– Now washcloths will be sold, I can promise you that! Day-to-day manager of Førde sports club, Per Øyvind Storevik smiles broadly and counts all the cardboard boxes that roll in front of him. They contain what will hopefully give ringing kroner in the club coffers to the football group in Førde sports club. A pressing club economy in one of the country’s largest cross-country sports teams means that they have now seen all the cloths. Nobody wants the alternative, to set up the training fees. But the cloth work has led to grumbling. Not everyone is equally enthusiastic about yet another charity where things and tools are to be sold for clubs and associations. Idrettshuset in Førde has received several pallets with cloths to be sold for charity. Per Øyvind Storevik, day-to-day manager of Førde Sports Club, believes there could be even more jobs if the price increase continues. Photo: ASTRID SOLHEIM KORSVOLL / news – If you take a vote on it, I’m guessing many people aren’t too keen. But people are loyal and know we do this to bring in money for the team, says Storevik. – Diligence is one of our pillars. If it smokes, then everything unravels, he adds. Will make the work more digital This is the Norwegian Sports Confederation (NIF) painfully aware of this. They also know that many clubs and parents have got tired of going door to door selling toilet paper, biscuits, cloths and anything else strange. Nor is it everyone who has the opportunity to buy out products to sell on, the Norwegian Women’s Sanitation Association has warned against this type of volunteering before. They think it creates a class divide between who can afford to spend and who can’t. The sport is now taking steps to facilitate the voluntary effort when it comes to the sale of products. – We try to find alternative solutions, says Pål Kristen Rønnevik, head of NIF Digital. They have therefore created a new digital voluntary service in collaboration with Spleis and Bambusa. The work can be done at home from the corner of the sofa. Initially, there are digital scratch cards, greeting cards and Christmas cards to be sold, as well as socks. In order to keep the training quota as low as possible, it is important to bring in voluntary donations. – It is important that we do not burden people’s private finances too much, says Pål Kristen Rønnevik of the Norwegian Sports Confederation. Photo: Norwegian Sports Confederation They are also working to set up a charity where people can “pick up” the bill for those who struggle to pay training fees. Have moved away from traditional work In the football group in Os Turn in Bjørnafjorden in Vestland, they have moved away from traditional work. Rather, they ask the members to sell digital tickets for a Christmas calendar, says Endre Brenne, day-to-day leader of the football group in Os. Last year, the football team lit NOK 100,000 on the calendar, and the prizes were sponsored by local businesses. This year is the third year that the football team in Os is doing digital volunteering. – Digital solutions are not so binding. We don’t bother people about who sells tickets or not, says Endre Brenne, day-to-day manager of the football group in Os. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news – We wanted it simpler. We have therefore moved away from delivering 300 packs of socks and the like. There was too much administration and logistics involved, he says. Tonje Søfteland Hetleflåt from Os is among those who are very happy about digital work. She has two children aged 2 and 5, and the eldest has just started training. – Anything that makes a busy weekday easier is absolutely great, she says. With a man who works shifts, it is not always as easy to contribute on the charity front. – Therefore, it eases my conscience a little when I can sell such lots back home. But it’s also nice to be out and meet people physically, so a combination of both can be nice. Henrik Bokelund, also a gymnastics dad, thinks the new solution is fine. – It is easier and faster. At the same time, we lose a bit of the social aspect when we do it this way. There are probably quite a few people who think it’s nice to have some on the door, says Bokelund. Gymnastics coach Cecilie Bøschen Sandal sees that many parents are satisfied with the arrangement. – It’s easy and you can do it from the sofa. As a result, more people get involved than if they had to go around selling cookie boxes or doing physical things. Thomas Lekva and Geir Vindheim (on the right) pick out cartons full of cloths. Photo: Oddgeir Sæle Ready for the cloth hall Annette Alstadsæter, professor at Norway’s University of the Environment and Biosciences, thinks that digital volunteering is better than a traditional hall: – So-called volunteering hall is in practice a compulsory hall of overpriced “scum”, where large parts of what you actually pay are not goes to the purpose you want to support. It is also very unfortunate from an environmental point of view, because you buy things you usually don’t want, says Alstadsæter. Inside the clubhouse in Førde, referees and trainers come and pick out cardboard after cardboard and stack them into their cars. One of those who will soon have a house full of these, is father of two Rune Øksenberg. He and his wife have done voluntary work since their children were small. He enjoys lending a helping hand, but thinks it is good that the Norwegian Sports Confederation is rethinking volunteering and making it more digital. – It is positive that they are trying to make it simpler so that more people can participate, says Øksenberg.
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The Swedish Sports Confederation acknowledges that “Facebook activities” have become a problem – news Vestland
