Meet Ross, now a valued member of staff who started his career here as a true CYZ Voluntine. Read on to learn why he loves giving back to Carlisle’s young people.
My name is Ross Mattinson and I am autistic. I first became a volunteer at Carlisle Youth Zone in September 2022. I had been encouraged to volunteer by my Mum, who saw it as a place to get involved in lots of different opportunities, and my autism councillor Geoff, who saw it as a place to expand my knowledge across different sports, other than football. Upon arriving, it was agreed that I was going to be working with the Junior Members – this was an age group I had always enjoyed working with, as I felt I could understand their minds. I also had the opportunity to explore all of the different activities that CYZ offered to members.
Coming from a sporting background, I was to be involved in many of the physical activities at CYZ. I would support the running of different sports challenges for children, guiding them with advice and demonstrations of how to successfully complete the challenges. This increased performance levels and motivated those individuals to keep trying out such challenges. In addition, I made sure to be visible in the outdoor area, monitoring behaviour and chatting to the children. This reminded them of my sympathetic approach, helping them feel comfortable in chatting to me about their lives. One particularly amazing memory I have as a volunteer was when I helped out with the Girls Can Pickleball. Whilst saying goodbye to the participants for Christmas (and being pretty excited about the season myself), I ended up popping on a Santa Hat and bellowing ‘Ho, Ho, Ho!’, whilst a Young Leader watched me and smiled.
Being involved with volunteering allowed me to gain increased leadership confidence in front of a group of people, motivating me to work with Junior Members even more. After just over one year of volunteering at CYZ, a job position for a Youth Worker became available. I saw this as an opportunity for me to create my own ideas for the children and get them involved in physical activity to improve their levels of social interaction. Also, I knew I would be working with the same members of staff that I had always loved volunteering alongside, and I knew they understood how to deal with my autistic needs. After a successful job interview, CYZ offered me the position of a Youth Activity Worker, helping them fill in the gaps at CYZ, whilst providing me with a role that fitted my autistic mind. Getting a job has allowed me to plan sessions for my regular weekly shift that enable children to play sport and enjoy regular competition, as well as talking to me about their own lives. In addition, it has been great getting to know the staff even better by being involved in Team Nights, where we discuss our different experiences on the job.
Volunteering definitely supports CYZ in being able to run their own activities for different groups of members. I would definitely recommend signing up to volunteer at CYZ as it not only gets you out of the house, but gives you the opportunity to support other children in making different choices, and help them progress in life. CYZ quickly recognises volunteers’ own talents and regularly reviews their own strengths, placing them in an area where they will feel most comfortable and competent in their work. On a similar note, volunteering has changed my life massively as I was always predicted to take the sport coaching pathway, but volunteering has made me realise that I work best with children in an environment where they are able to choose what they do, meaning I can be a different type of mentor for each child at different times, increasing my flexibility levels. My advice to anyone considering volunteering at CYZ is to be open about any new ideas you may have, as CYZ works in an open environment and is always willing to adapt in order to include more people.
