In this blog, we hear from Zach Ransome, Community Co-ordinator at CaVCA, about their role to empower volunteers by helping them gain skills, boost their confidence and inspire them to achieve their full potential.

My name is Zach Ransome. I am autistic, chronically ill and non-binary and I feel empowered in my current role at CaVCA. I recently completed an Applied Psychology degree at Coventry University Scarborough Campus, and this has led me to working as a freelance community co-ordinator for CaVCA on a project we are working on with Healthwatch North Yorkshire called CORE20PLUS5.

Providing young people with a platform to have their views and voices heard regarding health care services in coastal towns is incredibly important as these are the people of the future, they are the change makers, and we need to hear their views and opinions.

As a collective we are hoping to collect data regarding five main areas of healthcare (Asthma, Diabetes, Mental health, Epilepsy and Oral health) to understand further the health inequalities within coastal towns like Scarborough and how improvements could be made.

This will be an empowering experience for our volunteers and the young people they connect with whilst undertaking the interviews regarding their access to healthcare as this will not only provide them with a platform to have their say but it will also create connections within the community and inspire confidence.

As a Community Co-ordinator, I personally support the volunteers with anything they need help with, and I hope to empower them further by providing them with skills to boost their confidence and show them what they are capable of regardless of what difficulties they have themselves.

Volunteering on this project is not just about the data, it is also about marginalised voices being heard within small coastal towns which are often missed off the map when it comes to research which is incredibly important to me and the team I am working with.

Young people deserve to have their voices heard and are often dismissed regarding ideas around health care and services provided, as a collective we are incredibly excited about this bit of research because we are encouraging young people to speak up and get involved in research within their community and I personally believe community creates connection which we should all be striving for.

Please check out the CaVCA website to find out more about this project if you wish to be involvement; we would be delighted to hear from you!

Community Connectors | CaVCA