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The Lesbian and Gay Foundation does loads of stuff for lesbian and bisexual women.
This video is about volunteering opportunities
The LGF has a wide range of opportunities available to volunteers,
ranging from our helpline to our counselling service to
supporting our office administration functions.
I work here as the volunteer manager.
My job is to recruit, train, support and to
provide opportunities for people who are interested in volunteering with us.
As a profoundly deaf person, it's just such a fantastic place to work.
It's by far the most inclusive environment I've ever been part of
and I've worked in a few different places.
We've got just under 150 volunteers;
people can do anything from befriending to the helpdesk, to doing large events
- We've got library and archive -
so we absolutely couldn't do what we do without volunteers.
You get to meet people out on the street, you get to work with clients,
so you really get to meet lots of different people.
It's a really fun, fantastic atmosphere.
So, when you come out, if you don't know where to go or what to do,
there's a volunteer that will come and spend some time with you and sort of show you the ropes,
so to speak - how to get into the social scene.
And Frankie, who was my befriender, suggested that I come along here and have a look.
They're all really cool people so I sort of stayed.
We really do a real range of things, and we need women to come and provide those for us.
One of our specific women's services is our monthly workshops but, again,
women volunteers can come in and meet and greet the service users but also take part
in the workshops.
I've been with the LGF now for about 7 or 8 years.
You know, it's a good place to feel like you're part of a team.
You want to feel that you've done your best, and that people are very grateful for you doing it,
which the LGF does.
You do feel valued.
It's our national campaign; it's the 'Are you ready for your Screen Test' campaign,
and it's aimed at making sure lesbian and bisexual women are completely aware of their
right to be tested for cervical cancer.
That's something that we really need female volunteers to be at the forefront of.
If you're interested in getting involved as a volunteer, it's very, very easy to make
the first enquiry.
You can either drop us an email or you can actually drop in to the office and do a pop-in.
A member of the helpdesk team will always be happy to have a quick conversation,
and then I'll get in touch and let people
know what's coming up.
I want everyone who comes in to volunteer to take something away from it,
so whatever that reward is - whether it's making a new friend; having given something back -
that's what I hope people will take away: just a really rewarding experience.
For more information about the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, call us on 0845 3 30 30 30,
or visit our website: www.lgf.org.uk/women