Volunteers Week Scotland: Mason

Hi! My name is Mason (he/they) and I volunteer for LGBT Age at LGBT Health and Wellbeing. I provide one-on-one support to older LGBT+ people across Scotland on the Telefriending service and co-facilitates the online version of Coffee Posse which is a monthly meetup for LGBT+ people aged 50 and over to come together and connect.

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

When I was a young kid in Edinburgh, I remember seeing the LGBT Centre in Edinburgh and always wanting pop in but not quite having the context or maybe the courage to go inside. When I returned to Scotland as an adult, after a long time living away, I realised I wanted to be able to connect to LGBT+ people beyond my own social circle. I wanted to hear stories from elders, and understand a bit more about their lived experiences here.

What do you do as a volunteer at LGBT Health and Wellbeing?

I keep in touch over the phone with a couple of folks one-to-one as part of the Telefriending service, checking in every fortnight or so, and I co-facilitate the online Coffee Posse each month, getting to participate in groups of up to 12 or so people. I listen to what’s on people’s minds, hear about their hopes, future plans, as well as their lives.

What are you most proud of as a volunteer?

I’m happy to be able to participate and have the privilege to learn from the folks who use the service, and hear how they come to know themselves and be in touch with each other, and also see how we get to change each other in those shared spaces of contact.

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

There are so many inspiring people out there, but I regularly go to Jessica Dore’s daily Tarot card readings on Twitter for her thoughtful and useful reflections on care, transformation and acceptance: @thejessicadore