Naomi Hume

"My brother used to help out at Spartans getting stuff ready for matches. I would come along and watch then I started to play for the under-13’s team. I really liked The Academy and when I was old enough I asked if I could start helping out too. I did a “get ready for work course” at The Academy where I learned about the café and now I work there making hot food and drinks and if there is a meeting or conference I get all the food ready for that. I volunteer at FooTea so sometimes I get to bake with the kids. I love doing this because I get to teach other people. I got to go to Tanzania with The Academy where we went to do volunteer work. It was the first time I had left Scotland. I was scared at first, especially of flying, but it was an amazing experience. Before I came to The Academy I was very quiet and shy. That’s definitely changed - you can’t be quiet in here for long! I know that the experiences and skills that I’ve had here will help me in the future whenever I decide to move onto a new job. I think The Academy really helps promote young people."

"Over the years Naomi has developed a great loyalty for The Spartans Community Football Academy. She is a great example of a young person who has been on a real journey with us: from playing in the football team to volunteering and then moving into paid employment. It was a pleasure to see her gain her Saltire Award for contributing 500 hours of volunteering to The Academy.”