Undertaking a placement through my university course is something I knew I wanted to do as soon as I learnt about the opportunities they offered. I had heard plenty about the benefits: earning valuable, real-life experience, gaining hard skills, and making your CV standout. As a second-year BA Jt Hons Sociology and Social Policy student, these benefits were really appealing to me. Everyone wants a job straight out of university, and according to statistics that is significantly more likely if you undertake a placement! So that is what I did.

When exploring the range of placements on offer through my university, LGBT Foundation really stood out to me. Why? Because not only did the goals and values of the organisation directly align with my own, but they also offered a role which really appealed to my interests – a Marketing and Communications Internship! Media, marketing, and communications are roles which I have always found interesting – and considering LGBT foundation’s range of work with the Equality Panel and their ‘Vote with Pride’ campaign, I felt that this placement was the perfect combination of my interests.

My Experience

As soon as I began my 3-week placement I was met with friendly faces, a warm atmosphere, and plenty of tasks to get stuck into. Due to the range of services and support they offer, the work that I was able to undertake was wide ranging, ensuring that I always felt engaged in the work I was doing.

During my placement I was able to:

• Connect with the amazing team
• Learn how to effectively use Canva and CapCut
• Work alongside the Education team, creating reels and posters to promote their ‘Vote with Pride’ campaign
• Create Instagram squares and carousels for Pride events
• Collaborate with the Sexual Health team, inputting data from their Ketso workshop
• Research and contact student groups regarding the ‘Vote with Pride’ campaign
• Research a range of podcasts we could collaborate with, promoting the work we do and engaging with a wider audience
• Write and upload a blog to the website (hello there!)
• Learn about WordPress, and how to make websites and documents more accessible
• Write a bulletin announcement to increase engagement with the Sexual Health team’s Salford STI campaign
• Partake in team meetings and creative jams

One thing I really appreciated during my placement here was their consideration around my workload, with regular check-ins and genuine consideration around what skills I wanted to gain from my time with them. This consideration is not something that was limited to their interns, with there being a range of campaigns and teams that volunteers could work with. I found that this made working here super enjoyable and beneficial for everyone!

Reflections

Overall, I really loved the time that I spent with LGBT Foundation. The experience I gained aided me with sector-specific knowledge and hard skills, allowing me to explore different areas and tasks to discover what I truly enjoyed. This really helped me to reflect on skills I already had, and other skills which I could develop, improving myself and my employability.

My experience here helped me to realise that this is something I would love to do in the future, and expanded my understanding of what working in the charity sector is like. I am so grateful that I undertook this experience, and it is definitely something I would recommend to anyone who is interested in expanding their skill set/exploring a new area of work. Working here has been such a joy, and anyone would be lucky to work alongside LGBT Foundation and their committed, welcoming team.

-Leah Russon Watkins

Achievements of the Pride in Ageing programme over the past five years include

• Promoting the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues in training for the social care workforce with an educational tool made in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde for Skills for Care
• Artist residencies run in partnership with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to explore LGBTQ+ inclusivity and discrimination in residential housing.
• A takeover of the Manchester Pride stage in collaboration with Southway Housing, with older people performing scripts they had written alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Series Four finalist Cheddar Gorgeous
• Opening a community garden space designed and looked after by older LGBTQ+ volunteers at Manchester Art Gallery, which was shortlisted for a Spirit of Manchester Award and has been visited by thousands of gallery visitors.
• An end-of-life care project in partnership with St Ann’s Hospice which produced a new training course for professionals and ‘Box of Me’ a workshop for LGBTQ+ communities on preparing for end-of-life care

At the five-year anniversary event in April, Sir Ian remarked on how pleased he was to see “older volunteers at the heart of LGBT Foundation – as they are the experts”. He wished the volunteers success with their current and upcoming projects for the Pride in Ageing Programme. Sir Ian, 84, reflected at Pride in Ageing’s launch event on his experiences as an older gay man. “I was criminalised, and that leaves a brand on you” Ian said, referencing the legal restrictions on homosexuality in England before 1967. “Older LGBTQ+ people need to be surrounded by friendship, love and respect”.

Lawrie Roberts, Pride in Ageing Manager: “The expression of hope and joy by Sir Ian McKellen at our launch has inspired our first five years of activity. We’d like to thank our amazing supporters, including Barclays, Age Friendly Manchester, Manchester City Council and Sir Ian, but most of all we’re celebrating our volunteers’ contributions to this programme – they’re a true inspiration to our LGBTQ+ communities and make a huge impact on the lives of many in Greater Manchester. 

We have an incredibly busy events programme, last month we had a dance workshop, digital café and book club – all for free and which anyone who is older and LGBTQ+ can come along to. The programme’s activity is designed by an advisory panel of volunteers and we are currently taking on new members – if you are LGBTQ+, aged over 50 and from the Greater Manchester area and would like to get involved we would be really interested in talking with you. Please do get in touch with us via the volunteering section of LGBT Foundation’s website or over the phone.”

Mindy, 72, a volunteer with the programme: “Pride in Ageing welcomes the energy, drive and experience of older people within our LGBTQ+ communities in the region. LGBT Foundation is showing that being LGBTQ+ is not just about the youngsters on Canal Street, it’s about everybody.”

Pam, 74, a volunteer with the programme: “This work is literally lifesaving, it matters to me as an older lesbian woman that pride in all its diversity is recognised.”

The Pride in Ageing Programme is supported by Barclays, Age Friendly Manchester and Manchester City Council.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article or would like to find out more about volunteering, LGBT Foundation’s helpline can be accessed at 0345 30 30 30. To get in touch with the Pride in Ageing programme online you can read more about us at lgbt.foundation or email prideinageing@lgbt.foundation.