Volunteering to Support the Health and Wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ Community
By Michael Harvey, Area Manager International Premier and Co-Chair HSBC Pride UK
Most gay men in London are aware of the annual RVT’s (Royal Vauxhall Tavern) sports day, it’s been running since 1982 so you have likely attended yourself. If you have not been lucky enough to attend it is an annual sports day (usually on the August bank holiday) held in the park behind the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, raising funds for the fantastic charity LGBT Hero.
LGBT Hero’s history is almost as long as the sports day itself, starting in 1992 as GMFA (Gay Men Fighting Aids). Their initial goal was to help prevent the spread of HIV amongst gay men in the 1990s, sharing safer sex knowledge and preventative measures. Since then, the organization has grown to encompass all elements of LGBTQ+ health, championing things like PREP, Bi mental health and drugs dependency. LGBT Hero works tirelessly to spread knowledge and information to all elements of the LGBTQ+ community and to those who find it hardest to access the relevant services.
As a big supporter of LGBT Hero, I noticed a few years ago that they were looking for volunteers to help out with Sports Day, during a moment of pure inspiration I realized this was a great way to utilize my pound for pound allowance that HSBC gives all colleagues (we will match any money raised by a staff member up to £500). Having been a few times to Sports Day I knew the drill, it was a fun day, watching the teams take part, having a few drinks in the park and helping to raise money for a great cause. Events throughout the day include the 50-metre handbag throw, the rope pull and the coordinated dance routine, all compared by an outstanding drag queen. Teams of up to seven people enter, representing business/groups like the Gay Men’s Dance Company, Above the Stag Theatre and The Bitten Peach (A pan Asian cabaret collective), with such a wide range of attendees, it makes for a great show.
This year, I was able to rally around several other employees to come with, to also utilize their pound for pound allowances and truly support the charity. It’s a simple exercise, we work our way around the assembled crowd (about 400 people), asking people to buy tickets for the wonderful raffle prize. A big shout to my colleague Tina Michaels, who worked the audience wonderfully, she was great at persuading people to buy multiple rounds of raffle tickets. We have also embraced the new digital world, so can take contactless payments. Alongside raising money, we also got to spend time with always fun Baby Lame, the drag queen, connect to old friends and just enjoy the wonderful show.
Throughout the day we raised £1,064.00, this has been matched by HSBC with a further £1000.00, which is a great result for about 5 hours of volunteering time.
