“I’m a nonbinary, asexual, queerdo; a hard-of-hearing wheelchair user; an activist, comedian, geek, and current treasurer of Wexford Pride.
“My role involves looking for funding, keeping track of our finances, and supporting committee members with financial aspects of their work. In addition, I helped draft the current constitution and helped our Public Relations Officer with social media.
“My spouse, Veronica Victor, is on the committee and I wanted to support her. I didn’t used to see myself as having time to volunteer as I have a full-time job. But I really wanted to do something for Wexford Pride because I see how much Wexford needs this out-and-proud organisation that’s doing more than just a single event per year.
“Wexford Pride wants to ensure that we’re doing something all year round for our LGBTQIA+ community. We have our Pride in the Park and our day of protest during Pride Month, and we also have a fortnightly LGBTQIA+ support group; a fortnightly meet-up that’s about visibility and togetherness; a monthly online book club; and other events through the year. We also try to reach out past what people think of as the traditional Pride audience by trying to provide welcoming spaces to LGBTQIA+ folk who are disabled, who belong to the Traveller community, who are immigrants, and so on.
“I enjoy the moments when I know we’ve made a difference. Hearing from people who felt safer or more welcomed or seen because of one of our events; knowing that we may have helped someone through a crisis; seeing that there’s a group of wonderful LGBTQIA+ people who feel safe to be out in Wexford — those are the moments I enjoy.”
This National Volunteering Week, we’re celebrating the kindness, compassion, and generosity of volunteers like Vic.
Thank you to Vic for sharing their Volunteer Story. Please email [email protected] if you’d like to share yours!
