Recognition – Raising Awareness
In addition to my counselling practises I work for a national drug and alcohol charity specialising in EDI (equality, diversity & inclusion) and GBMSM (gay,bi & and men who have sex with men) & LGBTQ+ substance misuse issues and in 2020 I launched the first national LGBTQ+ webchat service.
I also created a weekly LGBTQ+ recovery group offering drug and alcohol support and advice for service users who identify as being part of the community. As a young persons’ and family worker, I visited local schools alongside colleagues to deliver an accredited resilience programme which I co-wrote with the Head of Safer Schools for Dorset Police. In recognition of this work, I was named ‘Volunteer of the Year 2018′.
In order to get this awareness far and wide, I have developed a bespoke Chemsex and GBMSM (gay, bi and men who have sex with men) training package and pathway, helping to upskill colleagues and fellow professionals.
I completed my 100 hours of training with Dorset Mind and this work has enabled me to be a featured blog writer for their website and other publications.
In late 2020 I was awarded The Exceptional Individual Award in the South West, a National Special Recognition Award (voted for by clients/service users) and Best National Team for webchat – after launching the specialist LGBTQ+ webchat service, removing location as a barrier to service access.
In Dec 2020 I was also named as being one of Attitude Magazine’s ‘101 LGBTQ+ trailblazers who are changing the world today’.
In February 2021 I was shortlisted and nominated for LGBTQ+ role model of the year at The National Diversity Awards. The very next month, I was privileged to be awarded with the High Sheriff of Dorset Award for my contribution to the local Queer community.
Get in touch
If you want to talk about anything you have seen on my website, or have a question about something specific that you can’t see here, drop me an email and we can find a time for an initial and informal conversation.