James Walters-Garrood joined Hull CVS as a volunteer in January 2022 as a Marketing & Social Media Volunteer.

“I chose to volunteer to make myself more employable. As a recent Masters graduate in English, I wanted to break into Marketing & Advertising. I had undertaken an internship in Communications but was struggling to sell myself and my skills in the open market, so decided that I needed to add volunteering to my utility belt. When I saw a poster on-campus for a Marketing & Social Media Volunteer with Hull CVS, it was the ideal opening.

"I knew that Hull CVS would be a great fit for me during my first in-person meeting with the Head of Community Development, Matt Wright."  

"Since then, my work has focused on graphic design and marketing materials like press releases. I have been present with live briefs which have made me think outside-the-box, while the designing elements have improved my digital drawing skills. I started doing digital art as a teenager, but I’ve enjoyed being creative with a limited palette and from prompts, which have caused my style to innovate in ways I never expected and taught me to tailor my art to business needs.

The highlight for me though was seeing the 7ft banner that I’d designed for a small meet-and-greet event. I hadn’t processed that what I’d spent so long drawing and writing, would actually be made physical and displayed. It felt surreal in a positive way.”