Ben, one of our TechTogether volunteers, is the subject of January’s volunteer profile. If you haven’t yet heard of TechTogether, it’s an initiative designed to make technology more understandable and accessible to everyone in the community, particularly at a time when it’s so important for us to stay in contact and connected with our friends and families. Read on!
How long have you been involved with Bell House and what is your role as a volunteer?
I’ve been involved as a volunteer since September 2020. My role is to lead online sessions helping people with their tech problems and queries, as part of the TechTogether team. We come up with the topic ideas, plan out the session, put together presentations, present them in a live session and answer any questions that might come up.
What do you do away from Bell House?
I'm a solicitor by profession, but in my spare time I like to keep fit, mostly through running. Recently, I ran about 25 times around Dulwich Park to complete the 2020 Virtual London Marathon in the pouring rain! I'm a member of a dragon-boat team, the Windy Pandas, and I'm a social committee member, so I'm kept busy organising social events, even during lockdown. I also love playing escape room games and I run a blog about escape rooms.
How long have you lived in the area and what drew you here?
I've always been relatively local in southeast London and was born down the road at Kings College Hospital. I currently live in East Dulwich and I love the fact that there is so much on my doorstep, whether that be shops, restaurants, the North Cross Road market or the parks.
What is your favourite thing to do in and around Dulwich?
I spend quite a lot of time in Dulwich Park and Peckham Rye Park, either running or with the family. I also like checking out North Cross Road Market each Saturday. It's not the biggest market, but there's a nice variety of stalls, from the hog roast to the pie lady.
What do you think you bring to Bell House as a volunteer and what do you get out of it?
I think I bring enthusiasm and reliability to my role as volunteer. I love helping people out with their tech issues where I can, and it's really rewarding when you either solve someone's problem or you show them new ways of doing things. I've always wanted to do some volunteering, but finding something that would fit into my lifestyle has been a challenge. My role at TechTogether, which I can do from home and commit a relatively small, but set amount of time to each month, was perfect for me.
What is the best project or event you’ve been involved with at Bell House?
Other than TechTogether, my first interaction with Bell House was simply as a visitor in 2019. There was arts and crafts on for the children and mini-concerts being performed in one of the rooms. It was a lovely summer's day and a great day out for the family.
Are there any forthcoming projects, events or initiatives that you are particularly excited about?
Currently, I'm working with Emily to continue to drive TechTogether and ensure that it continues to thrive by delivering topics people want and increasing its participant base. I'm looking forward to the day we can run the sessions in person, rather than over video-conferencing. I feel there would be so much more we could do with live in-person sessions.