Scott’s volunteering journey with Active Hastings and StreetGames

Scott’s engagement with Active Hastings began when he was just 11 years old as a participant in the organisation’s Street Sport sessions. Initially attracted to the sessions by his passion for sports – with a background in Brazilian jiujitsu, basketball and football – Scott was inspired to become more involved thanks to his coaches, who identified his passion to spark positive change within his community.

At the age of 16, after finishing secondary school, Scott started volunteering with Active Hastings and quickly became an invaluable member of the team. With an unwavering commitment to supporting young people towards positive pathways, Scott now volunteers at least twice a week, coaching at weekly multi-sport sessions as well as supporting with the delivery of holiday clubs, youth groups and sessions for those with disabilities.

Through his involvement with Active Hastings, Scott became aware of an opportunity to become a Young Advisor with StreetGames, working with four other young people to amplify and champion youth voice through the development of a Young Person’s Manifesto.

Scott has had to overcome a number of challenges on his volunteering journey, including a stutter that impacted his confidence, especially around public speaking. Staff at Active Hastings provided him with the opportunity to shadow coaches in sessions to build his experience and confidence, as well as supporting him to participate in a number of StreetGames activator courses including Volleyball and Tennis to further develop his skills.

As well as a significant boost to his confidence and public speaking skills, Scott has also achieved a number of qualifications, including a Level 2 award in multi sports delivery. His hard work and dedication were also recognised by being awarded the Young Volunteer Award at the Hastings Voluntary Action Awards.

Grace Cudmore, Community Sports Worker at Active Hastings, said: “Scott is a great asset to the Active Hastings team! He’s worked hard to help us engage large numbers of children at our sports sessions, most of whom live in areas that fall within the 1% most deprived nationally.

“Scott always has a smile on his face and remains calm mannered when we’re often faced with quite challenging behaviour.

“Scott has faced a number of setbacks over the years but has worked hard to overcome them, growing hugely in confidence, and gaining a number of coaching qualifications along the way.

“We now look forward to him joining our casual sports workforce!”