Volunteer Spotlight on... Lee!

Meet Lee, a former IT and payroll consultant who traded the rat race for a fulfilling life centered around his passion for vinyl records. 

​Despite his busy schedule, Lee finds time to volunteer with Healthy Minds, drawing from his own experiences with depression to support others. After attending the Allotment group for several years, we invited him to become a formal volunteer. He was already doing many of the things we expect of our volunteers - welcoming others into the space and taking care of practical duties. Lee is a thoughtful and kind presence at the allotment, and we're lucky to have him!

Read on to learn more about Lee and his experience at Healthy Minds!

"I am not very good at blowing my own trumpet as the old expression goes but in a few words I am a 60 year old former IT and payroll consultant who gave up the rat race about ten years ago following a second job redundancy and I now have a small business buying and selling mostly vinyl records on the internet.  I do this partially in partnership with four friends and we have one of the UK's busiest vinyl websites - Vinylnet.  This takes up a lot of my time but it also allows me to choose my own hours and leaves time for other pursuits such as volunteering with Healthy Minds and other hobbies which are mostly walking the local hills and cycling with my partner Yvonne. As we are of a certain age and the Calderdale hills aren't getting any flatter, we have eBikes and get out as often as we can when the weather is okay and our backs aren't playing up too much(!)  I am also very much into music, usually willfully obscure music and artists. It's hard not to be when you share a small house with around 15,000 records and CDs.

I first discovered Healthy Minds following a bad bout of depression about 6 or 7 years ago and found the support groups and allotment very beneficial in getting me out of bed and meeting others with various mental health challenges.  After a while I found I could emphasise with and help others with their challenges and the natural progression was to volunteer. I chose the allotment because I enjoy it and it is not too demanding on my time which is often at a premium.  In the future, as I wind down the business when I (perhaps) retire, I hope to become more involved in other projects and have started training with this in mind.

Describe yourself in three words: 
A tricky task but I think "understanding", "empathetic" and "thoughtful"
 
What would your superpower be?  
Flight would be handy given the state of the railways and buses these days
 
Dislikes:
Bananas, "reality" television, intolerance
 
Who is your hero/heroine?
I don't really have a hero although Jimi Hendrix comes close.

Favourite place:
The Pennine Hills and the coast of Western Australia
 
What’s the best thing about volunteering at Healthy Minds?  
The people - staff, volunteers and service users and the fact that all have an equivalence of importance."

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What Healthy Minds has to say:

Lee is a true asset to our service. He brings a wealth of experience and is really creative! He is an absolute pleasure to work with and is a valued member of our team.

Lee is an incredible volunteer who has devoted many, many hours of his time to the creation of our wonderful allotment in Sowerby Bridge. He is kind, caring and thoughtful - truly salt-of-the-earth - and a pleasure to have on the team. 

Lee has a lovely calming way about him. He is always warm and insightful company. PLUS, and this is just a bonus, he is FULL of interesting facts! 

Lee's contribution, as a participant and later as a Volunteer, to our Allotment was and is essential to its success. He always offered, and implemented, constructive ideas regarding the maintenance and development of the site.  His work ethic and willingness to engage not only in the practical elements of the Allotment but also with other participants was always productive, positive and supportive. A genuinely nice bloke!