Our website often has requests on it from both individuals in this country and abroad.

in the past we have been asked to support volleyball development programmes in 3rd world countries, support players looking to come to England on professional contracts, but the request earlier this week took me by surprise.

It was from a young person asking for a quote for their essay. I replied and asked what the context of the essay was so I could provide the right quote. Apparently this person had to write an essay about their favourite charity, the work that it does and the reason they chose this particular charity to focus on.

With all the millions of charities around the world she picked the Volleyball England Foundation, she played volleyball and connected to the vision, values and projects we are working on.

When I pressed a little about who the essay was for she told me that she is learning English in Japan and the essay was part of her course work.

The Foundation sent her some information and a quote - as always, happy to help.