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Inspirational stories
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This story is about a young girl called Abby Fixter who changed her life around through volunteering in her nearest community. she was trained, giving her the skills, knowledge and support to coach her peers in activities such as basketball, dance, football and martial arts. She benifited from the volunteer work as along with health and social benefits, the project promoted self-belief, self-responsibility and leadership; which she then used this experience as a springboard into further education and training.
Abby was finishing her A-Levels when she joined Co-operative StreetGames Young Volunteers (CSYV) in Lincoln. Growing up on one of the most challenging estates in Lincolnshire, Abby was keen to avoid the negative stereotypes that this carried with it.
Through CSYV she found that not only could she change her life, but she could change others' lives too. The once quiet and shy girl now leads sessions in her local CSYV programme.
Her willingness to improve under the scheme has seen Abby gain an impressive 12 qualifications. Abby’s success and impact on the community was recognised when she was awarded the CSYV East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside Young Volunteer of the Year 2011.
This is what she said about her time as a volunteer:
Since I started volunteering I’m much more confident. Before I became a Co-operative StreetGames Young Volunteer, there was no way I’d lead anything on my own but now I lead sessions straight away. It’s given me a real sense of independence which I’ve developed by organising and coaching sessions myself. I’ve learnt so much.”