Volunteers Week Scotland: Elise

My name is Elise and my pronouns are she/her. I graduated last year (2020), in English literature in Edinburgh and I’m about to start a new job working for the arts publication ‘Boom Saloon’ that’s based in Edinburgh. I play a lot of music. I’ve played trumpet, piano and I’ve been singing since I was quite young, and right now I’m learning cello as a complete beginner.

How did you find out about LGBT Health and Wellbeing and what was your journey to then becoming a volunteer?

I find out about LGBT Health and Wellbeing through someone who used the service who kind of pointed me in that direction. They thought it seemed like something I’d love to get involved with which I definitely was. I was looking for a way to be part of a wider community and expand from my university bubble that I was in at the time. But also, I was really interested in the behind of the scenes of the organisation, I wanted to know more about what goes into planning these events and making sure that the needs of the community are fully considered. Volunteering seemed like the best way to go about learning all these things.

Can you tell us a little bit more about your role?

As part of the Events Team in Edinburgh, my role is very varied which I love. What’s helpful with this is that our supervisor Jules is very clear about boundaries and she’s very respectful of how much time we have and how much we can give. So, if it’s a point where I’m not busy, I might take on a lot more and write up a report for a community discussion or be more involved in the planning of an event. Whereas other points when I don’t have as much time, I will be behind the scenes at an online event sharing information in the Zoom chat, making sure that everyone’s tech stuff is okay and generally supporting whoever is running the event.

My role also involved contributing ideas and helping to create a safe space at events so being someone that people can talk to, if needed. I only started volunteering with LGBT Health and Wellbeing in October 2020 so all I’ve been doing is remote. I’m involved with Rainbow Lounge which is a fortnightly new space (online right now) that we brought during lockdown. It’s a really nice space to just chill and catch up with people. We have a lot of regulars so we get to see a lot of familiar faces who also come from out with Edinburgh. It’s also been a really intergenerational space which isn’t necessarily as easy to achieve with in person events. We also host a monthly Big Queer Quiz which we’ve started during lockdown to provide a regular meetup space for the community.

How does the whole Events Team in Edinburgh work then?

We have team meetings every two weeks which is a time to brainstorm any upcoming events we want to plan. At the moment, we have a community discussion coming up about diversity and drag event. I’m really excited for this one especially since it’s such a precarious time right now for venues and live performance art. It’ll be a great opportunity to bring the local creative community together so we can learn more about it and maybe even find out how to get involved in it. This came about by us all getting together and thinking what does the community want to know more about? A big part of this is listening to attendees during events and being attentive to what people are talking about and what’s coming up for the community.

We also look at feedback from events where folks can let us know what they’d like us to put on and to also think about what things we can improve on for future events. We’ve had some great feedback from people who because we hosted things online, were able to come to their first queer space ever. They might have not talked during the event and were just there to listen but it was great to know it made it easier for them to access our events.

As a team what are you the most proud of in your roles?

We are very proud of our response to the pandemic and how we managed to get things online very quickly. Being able to provide regular contact to the community which was the most needed even though it could be tiring at times especially as we were all grappling with the situation. However, it was really helpful for us as volunteers as well and volunteering for LGBT Health and Wellbeing definitely helped us so much through lockdown as some of us were living at home and feeling like we didn’t have much of a connection to the queer community anymore.

We are also proud every time someone told us it was the first time they had been to a queer space and how relax and open they had felt, even coming back a second time. And seeing friendships being made. As volunteers, it’s nice when you almost don’t have to do much because people are just getting to know each other and leading the conversations themselves. We know when this happens that we’re doing a good job. It’s good to be part of a wider community and queer spaces that are always evolving. Our spaces are quite intergenerational and it’s great when there’s people of all ages learning from each other’s’ stories and experiences.

And finally, we’re proud to have created spaces where people feel comfortable to just sit back and listen. Not engaging verbally doesn’t mean someone is not engaging, being simply present and hearing from the community is a form of engagement.

What more would you like to achieve as a team?

We want to keep raising awareness and building empathy and understanding for different sections of the LGBTQ+ community. And simply continue on building supportive spaces where we give people the structure they might need to meet other people so they can build a sense of community.

What would you like to change for the community?

We would love for queer spaces to keep being more varied where diverse perspectives keep growing so we can learn from each other more actively.

Do you have a role model? Someone that inspires you?

We all look up to our supervisor Jules. Just seeing how committed and passionate she is and how she’s always making sure that we are feeling empowered. She provides really sincere and constructive feedback which is great for our confidence and make us feel very valued. I’ve definitely learned a lot from Jules about how to communicate clear boundaries to people in a way that’s really respectful. Thanks to her I understand that it’s just about valuing yourself and making everyone’s job easier. She is so enthusiastic and works so hard, it’s inspiring. I don’t think any of us would have such a good experience if it wasn’t for Jules.