Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean. My name is Luke Rees and I am a nineteen-year-old university student currently studying sports leadership and development at the University of South Wales. I am also a Platinum Young Ambassador for Sport Wales and Youth Sport Trust and member of the Welsh Young Ambassador Steering group. I am the young person representative for the Sport Wales and Public Health Wales board and volunteer as a team leader for Youth Sport Trust.
I first became involved with volunteering at the age of fourteen when I attended Brynmawr Foundation School. My pathway into volunteering was quite different to most people. When I was in year ten in school I suffered with a mental health issue, which left me with very low self-confidence and belief in myself.
Yet I chose to start volunteering as it allowed me to take my mind of everything going on in the outside world and gave me the opportunity to help others. I wasn�t to know until a year on when I realised that by helping others I was actually helping myself and was then later cleared of all health issues.
The hardest step I had to take when I started volunteering was having to ask for help on how to become a leader. My sports development officer advised me to sign up to a Sports Leaders UK course. This was a big step for me to make, as I wasn�t very committed and wasn�t aware of what I was signing up for. I knew that if I wanted to become a volunteer then I had to attend this course and be prepared to make a commitment to my role as a volunteer.
I realised that nothing in life worth having comes easy and there is no elevator to success and I had to take to the stairs. I knew I had to be prepared to work hard, but the hardest step I had to make was the first. Change starts with you and I was determined to become a better person for it.
After two years of volunteering coaching in schools and at local sports event I had the amazing and life changing opportunity to become a part of Sport Wales and the Youth Sport Trust Young Ambassador Programme.
Young Ambassadors are seen as much more than just volunteers. Sport Wales, as well as many other organisations, see these amazing young people as part of their extended workforce, and continue to invest in the programme and work together to achieve our goals.
As a young ambassador it�s not just about being a volunteer, it�s about being a role model and inspiring a generation of young people to participate in sport. When you see an ambassador they are very easy to recognise, as everyone proudly wears their young ambassador t-shirts that immediately highlights who we are. If you see a young person leading a group of younger people with a huge amount of passion and enthusiasm, they are more than likely a part of our workforce!
As young people we are made to make a lot of hard decisions at an early age. With everything else going on in our lives, with pressures being added to you from school or family, it�s not always an easy decision to decide to become a young ambassador and volunteer within your free time. But I can honestly admit that being a part of this programme has not only changed and shaped my life, but it continues to inspire and influence young people all over Wales.
In my life I know I have made mistakes but I regret nothing. Even if my past was full of hurt, I still look back and smile because it made me who I am today. The past wouldn�t have given me the motivation to help others. No one can go back and make a brand new start, but anyone can start from now and write the next chapter.
We as volunteers don�t necessarily have more time, we just have the heart and want to make a change.
Volunteering isn�t just about giving up your free time and helping out where you can. It�s about embracing the opportunity and giving back to the community with a smile on your face. There are over 235,000 volunteers in Wales and without them we simply wouldn�t be known as the sporting nation as we are today.
I would strongly encourage any young person to give up some of their free time and starting volunteering. In life you only get out what you put it. If you�re willing to play your part by inspiring a generation of young people by becoming a young ambassador, it will only lead to great things.
As its volunteer week, it�s vital that we acknowledge the amazing work our Young Ambassadors and young volunteers are doing and the difference they are making in their communities and on a national scale.
Thanks you and keep up the amazing work.
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