Councillor Margaret Toner congratulating Callum Stewart on his award
Callum Stewart, aged 18, who is a member of Troon Youth Centre, was named as Strathclyde Senior Volunteer Award winner by Strathclyde Youth at a special awards ceremony held within the City Chambers, Glasgow.
Strathclyde Youth is a network organisation that supports youth work and clubs in the Strathclyde area. Their awards ceremony is an annual event that gives youth workers across Strathclyde an opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of club members and volunteers, staff and anyone in the community who has assisted with projects.
Callum first walked through the doors of Troon Youth Centre when he was 13 years of age and wanted to do something constructive with his free time. After quickly settling into the club Callum was keen to help those running it, he started serving in the tuck shop, a quick and enthusiastic learner he soon learned to keep the till records and balance the books. He became involved in running activities for other members, motivating others and doing everything he could to make the club run smoothly.
Councillor Margaret Toner, the Depute Leader of South Ayrshire Council and Portfolio Carrier for Community Services went along to Troon Youth Centre to congratulate Callum. Councillor Toner said: "Callum is an extraordinary young man who has put the needs of other young people in the Troon community before his own.
"Many young people who attend the Youth Centre have benefited from his enthusiasm, dedication and wide range of skills. For such a young man to have given so much of his leisure time to helping other young people in his community is an inspiration to us all.
"Callum has a very wide skills base, but the thing that makes him stand out from the crowd is his personality, he is a modest young man who is always putting the needs of others before his own."
During his years at Troon Youth Centre Callum has undertaken training to help him in his volunteer work, he has a wealth of certificates that include a first aid qualification, a food hygiene certificate and various youth achievement awards including Millennium Volunteer awards.
Callum is employed at Halfords in Irvine, but he is still committed to attending the centre several nights a week and is always there to help organise activities, to support and encourage other members. He is continuing to develop his skills and is currently taking part in the Youth Scotland IT training course for young leaders. He has also given up his leisure time to act as a facilitator on training weekends for members of the Youth Centre, including one recently held in Aviemore.
Speaking about his award Callum said: "I feel very pleased to have been given this Award. Over many years I have enjoyed my time at Troon Youth Centre. The wide range of activities that are available and the opportunity to get involved in running them have helped me to be the person that I am today. I have learned lots of new skills that I put to good use at the centre and out with the centre. This even helped me get my job as I could show my certificates and talk about my voluntary work at the interview.
"Others gave up their leisure time to make my time at the centre fun and encourage me to get involved I am now doing the same. I think that it is very important that young people have clubs like ours where they can go and enjoy themselves somewhere safe."
Troon Youth Centre is open several nights a week. Activities include games and sports, games consuls, crafts, and IT skills such as desktop publishing, digital photography and T-shirt design. The Centre has an IT suite, café area and activity hall. The member's committees make decisions about the activities and the running of the centre, they work along side trained youth workers. Whilst volunteering, members are encouraged to pursue various Awards such as the Youth Achievement and Millennium Youth Awards and the service section of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.
Anyone who would like further information about Troon Youth Centre should contact a member of South Ayrshire Council's Community Learning and Development team on telephone number 01292 319357.