Out and About, part of crisis support service Switchboard, pairs volunteers with ageing and isolated LGBTI people for social activities including conversation, coffee and excursions to the cinema.  

Co-ordinator Maeve McNelis is seeking a queer female volunteer near Bendigo and Inglewood to befriend an older member of the LGBTI community. 

Fifteen ageing Victorians already receive weekly or fortnightly visits from an Out and About volunteer. 

“Some of their isolation is geographic - they’re in areas where there aren't many people around - but most of it is isolation is in terms of community,” Ms McNelis said. 

Older LGBTI people might have come out later in life and missed opportunities to build networks of queer and allied friends, she explained. 

They were also more likely to have been shunned by family and friends.   

The support was also available for people living in residential care, some of whom hid their sexuality and gender identity from staff and residents for fear of discrimination.

“If you’ve lived through a time when homosexuality was illegal, it is hard to trust a (aged care) provider,” Ms McNelis said. 

The experience was also beneficial to volunteers who were eager to learn about older LGBTI people’s past experiences and gain insight into what their own futures might hold.  

“A lot of queer culture today is about youth,” Ms McNelis said.

Volunteers are asked to commit to the program for at least one year and no less than 20 visits. 

Out and About is funded by the federal health department, which also supports similar initiatives in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. 

Parent organisation Switchboard also runs a telephone counselling line for LGBTI people, their family and friends.