Volunteer Spotlight - National Diversity: Positive Role Model Awards

Congratulations to our wonderful volunteer, Catherine Mackie, who has been nominated for the National Diversity Award’s Positive Role Model Award (Age), in part thanks to her volunteering with us. If you know Catherine and wish to vote for her, please follow this link:   https://nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/nominate/32728/

- Votes are open until 4th June 2021. All you need do is enter your name and email address, and add a brief comment as to why she has your vote! The site says ‘nominations’ but rest assured she has been nominated already - and every vote counts.

She is a matched telephone befriender and regularly leads online events such as quizzes, murder mysteries and social discussions - and is well-loved by the members who attend.  The events have helped our befriendees, who are isolated and vulnerable due to COVID-19, feel more connected and less lonely. Plus, she has managed to juggle all this despite entering her third year of university in October 2020 and suffering a short period of illness, which all goes to show her commitment to making older people's lives better.

As well as befriending with us, she is a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) for Glasgow Southside and spoke at a virtual meeting with the Scottish Parliament Education and Skills Committee on the impact that COVID-19 has had on students. She helped organised virtual Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) socials for the SYP Sittings as part of the SYP Planning Team, and these socials helped MSYPs to socialise and make friends, which has been extremely important during the pandemic. Her nomination states how all her work helps challenge the negative stereotypes of youth and, with all this good work, she is a worthy winner in our eyes.