Why do you want to make Scotland the best place for LGBTQ+ young people to flourish and thrive?
Over my years at the charity I’ve seen and heard the struggles that many LGBTQ+ young people experience in their day-to-day lives. I’ve listened to the hate and I’ve seen the barriers. A brilliantly articulate young trans person recently asked a group of Councillors what they thought about when they woke up. That young person had to decide how visible they wanted to be, how much hate they could cope with experiencing , from strangers, peers and even professionals. That is not a Scotland we should accept for our young people and we need a grand aim so we’ve something positive to work towards.
What is your experience?
I’ve been building on my managerial and operational knowledge for over 20 years both in the third and private sector. Every day I get to work with a fantastic team who help to keep the charity running so our staff and volunteers can make a difference to young people on the front line.
What do you do for fun?
I get enjoyment from obsessively planning little random projects – whether that’s to fix, renovate or create something. Unfortunately, it rarely translates into action and when it does there are normally mixed results.
What mattered most to you when you were a young person?
Making people laugh – I used to go to great lengths when I was younger (admittedly sometimes a step too far). I’ve toned that down a bit now but I think having a sense of humour is really important, especially when people’s hate and anger has become more visible and amplified. There’s something very powerful in laughter – it can help connect people and bring them back to a better place.
