Kirsty-Leigh – Gymnastics Area Manager
Ex-Olympian Kirsty-Leigh retired from competitive gymnastics a number of years ago, but never gave up her love for the sport. She decided to use her talents to become a gymnastics coach and inspire children through the sport she was passionate about.
Kirsty-Leigh joined the Y family almost 10 years ago, and has worked as a Senior Coach, Coach Development Leader and is currently our Gymnastics Area Manager. She said chose the Y because it felt like home and has a real community vibe.
The most rewarding part of being a gymnasts coach for Kirsty-Leigh is watching a child’s face light up when they achieve something they’ve been working on.
“We do the best job we can to help our kids, regardless of whether they’re super talented or just here to have fun!”
Kirsty-Leigh is now in a role where she gets to make a difference not just in students’ lives, but also the development of gymnastics coaches. She enjoys educating staff and helping younger coaches to come up through the ranks and become leaders.
Mathew – Senior Accountant
Mathew is a change maker. He’s worked at the Y for over 20 years, and has played an integral role in innovating the organisation’s IT and accounting procedures over the last two decades.
He began as an accountant as well as the Y’s IT manager. One of his favourite parts about working for the Y is having the freedom to suggest ideas and see those ideas become reality. Mathew setup the payroll system and entire IT network infrastructure at Y, and has been involved in the continuous growth of the organisation.
Now a Senior Accountant at Y, Mathew is still passionate about seeing things change for the better. He’s in the process of implementing new changes to improve efficiency, productivity and integration across our large organisation.
Courtney - Safeguarding Advisor
Courtney has been with the Y for almost three years, working as a Safeguarding Advisor. In this role, Courtney is responsible for policies and procedures around safeguarding children and young people.
She joined the Y because she loves what the organisation stands for. Becoming a Safeguarding Advisor allowed Courtney to upskill and implement new and emerging child safety practices that the industry hadn’t seen before. Courtney has been able to collaborate on ground-breaking work in child protection, which is leading the way in child safety practice in the community sector.
A highlight for Courtney is helping others in the organisation to understand their responsibilities in protecting children, helping to make every YMCA centre a safe place for kids.
She is really excited about the Y’s participation in the National Safeguarding Unit, seeing children’s ideas and opinions be used to inform policies.