Teens, held straight after Zig-Zag on Friday, is our social club for teenagers. We get up to all sorts of shenanigans. Last year we cooked everything from nachos to shortbread, performed exciting science experiments, played video games with Special Effects, put on a fashion show with hair and make-up done by Cannelle Beauty, tried our hands at African drumming and circus skills, wel-comed the Ultrasounds, an all male/all medic acappella group, made cocktails (non-alcoholic!), had outdoor games and activities in south parks, and even murder mystery evenings—the list goes on and on!

FRIDAYS 6:15—7:30 St Clement’s Family Centre

SATURDAYS 1:45—5:00 Blackbird Leys or New College Sports Ground

16-17 Turl Street, Oxford, OX1 3DH 01865 264173, 07847 110371

keen@keenoxford.org, www.keenoxford.org

Events / KEEN+ KEEN Committee

creative session leaders to bring in some new ideas! After the athletes have gone home the coaches normally head to the pub for a well-earned drink. This is a chance to discuss the session and get advice from other coaches if you have had any problems, or (usually!) just to have a laugh. As an added bo-nus if it's your first session or you’re a session leader you get a free drink!

I don’t have a lot of time, can I still get involved? KEEN runs on a completely non-commitment basis – just come along when you can.

Stay in contact with KEEN If you want to keep up-to-date with all the latest KEEN activities, the best way to do it is to sign up to the ‘KEEN review’, our weekly email with information about all the up and coming events, or look on our website www.keenoxford.org. And if you have any questions at all, please get in touch!

Interested in helping KEEN behind the scenes? We are always looking for individuals with skills and talents to help in the wider life of the charity, whether it be assisting with publicity, fundraising, administration, or other KEEN events. Whatever your skill set, we’re interested, so get in touch at keen@keenoxford.org.

KEEN runs a number of special events throughout the year, including day trips, treasure hunts, par-ties, ice skating and the KEEN Olympics. Last year, there were day trips to Birmingham Sea Life Cen-tre and Think Tank, and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London. Outside of term time, there are a number of KEEN+ events. The type and number of activities depends on how many coaches are able to volunteer during the vacation. Some recent activities have included rock climbing, trips to the Oxford Playhouse and Abingdon's Blue Apple Theatre, Canoeing, Golf, Swimming, and a trip to the Oxford Philomusica.

See Term Card for further details of up and coming events!

WEDNESDAYS 7:30pm, 2nd/5th/8th Week, KEEN office, Turl St Kitchen