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Celebrating our Volunteers: Meet Policy Volunteer, Aaron

It’s Volunteers’ Week — a time to celebrate the amazing contributions of our volunteers. Meet Aaron a Social Policy and Politics student who joined LGBT Health and Wellbeing on placement, supporting vital community research. His experience reminds us that volunteering is also about listening, and working together to build a fairer, more inclusive future for all LGBTQ+ people.
5 June 2025
A portrait of Aaron who is a policy volunteer with LGBT Health and Wellbeing.

My name is Aaron (he/him). I am currently a third year student at the University of Strathclyde, studying Social Policy and Politics. I have a keen interest in Politics and making the world fairer for everyone. However when I am not studying, I enjoy going to concerts as well as the cinema.

What inspired you to start volunteering with LGBT Health and Wellbeing?

As part of my Social Policy degree, I chose to undertake a placement module as part of my studies. Before undertaking the module I knew that I wanted to help conduct research in the LGBT policy sphere which led me to researching which LGBT organisations would allow me to conduct a placement with them. Having stumbled across LGBT Health and Wellbeing on the internet, and learning more about their work, I enquired about volunteering with them and well the rest is history.

What does your volunteering role involve?

My role at LGBT Health and Wellbeing involved shadowing the National Policy Lead in their research projects. This meant I conducted a variety of desk based research tasks as well as helping conduct focus group sessions as part of our community consultation on LGBT relations with the Police.

Why is this work important to you?

At the heart of the work of LGBT Health and Wellbeing are the community members and people who access the services on offer at the organisation. As part of my research, I had the opportunity to meet some of the community members and this allowed me to learn about all of the different experiences of LGBTQ+ people from all different walks of lives. Now more than ever it is vital that the government and policymakers hear the experiences of marginalised members of our society including LGBTQ+ voices.

What does LGBT Health and Wellbeing mean to you?

Ensuring that LGBTQ+ people have a safe space to meet other people from the LGBTQ+ community and build friendships and community which is beneficial for both their physical and mental wellbeing. Both the staff and volunteers who work for LGBT Health and Wellbeing truly care for each and every person who accesses the services on offer at the organisation.

What would you say to someone thinking about volunteering?

As corny as it sounds – just do it. I could not have asked for more supportive supervision and mentorship from everyone I worked alongside. I was made to feel like an equal even though I was only at the organisation for a short period of time. If you are passionate about the LGBTQ+ community and want to make a difference then volunteering for LGBT Health and Wellbeing is a great place to start!

A group of 3 volunteers wearing LGBT Health and Wellbeing t-shirts

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