Community Development

"Volunteering is the giving of time and energy through a third party, which can bring measurable benefits to the volunteer, individual beneficiaries, groups and organisations, communities, the environment and society at large. It is a choice undertaken of one's own free will, and is not motivated primarily for financial gain or for a wage or salary."

(SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE VOLUNTEERING STRATEGY, 2004)   

The majority of Gay Men's Health’s work centres on peer involvement through the use of volunteers, and by working with ideas that come from the gay community. This approach or ethos is often described as “Community Mobilisation” or “Community Development”, and it is an integral part of the organisation’s way of working.

That’s probably not surprising. In fact, when you consider the many ways in which volunteering really can work in everyone’s interests, you realise that the organisation would simply not be able to operate effectively without our volunteers.

There is a wide range of tasks for volunteers to choose from, and we always try to help them choose a piece of work that they will find enjoyable, challenging and rewarding. Volunteers can be responsible for helping in the office with administration work, delivering condom and lube packs and vital information resources to local gay venues, providing internal and external training one-to-one work with gay and bisexual men. These are just a few examples, demonstrating the variety of ways people choose to give their time and energy for Gay Men's Health. 

Volunteers are involved all areas of the organisation and work with all members of staff; however our two regional Community Development Managers have primary responsibility for their recruitment, training, support and management, and this challenging workload is constantly ongoing.

For more info on volunteering at Gay Men's Health, or if you'd like to apply to become a volunteer, click here.

Community Development Managers:

Lothian: James Whyte

Greater Glasgow and Clyde: Tom Lusk